Katie Trautz and Alec Ellsworth play at RadioBean in Burlington!
• Friday, May 6th – 8:30-10pm
RadioBean, 8 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington, VT
By donation
Come to RadioBean for an evening of twin fiddles and Cajun songs!
Alec Ellsworth and Katie Trautz are a Vermont based duo that plays traditional old-time and Cajun music. Both musicians are strong fiddlers who weave harmonies and melodies together with their instruments and voices. Ellsworth and Trautz are multi-instrumentalists and integrate banjo, guitar, accordion, and songwriting into their sets. Their collaboration is relatively new, but both Alec and Katie are well versed in traditional music. Most recently, they have traveled to Louisiana where they learned and shared Cajun and Old-time music along with their string band ‘Kick ‘em Jenny’.
Katie Trautz (www.katietrautz.com) is a native Vermont fiddler who has toured nationally and internationally sharing traditional music and original folk songs. She has released three albums in the past three years, two of which have won ‘best traditional album of the year in the state of Vermont. Katie plays fiddle, guitar and banjo crossing genres with her numerous ensembles. Her bands include: Mayfly (old-time/Americana), Wooden Dinosaur (Americana), Kick ‘em Jenny (old-time string band), and formerly Green Mountain Playboys (Cajun) She has studied with some of the greatest fiddle players in the US, including Dirk Powell, Pete Sutherland, James Bryan, Jimmy Triplett, and Bruce Molsky. Katie has played alongside and shared the stage with many well-known bands including: Aoife O'Donovan Band, Stray Birds, Brittany Haas & Lauren Rioux, Dirk Powell and Riley Baugus, Deadly Gentlemen, Sheesham and Lotus, David Wax Museum, Matt and Shannon Heaton, Rusty Belle, Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Brown Bird, Devil Makes Three, 4tet, Pete Sutherland, Bruce Molsky and many others. Katie is also the co-founder of the non-profit folk music school ‘The Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture’ based in Montpelier, VT.
“Katie Trautz is representative of many young people playing traditional music today. On (her album) Remembering, she has used the traditional style to establish her own distinctive and lovely repertoire." — TD, Sing Out Magazine
“On her new solo recording, Trautz does her mentor proud and really shines as a vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter. Her fiddling is full of old-timey swing, her five-string banjo playing leisurely, and her alto voice confident and full of emotion.” –Robert Resnik, VPR
“In the spotlight by herself, Trautz reveals nuance and depth. She approaches singing the way she does the fiddle: with a subdued directness, creating a sound that’s beautiful in its simplicity.” –Dan Bolles, Seven Days Review
Alec Ellsworth plays his fiddle and sings from the small mountains of Central Vermont. He grew up in the dance halls of New England, where he fell in love with traditional music and dancing. After biking across the US with a fiddle on his back, he fell in love with the music of the South, and has since spent much time learning traditional tunes. Over the summer of 2012 he received a grant to study traditional American fiddle styles, and he spent the summer learning from some of our great cultural proprietors. He now uses his fiddle and voice in dance halls, farmers markets, living rooms and street corners across the U.S.
Visit: www.katietrautz.com for tour dates, videos, and photo gallery– old-time meets new folk, music intertwined with haunting melodies and southern fiddle tunes.