Folk music duo Sassafras Stomp from Maine will be in Southeast Idaho in early December and will offer a free music workshop in Pocatello and a concert in Idaho Falls. Appearances in Idaho by this professional band, known throughout the United States and Canada as both a contra dance band and as concert performers, are rare. Offering “sweet, high-energy folk music from the Maine / Montana border,” the duo is Johanna Davis (fiddle and vocals) and Adam Nordell (guitar, vocals, foot percussion). Johanna Davis grew up in Round Pond, Maine (a thriving community of dancers and contra dance musicians) and started playing the fiddle in the 4th grade at Waldorf School. Adam Nordell grew up in the hills south of Helena, Montana, and now spends most of the year in Maine where he and Johanna operate Songbird Farm, a certified organic, mixed vegetable farm on the bank of the Sandy River in western-central Maine.
Sassafras Stomp will teach a music workshop in Pocatello on Monday, December 5, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Idaho State University. The workshop, sponsored by the Snake River Fiddle Club, is free and open to the public; it will take place in the lower level of the Fine Arts Building on the ISU Campus. All instruments are welcome; some proficiency on your instrument is recommended. Interested musicians should RSVP to ude.usinull@sirktsua by Sunday, Dec. 4 to ensure a space in the workshop.
On Tuesday, December 6, Sassafras Stomp will present a concert of fiddle tunes, songs, and more, at Idaho Brewing Company, 775 South Capital Avenue in Idaho Falls, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Suggested donation is $10.00. Idaho Brewing Company makes and sells great hand-crafted beer; wine and other libations will also be available for purchase. For more information about this venue, call (208) 534-7232.
For more information about these events, please contact Kristi at ude.usinull@sirktsua, and check Sassafras Stomp’s website at https://sassafrasstomp.com.
