Molsky’s Mountain Drifters finished up our 16 day UK & Ireland tour at King's Place London last week, with a surprise guest, John Paul Jones, joining us for a tune!  

Home for a minute. . .  then off again. . . 

I make a bad joke from the stage at a lot of concerts. It’s bad because it’s true. “Sign up for my monthly newsletter, which goes out about every six months,” I say. Makes me think of the Cajun comedian and chef Justin Wilson, who used to say “It’s not an excuse, it’s a reason!” So I’m invoking Justin Wilson here, which also kind of applies. 

My reason, not excuse, for not writing, is just being busy with music, and nothing could make me happier. The Mountain Drifters just returned from our first tour in the UK and Ireland. We got to play in some beautiful halls, met new friends and old, and saw some nice countryside, though much of it from the motorway. We can’t wait to get back there for Celtic Connections Festival in January! It’s worth mentioning here that we’re thrilled to be working with ABM Management for our UK and Ireland bookings. This was our first time together, and it’s great to be with Alan Bearman and his organization. 

More Stuff 
It’s been a busy time all around for the trio. Allison, Stash and I are scheming up our next recording and plan to hit the studio in February. 

But next up is Australia! Starting with Woodford Folk Festival north of Brisbane, and a mere 1900 miles south of the equator, then working our way south with shows and workshops, and eventually to Tasmania for the Cygnet Folk Festival. 

We’ll also be way closer to home this winter and spring. See the tour schedule on this email or on the web page. And I’ll be returning to teach at Berklee College of Music in our American Roots Music Program, an honor I look forward to every day. 

Debra Clifford and I will once again be hosting the 3rd Annual Old-Time Rollick at the beautiful Ashokan Center in the Catskills, another intense weekend of old time music immersion and we are so happy to welcome back the staff and adding Mark Wholley for even more singing and beginner guitar!  

Of course, with the holidays fast approaching, please think of us when you think of gifts for your music-loving friends. The Mountain Drifters CD, my recent solo DVD/CD “Can’t Stay Here This a-Way” and just about all my other titles can be shipped right away. Order at the brucemolsky.com/store. Also, the April 2018 Old Time Rollick makes a gift too - it's filling up! Join me with the Mountain Drifters and The Farwells for our weekend music intensive at Ashokan.  

There’s no escaping it’s been a tumultuous year, here at home and in so many places around the globe.Thank you all for being in my world - Audrey and I wish you a great holiday season and a peaceful and happy new year. 

Take care, drive safely, stay in touch and have fun! 
Bruce 

BruceMolsky.com

Stash took us on an almost vertical hike up the trail outside of Førde 

How liberating to have a surprise free day with no distractions and nothing really looming! Thanks to United Airlines frantically informing me of an incoming storm in Newark and strongly recommending that I fly to Colorado a day early, I’m in Colorado a day early, ready and excited for Rocky Grass Academy to start tomorrow, and for the festival this weekend with MMD. The big storm never even happened. 

So today’s plan is to hunker down, ruminate, rehearse and start to focus in on what comes next this summer and fall. MMD is going into full swing with festivals, camps and concerts all over the place, and it feels good to be strapping ourselves into the touring catapult again. 

I’m honored to have been asked to judge the Arkansas State Fiddle Championship in a couple of weeks, and that MMD will be playing a set. Philadelphia Folk Festival comes soon after, followed by the venerable Nimblefingers Festival and camp in B.C., Canada. Allison and I were there last year, and this year Stash will be on hand as well. 

Then there’s Wheatland in Michigan (Happy Wheatland!), Black Swamp and onwards. Extra exciting is that MMD will be touring in the UK and Ireland for the first time this fall! Closer to home, we’ll be in the Pacific Northwest as well. And speaking of cogitating, we’re making plans for a second recording. The music feels even more liberating than a free hotel day. 

Here’s some Peghead Nation news! My old time fiddle course continues, but in addition to that I’ll be offering a special series of lessons on Wade Ward’s clawhammer banjo playing. He has been one of my heroes of banjo since I first started to play, and it was really inspiring to dig into and deconstruct some of the important parts of his style into lesson videos. That should be out this September at www.pegheadnation.com 

Please stay tuned to mountaindrifters.com and facebook.com/mountaindrifters for all the deets that are fit to print. 

And (as Stash would say), in the rear view mirror: 
The Silkroad Global Musician Workshop once again was such an uplifting confluence of cultures and fellowship that it’s hard to describe. Thanks to Mike Block, Liz Keller-Tripp and everyone for making it such a beautiful celebration common ground. We need that now more than ever. 

Rachel Barton Pine’s “American Partitas” were presented for the first time in March, and I’m super-excited to be there with David Wallace, Darol Anger and April Verch as one of the composers. These works accompany Rachel’s phenomenal new recordings of the Bach Partitas. She’s also a monster metal player, BTW, I got to return to Førde Festival in Norway, this time with MMD, where we played the first concert ever in the Sunnfjørd Hotel’s new theater. Beautiful. Got to see and hear the very best traditional (and not so traditional) musicians you’ll hear from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Then on to Gooikoorts Festival in Flanders, Belgium (what beer!) 

A big highlight was meeting two new friends in Belgium. My pal Daan and I had the only two ball caps at the festival, so of course bonded instantly. And Marlies got her first guitar that day - Stash put her right to work! 

Now back to this free day and doing everything and nothing, in no particular order. I hope your summer days are happy, chill and not fact free. 

Stay in touch!! 
Peace, Bruce 

P.S. The Mountain Drifters are stoked to have be asked to showcase this year at the The Bluegrass Ramble at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh NC!
P.S. The Mountain Drifters are stoked to have be asked to showcase this year at the The Bluegrass Ramble at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh NC!