String of Pearls, with Rhiannon Giddens and Laurelyn Dossett from Laurelyn Dossett on Vimeo.

We filmed this in my backyard on one of those warmer fall nights in North Carolina. You can still hear the cicadas in the background.

Special thanks to Harvey Robinson and Carolyn deBerry who came over for some gumbo that night, and brought their cameras and talent (psst … save the monkeywhale).

And please, join us for the last show of 2011 in New York City. Gather your friends and family.

Saturday, December 17 in New York, NY
Roots/Americana Holiday Concert at the Winery with Laurelyn, Rhiannon, Joe, Mike and Jason for one night only.
New York, NY
citywinery.com
Order tickets and reserve your seat

Album reviews are in for “The Gathering” recording of the string band featuring myself, Rhiannon, Joe, Mike, and Jason.

And they’ve all got me seeing stars.

“It’s a fresh approach to wintry music, with mountain-music instrumentation and crystalline harmonies.”
4 1/2 stars
Andrew Dansby and Joey Guerra, San Antonio Express News

“Collections of Appalachian holiday tunes have come along before, but one of the finest is now ‘The Gathering,’ ”
4 1/2 stars
Thomas Conner, Chicago Sun-Times

“The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs” premiers with the North Carolina Symphony on November 25 and 26 with conductor Grant Llewellyn. Tickets available now.

The string band will perform select dates over the holidays.

Sunday, December 4 in Aberdeen, NC
Holiday Concert at The Rooster’s Wife
“The Gathering” string band plays the song cycle featuring Laurelyn, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, and Martha Bassett, who will be featuring songs from her new holiday CD, “Magnificat.”
www.theroosterswife.org
Order tickets

Tuesday, December 6 in Greensboro, NC
“The Gathering” string band plays the song cycle and selected tunes from the record, as well as songs from Laurelyn’s holiday collaboration with Triad Stage, “Beautiful Star.”
triadstage.org
Tickets

Friday, December 16
Private house concert in Philadelphia, PA

Saturday, December 17 in New York, NY
Roots/Americana Holiday Concert at the Winery with Laurelyn, Rhiannon, Joe, Mike and Jason for one night only.
New York, NY
citywinery.com
Order tickets and reserve your seat

The Gathering string band

It wasn’t too long ago that Rhiannon and first I worked together at Triad Stage. She was one of the holiday singers in “Beautiful Star,” one of the first Appalachian music-with-play projects I co-wrote with Preston Lane. For me, her take on “O, Holy Night” changed that song forever.

We’ll share the stage together again when “The Gathering” string band performs there Tuesday, December 6 at 8 pm. This special show is a string-band only performance by “The Gathering” band featuring Rhiannon, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, Jason Sypher and myself.

We’ll play some songs from “The Gathering” record, which includes a special version of Rhiannon singing “O, Holy Night,” and I think we can reprise a version at Triad Stage … for old times sake.

Tickets are available now. And thank you sweetly, in advance. Just remember to unwrap that hard candy before you head into the theater.

A Winter Concert at Triad Stage
8 pm December 6 at Triad Stage, Greensboro NC
Buy Tickets

The Gathering record
Available now on CD Baby
Buy now

World premier of “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs”
November 25 and 26
Buy Tickets

Buy the record

Also available on: Amazon | CD Baby | iTunes

From my front porch, I can almost see the downtown pharmacy where William Sydney Porter (pen name, O. Henry) worked at his Uncle’s drug store.

The writer is among the most read authors in the world, after Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. Among his quotes:

“There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.”

This month the new arts magazine in the Piedmont – named after the Greensboro-born writer – featured a story on my new project, “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs.”

If you see the free magazine around town, please pick up a copy. It’s put together by a talented group of writers, designers, and photographers in the Piedmont. It’s also a perfect sized-magazine; stays steady on your lap with a cup of coffee.

Read the article online, or pick up a copy around O. Henry’s hometown.

It’s probably the only time it’s okay to bring food to Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh. And no matter how you say it, here’s a little verbal reminder – and tutorial – to bring food donations to the symphony performance for “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs” on November 26 and 26.

Food donations

In partnership with Interfaith Food Shuttle BackPack Buddies Program, the Symphony is collecting donated food items at all three “Carolina Christmas” concerts. The BackPack Buddies Program provides children from food-insecure homes with weekend meals during the school year. For complete information on what to bring, visit www.foodshuttle.org/backpack-buddies.

Please join us this year for the Thanksgiving Holiday. There’s plenty of room at this table, and more than enough for everyone.

Tickets went on sale August 8.

Hello friends … after a road trip that took me from an Alabama lake week with the extended Dossett family to the swashbuckling pirate shows in Manteo and Cary with the NC Symphony, I am safely ensconced in North Carolina and looking forward to some shows closer to home.

Good things are in the works, read on …

Tuesdays at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen are going strong! Here are the next few weeks:

• Tuesday, July 19 — Laurelyn with Scott Manring
• Tuesday July 26 –Laurelyn with Scott Manring
• Tuesday August 2 — Molly McGinn

August

Appalachian String Band Festival
I am off to get my annual fix of old-time music at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, WV (so much for being safely ensconced in NC).

August 1 – 4
Clifftop, WV

The Best of Our State
Check out this weekend package of performances and presenters at the historic
Carolina Inn for The Best of Our State. I’ll be singing with Scott Manring on Friday night.

August 5-7
Pinehurst, NC

November and “The Gathering”

Much to my delight and wonder, the North Carolina Symphony has commissioned me to write and perform a set of songs for the November 25-26 Holiday Pops concerts.

I have finished the song cycle, called “The Gathering,” and arranger Aaron Grad is finalizing the score for symphony and string band.

Joining me will be Rhiannon Giddens Laffan on vocals and fiddle, Joe Newberry on banjo and vocals, and Mike Compton on mandolin and vocals.

Tickets for these three performances will go on sale August 8.

Recording in the studio

In preparing for the symphony shows, the four of us decided to go ahead and record a string band version of these songs, as well as other original and traditional winter holiday songs.

We record with Joe (“JoeBass”) DeJarnette in August; I’ll keep you posted.

CD or DVD copies

Levon Helm’s Ramble at the Ryman, recently released on cd and dvd, has a great live rendition of “Anna Lee,” a song I wrote for Triad Stage’s Brother Wolf about a hundred years ago. If you are a Levon fan, a music fan, you will love this recording.

It’s on sale here.