HOME   BIOGRAPHY   MERCHANDISE   PRESS KIT   PHOTOS   AUDIO   TEACHING   LINKS   CONTACT    January 27, 2012 has selected The Druckenmillers as BAND OF THE WEEK CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY Old-Time Music is the name used as long ago as the 1920's for the dance tunes, songs and solo pieces people played for entertainment before radio and recordings caused most people to put their instruments away. With roots in Ireland and northern Europe, and African influences, the music adatpted to many American environments as it was played and passed from person to person. New tunes were "made" and became part of the tradition. Banjos joined fiddles, and when the era of the mail-order catalog came, guitars were added, too. By the mid-1920's, the new recording industry in the United States became interested in recording the traditional dance tunes. Sentimental and religious songs also became part of the old-time music captured on heavy 78 RPM discs. Old-time music at its best is tunes and songs and the stories that give them life. Played from the heart, the music conveys the feelings and stories of those who played it first. Tom's radio program In The Tradition airs on WDIY 88.1 FM every Wednesday from 7 to 9 pm "American music from the roots to the branches" Tom is also the host of the nationally-syndicated Sing Out! Radio Magazine broadcast locally on WDIY 88.1 FM every Sunday at 10 am also heard on Sirius/XM Bound to Change Our new CD, Bound to Change, features Tom, Betty, Nate, and Norm Williams. Stacy Bechtel and Brittany Hicks also joined us for the recording sessions, and the CD includes tunes like "Weeping Pilgrim," "The Maidencreek Waltz," and "Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Further into the Fire" (complete song notes are available here). For online ordering information, please visit our merchandise page.   Upcoming Events June 19, 2013 - time TBA Radnor Memorial Library, Radnor, PA Old time stories and songs, with Chaz Kiernan, Storyteller. A fine selection of tales from the little town of Lost Dollar, appropriately embellished and set with fine tunes. www.radnorlibrary.org June 23, 2013 - 7:00 pm Jamboree at the Pines Dinner Theatre, Allentown, PA Doors open at 6:00 pm for a fine bar-b-que supper, with the show at 7:00 pm. Two opening acts and a main act provide music, the regular cast provides jokes and skits, but no new jokes, we're afraid. Enjoy an old-fashioned evening out, close to home. www.pinesdinnertheatre.com June 29, 2013 - 7:30 pm Portable Maidencreek Old-time Music Festival, Bethlehem, PA At Godfrey Daniels, 7 East 4th Street.A new format for our third benefit at Godfrey's — an old-time open mic, the only one of its kind anywhere around! Bring a tune or song, or two or three, and we'll play until everyone's had a turn. Donations benefit the Fifth Annual Maidencreek Festival — see that information below. Don't miss this chance! Maidencreek on Facebook www.godfreydaniels.org July 13, 2013 Music in the Valley, Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm, Stroudsburg, PA This will be the 7th Annual Music in the Valley Day, and we're pleased to have been part of them since the beginning, thanks to Norm Williams. We'll join other musicians in the beautiful settings around the farm, and just play and sing all day. Look for us near the farmhouse, in the barns near the geese, or at the schoolhouse where Tom and I spent hours last year just singing in one of the best places we know for – well, just singing. www.quietvalley.org July 14, 2013 Fifth Annual Maidencreek Old-Time Music Festival, Blandon, PA Can't believe this will be number five — don't let yourself miss another one! Todd Clewell will present a master class session with limited enrollment teaching Pennsylvania fiddle tunes, Dave Reber will teach old-time repertoire for hammered dulcimer, Tom Druckenmiller will offer a ukulele workshop, and there will be much more, too. Fiddles, vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, lap dulcimer, autoharp ... what more could you want on one summer day? Oh, yes — a hoedown. And an onion jam, and an evening concert. You should plan on taking Monday off from work if you can! Still on Facebook at Maidencreek Old-time Music Festival, we'll be posting more details as we get closer. Remember the food, too! The "Portable Maidencreek Festival" at Godfrey Daniels on June 29th benefits the festival fund. Maidencreek on Facebook YouTube August 4-9, 2013 Old-time, Vocal and Dance Weeks, Elkins, WV A Who's Who of Old-time and Vocals — try this for a start: Rafe and Clelia Stefanini, Dave Bing, Joe Newberry, Jesse Milnes, Charlie Walden, Cathy Barton, Frank Lee, Mac Benford, Dave Para, Joebass DeJarnette, Riley Baugus, Kathy Bullock, Emily Eagen, Val Mindel, Claudia Schmidt, and more. One of the first and the finest music heritage programs in the country, and our home away from home, too. Not an old-time or vocal person? Check out their Cajun Week, Early Country Week, Irish, Bluegrass, or Dance Weeks, or the crafts classes every week of the summer. We're not exaggerating — this could change your life! Visit their website for all the information about the summer, spring and fall offerings. www.augustaheritagecenter.org August 9-11, 2013 Augusta Heritage Arts Festival, Elkins, WV Finish up a glorious week with a Friday night dance, Saturday in the town park with juried crafts and multiple music stages, an evening concert and a Sunday morning gospel sing in the Chapel. No more need be said. www.augustaheritagecenter.org September 15, 2013 - 9:00 am - dark 30th Annual Lyons Fiddle Festival, Lyons, PA Gospel church service, ice cream, church-made soup, ice cream, crafts, ice cream, lawn chairs and ice cream. Music all day, including the contest in the afternoon, jamming in the back, and featured musicians including Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass, East Side Dave, Manatawny Creek Ramblers, Ladies in the Parlor, Andrew Roblin and Hunter Lyons. www.lyonsfiddlefest.com October 12 & 13, 2013 Harvest Festival, Quiet Valley Farm, Stroudsburg PA Two beautiful days to celebrate farm life and the fall harvest. Lots of crafts demonstrations, with some music here and there throughout the day. A short drive from the Lehigh Valley leads you to a different world. www.quietvalley.org December 7-8 and 14-15, 2013 Old-Time Christmas at Quiet Valley Farm, Stroudsburg PA Take a lantern-light tour of the farm, and visit the traditions of the people who lived there to gain a new perspective on the Christmas season. Bundle up, and enjoy the bright stars in the sky as you walk beneath them. Highly recommended — we often go even if we're not singing Christmas carols in the schoolhouse. www.quietvalley.org December 15, 2013 - 4:00 pm Brightest and Best: An Appalachian Christmas Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA Please join us for a celebration of a mountain Christmas — singing, playing and visiting in the old-time way. It will be a family and friends time to draw us all closer against the cold of winter, and closer to each other, too. We'll let you know more — this one's just in the planning stages. Keep watching here and on Facebook. www.godfreydaniels.org    We also host these old-time jams each month: First Tuesday of each month at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, an open old-time jam from 7:00 pm -9:00 pm. Admission is now FREE to all who wish to play or listen. Fourth Friday of each month at Meadowood Music in Blandon, PA, along Route 222. 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Free.  UPDATE (March 2012):  The monthly old-time jam at Meadowood Music is going on a vacation of sorts. We hate to say it's over, but it seems like a good time to give it a little rest. We'll let everyone know here and on the Meadowood website if and when it will return. Thanks to Karl, Debbie, Joe, Bill, Ed, Jim, Kay and the others who've made it fun over the years. And many thanks to Paula and Mike for giving us their space and valuable time for so many Friday nights.