Stringdancer got its start in St. Louis, MO, in 1995, at the last Kimmswick Dance Weekend at the Old Lee Farm. That weekend was legend - you couldn't really tell people about it on Monday, because who would believe you? So we come from excellent roots.
Around the turn of the century, we got geographically challenged, but we've managed to continue to play together at least once a year, sometimes more. Every reunion is just a blast for all of us. We almost always play the Stringdancer Memorial Time Slot at Kimmswick, opening on Saturday or Sunday evening, and occasionally show up in one of our home cities, St Louis, Minneapolis or Cincinnati. We all still play a lot, just not as often with each other as we'd like.
CD Now Available Online
We finally got around to putting our (one and only) CD up on the web, so, to dowload your very own copies of 6 waltzes and 8 contra medleys, all eminently danceable, go to CDBaby or Amazon or iTunes. And no, there are no actual CDs left, so if you have one, take good care of it - it's now a collector's item!
Stringdancer Sightings
We played the Minneapolis English/American weekend in October of 2011, and the New Year's Eve dance in St Louis 2011/2012. Not sure when we'll be back together again. But it was fun, as always, so we're definitely open to it.
Stringdancer - the Musicians
Stringdancer is Martha Edwards on fiddle, Pam Carson Stoll on fiddle and David Kirchner on guitar. We are sometimes joined by Jeff Hersk or Fred Stoll on bass. Pam and Martha combine high energy fiddling with beautiful, creative harmonies and David provides the steady, inventive rhythmic support. It may be Pam and Martha's classical training (that rich, full sound) that makes everyone swoon over the waltzes
Martha Edwards, Fiddle
Martha comes from a classical background, with degrees in music and everything, and she free-lanced in Boston for 25 years without ever once hearing of contradancing. All that changed, however, in the early 90s, when she started dancing, then met Pam and played for waltzing, and then met David and started playing with Stringdancer. She now plays exclusively for dancing – contra, Morris, English Country Dancing and nineteenth-century couples dancing. In addition to Stringdancer, she also plays contra dances with Reel Women and the Jigelos, Summer Lightening, and Chicory. She is also a member of the Halcyon Light Orchestra (Waltzing et al), Blackthorn Morris, the Tu'Penny Players and Ragged Robin (ECD). She has developed an unfortunate tendency to start dance series.
Pamela Carson Stoll, Fiddle
Pam started playing violin at age 9, and played in community orchestras in the US and France and then professionally with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In the early 90s, Pam started contra dancing and fell in love with the community and dance. She played with the Original Speckled Band for the English Country Dancers in St Louis and discovered the joys of being a dance musician. Playing waltzes with Martha and David evolved into Stringdancer, which still feels like "home". She also composes dance tunes and has been exploring other instruments including recorder, mandolin and bodhran. In addition to Stringdancer, she plays with Brittany Bay and Pigtown Alley, and organizes the quarterly Queen City Consort waltz evenings in Cincinnati.
David Kirchner, Guitar
In college, David told his friends continually that
he was going to buy a guitar and learn to play it. Eventually they
all chipped in to buy him one just to shut him up. He claims to be completely self-taught at the guitar, which means that he is apparently a really good teacher. He's a highly accomplished caller and dance writer as well. He has been known to call one of his own dances while playing the guitar, but has not yet done this while playing a tune he wrote, the slacker.
Stringdancer - the CD
The CD is now sold out. Since we still get really happy every time we get together and play, we really should make another. Too bad we live so far apart. It doesn't seem to stop us from playing a hot dance now and again, but we kind of think a new CD would be tough.
But WAIT! Now you can get the CD online.