The Don Roy Band will be performing at the RFA Lakeside Theater on September 13th as part of the “Western Maine Music Week”.
Western Maine Music Week announced for September 10 through 17
Skye Theatre director Phill McIntyre has unveiled plans for a self-supporting music week to fill the void of Crossroads Celtic Festival. Ten concerts are scheduled to take place in Oxford and Franklin Counties in Western Maine starting on Wednesday September 10 at Skye Theatre and ending on Wednesday September 17 for the closing and final event at Skye after a ten year run as Maine premier Celtic music venue.
“Artists are coming from far and near, we have had a great amount of interest from venues; artists; and fans after the announcement of the cancellation of Crossroads a few months ago. We were not able to continue with Crossroads at this time but everyone still wants the music and an event to fill the gap. A self-supporting event will take its place with artists from Maine; New England; and Canada”, said McIntyre. “It will be funded 100% from ticket sales and attendance is crucial to its success.”
Shows will take place in Farmington, Rangeley; Phillips; Stratton; Harrison; and Carthage. Artists will include; Coig from Cape Breton; Denny Breau; The Don Roy Band; The Gawler Family; Perpetual e-Motion; Erica Brown & the Bluegrass Connection; and Eric W Johnson from Maine; Nikki Engstrom (Stanley & Grimm) from Cape Cod; and Cassie & Maggie MacDonald from Nova Scotia. Other volunteer artists will perform during the last two shows at Skye Theatre on September 16 and 17.
Over the past ten years McIntyre has worked to bring Celtic music to Maine and NH by presenting concerts in many venues and with non-profit organizations in the region. A fan base has been developed and provides opportunities for local artists and youth to perform with International touring artists. “It has been a great ten years at Skye and I feel it is a fitting end to go out with a bang,” said McIntyre.
Skye Theatre has been sold and plans are moving forward to continue programing in the Farmington and Rumford area. The Fall music week is McIntyre’s way of saying good bye to Skye and opening the next chapter.
Don Roy is the quintessential Downeast fiddler. His music is the aural signature of the Pine Tree State: crisp, straightforward fiddling that manages to synthesize the dynamism of Quèbècois, Acadian, and Cape Breton traditions from Canada with the grit of old-timey Appalachian, bluegrass, western swing and contest filling to the south and the lilt of international Irish music. Don’s musical appetite absorbs it all and filters it through a sensibility that is born and bred in Maine’s French Canadian mill towns. The result is a bold statement of the vitality of the tradition that nurtured Don, and for which he has become the leading 21st century champion.
Tickets ($15) are available at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce, 6 Park Road in Rangeley. The 7 PM show will be held at the RFA Lakeside Theater in downtown Rangeley.
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