Bill & Karen's Music page                    (>home<)            Barn Dance           

    email: billhart at hartpierce dot net
        billhart at cedar-rapids dot net

      Listening     Performing      Open Mic and Jams   More Pictures
      Listening
      We like to listen to a lot of music, especially traditional acoustic styles such as Irish and Scottish Celtic, American fiddle tunes (barn dance music), and the stuff Bluegrass grew out of, and just about anything that can be played on similar instrumentation.

      Our favorite radio station is KUNI at FM 91, a part of Iowa Public Radio. They have good music weekday afternoons and various weekend times, and Live from Studio One with touring and local folk/singer-songwriter/celtic/etc musicians on Monday evening at 7.

      Legion Arts (CSPS) brings a lot of good touring performers to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

      Performing
      Karen plays hammered dulcimer  (see also about dulcimers, and Photos)
      She sings and plays with the Deep Dish Divas ( facebook) (You Tube)
      Bill does fiddle accompaniment and occasional harmonica.
      Some of the groupings out of a large bunch of area musicians we've played with are:
            The Ridgerunners (barn dance music)
            Celtic Crossroads
            Tim's Hooligans (celtic)
             Pete Kies and Solid Spruce (original songs, old ballads, celtic and fiddle tunes)
        Karen has also played backup for Glenn Lonsdale, a fine balladeer and very prolific writer.
        We sometimes got to jam with the members of area bands hOly caTz and the Wild Shoemongers

      In the last few years we've played at
           Indian Creek Nature Center (Honey Festival and Maple Syrup Festival,
           Monticello Heritage Center,
           Town festivals (pictures are from the day RAGBRAI went through Deep River),
           Linn Co. History Center,
           All Things Scottish day at Usher's Ferry,
           The former Mooney Hollow Barn Dance
           A bar gig here and there, .
           Earth Day at Mt. Vernon park
           A political rally the governor of Iowa spoke at,
           Church events,
           Fundraiser for Project Children
           The Fiddlers Picnic,
           Private parties and organization dinners,
           Civil War reenacters' ball (several times),
           Dubuque Co. Historical Society ice cream social at the Ham House
           Jakway Septemberfest in a Buchanan County park
           The barn dance at Scattergood School
            Dances at Morningstar in Fairfield, Iowa

      Open Mic sessions and Jams are fun, and several (for mostly acoustic music) occur in the area around Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
      SORRY--OUT OF DATE
           FB & Co at Waubeek, usually the first Saturday of the month 8 PM
                   (kinda smoky and noisy but an appreciative crowd),
           Whittier community center on second Saturday (quieter and very friendly),
           Sunday afternoons at the Stone City General Store.
          The annual fall  Fiddlers Picnic in Iowa City is a great place to listen and jam.

      More Pictures             Others may get added here some day

      Link to Dulcimer pictures


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                  Right photo: mixing at Mt. Vernon "Art in the Park" 2001

      Bill trying to play and adjust the at the same time (not recommended)

       

      Updated: 2017 Feb 21