Local Bands

The following local bands play for our regular dance series. Does your band play for FolkMADS events? Contact us to add your band to the list!

Albuquerque Area & East Mountains

5DogStringBand 5 Dog String Band: David Margolin, fiddler; Rick Olcott, guitar.
Winners of the 2004 Santa Fe Traditional and Bluegrass Music Festival old-time band contest! You can hear David and a couple of his tunes on the “Sweet Nell” CD

AdobeBrothers

Adobe Brothers: An eclectic group of identical quintuplets that play a wide variety of acoustic music including bluegrass, celtic, old timey, latin folk music, and western swing, a composite style they refer to as “international bluegrass.”
Jimmy Abraham, Dave Klaus, Bruce Thomson, Wayne Shrubsall.
  Albuquerque Megaband: Open band, plays for the third Saturday contra dances in Albuquerque.
  Alfalfa Family Band: Damon Toal-Rossi, banjo; Marc Robert, bass; Michel Robert, fiddle; Tim Shaffer, guitar.
  Boxwood Consort: Formed in 1988, Boxwood Consort plays English country dance, contra dance, square dance, Italian, waltzes, and several other styles of music. Scott Mathis, mandolin and bass; Linda Askew, guitar; Katie Harlow, cello and mandolin; Juli Palladino, violin and viola; Jack Klintworth, anglo-concertina, and Doc Litchman, clarinet.
Cheap Shots 2017 Cheap Shots: “Cheap Shots” is an energetic five-person acoustic band that draws upon an eclectic mix of New England and Southern style contra music, with occasional Swing or International sounds as well. Many of the band’s members are also contra dancers who work to emulate contra bands whose musical styles (and feel) make dancing especially enjoyable. The band works to keep the musical styles diverse and occasionally throws in crazy arrangements all to make dancing interesting and lots of fun!
Pat Aruffo, Bill Balassi, John Brinduse, Peter Esherick, Erika Gerety.
FlagpoleSalad Flagpole Salad: Old-time string band/nutritious first course.
Marc Robert, guitar; David Margolin, banjo; Jane Phillips, fiddle; Laurie Phillips, mandolin/mandola.
The Parson Sisters:  The Parson Sisters (Mirinisa Stewart-Tengco on fiddle and Clara Byom on keys) is a duo based in Albuquerque, NM, specializing in global folk dance music, including Balkan, Irish, contra, and English Country. Mirinisa and Clara became instant friends and musical collaborators after being introduced by mutual friends in January 2018. The New Mexican folk music and dance communities are at the heart of The Parson Sisters’ work, as they’ve been independently active in two important local organizations—New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society and Southwest International Folk Dance Institute—and hope to encourage a new generation of dancers and musicians to embrace and share these cultural traditions. More information: theparsonsisters.com

 

Rusty Tap:  Rusty Tap is a contra dance band based in Albuquerque, NM. Drawing on repertoire largely from the Portland Collection and original compositions, Rusty Tap hopes to provide exciting and complex music that inspires young people to dance! The ensemble includes Juliana Huestis (fiddle), Russell Berman (guitar), Mirinisa Stewart-Tengco (fiddle, percussion), Lee Ann Black (bass), and Corrina Klein (flute, piano) Facebook
  Sandia Hots: Lively Southern Appalachian dance tunes and songs, cowboy and early 20th century swing numbers, songs and dance tunes from New Mexico, Mexico and Southern Arizona.
Linda Askew, Michael Gallagher, Scott Mathis, Liz Stevens.
 SyZyGy SyZyGy –  SyZyGy plays for contra dance, English Country dance, Scottish dance, Scandanavian and waltz couple dance music, concerts and parties. A number of pieces in their repertoire are originals written by the members. They play for Celtic functions, the Albuquerque Folk Festival, and a number of community events.  All the members also sing, so in a concert you may find a variety of music not heard on the dance floor.   Musicians are Sherilyn Urben (fiddle, cello, piano), Cleve Sharp (flute), Rob Huffman (guitar, flute), and Tom Stewart (percussion, harmonica)
 VirginiaCreepers Virginia Creepers. Southern Appalachian stringband music. All old-time, all the time, since 1991!   

Scott Mathis, mandolin; Rick Olcott, guitar; Jane Phillips, fiddle; Laurie Phillips, mandola; Marc Robert, banjo and bass.
 

Santa Fe & Los Alamos

  Avenue X: Christopher Jacoby, Karina Wilson, Ross Harriss.
  Chiletones: David Margolin, fiddle; Tom Adler, banjo; Bo Olcott, guitar
FastPesos Fast Pesos: A Santa Fe institution for something like thirty years. Gary Ashkin, fiddle; Bo Olcott, guitar; Tom Adler, banjo; Jim Hughes, fiddle.
  Roaring Jelly: Celtic and old-time music in the upper Rio Grande valley of New Mexico.
 SF Megarbnd Santa Fe Megaband:  A fine group of courageous volunteers who play for the Santa Fe Contra Dance every other month – six times a year. We meet to practice from 7 to 9 pm on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month at the Odd Fellow’s Hall, same place as the dance.
 

Silver City

 BayouSeco Bayou Seco: Playing the music of the Southwest USA – from the Mississippi to the deserts of Arizona.

 

Other Bands Featuring FolkMADS Members. If are you a FolkMADS member with a band you want to list here, please  contact us.

Silver City
 MtnAireFolkMusic Mountain Aire Folk Music: An acoustic folk music duo performing Celtic, American, and original songs and melodies on fiddle, guitar, flute, bodhran (Irish drum) and other instruments. Located in the Pinos Altos/Silver City area.
BigDitchCrickets Feb14  Big Ditch Crickets

New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society