CONTACT: Donna or Jane

Great Groove Bands at Old Songs  & Philadelphia Folk Festivals every year

Contradancing at weekends, camps & festivals

Old Songs Fiddle & Strings Camp 2007

Jane teaches a fiddle group

Donna, Jane and Max in Phoenix Mar 08

Donna on faculty at Mark O'Connor's San Diego Strings Conference - 2006

Max Cohen teaching fingerstyle guitar at 2007 Old Songs Festival

Donna with Rushad Eggleston and Darol Anger at Summer Strings 2006

site © 2008 Donna Hébert, www.fiddlingdemystified.com POB 2632, Amherst MA 01004

Groovemama press kit . . .

Print / photo

>> Press release PDFs - 1). TRIO  2). QUINTET

>> Calendar or festival program writeup 1). TRIO  2). QUINTET

>> 1). Band bios & credits 2). quotes

>> Darol Anger's foreword to Donna Hébert's 2007 Fiddling Demystified for Strings, Volume One, for violin, viola and cello

>> Photos - (large jpgs of band to come)

>> Stage plot and tech sheet: 1). TRIO - tours  2). QUINTET - Festival, concert & dance stages

Audio samples

>>  Thanksgiving Waltz © Cynthia Thomas - Jane/Donna fiddles, Max guitar, George bass - from Donna Hébert's "Fiddlejam"

>>  Brasstown / Uncle Bob's Boogie both © Donna Hébert - Jane/Donna fiddles, Jane banjo, Stu Kenney bass

>>  Wedding Dance (to come)

>>  Monopoly (to come)

>>  Sweet Journeys © George Wilson - guitar solo - Max Cohen- from Donna Hébert's "Fiddlejam" CD. (TO COME)

Calendar or festival program - quintet

When veteran dance, concert and teaching musicians Groovemama take the stage, their groove-driven music of three fiddles, three banjos and four-part harmony can raise the roof without even trying. When they step on the gas, magic happens! They were dubbed "A wild, unstoppable storm of music," at the 2007 Philadelphia Folk Festival, and that's true whether Groovemama are on a concert or dance stage.

Band members are Donna Hébert (fiddle, vocal), Jane Rothfield (fiddle, banjo, vocal), Max Cohen (guitar, vocal),  George Wilson  (fiddle, banjo, vocal) and Stuart Kenney (bass, banjo). Together they have more than a hundred years of playing and teaching experience. Coaching the Great Groove Band  of young musicians at both Philly and Old Songs Folk Fests every year, they also teach two weeks of fiddle camp for Old Songs each summer and work with school string programs in the northeast to develop an integrated fiddling curriculum for strings.

The band's new jam CD, "Fiddlejam," was recorded as a companion to Donna Hébert's "Fiddling Demystified for Strings" teacher-training curriculum for string teachers. They are currently working on a concert CD.

Donna founded Yankee Ingenuity contradance band, Rude Girls, her current Franco-American band Chanterelle (and with George Wilson), The Beaudoin Legacy. Jane plays in Celtic band Atlantic Bridge, dance group Jane's Gang and concert quartet Blue Yonder. Stu Kenney has tenured with dance bands Airdance and Wild Asparagus and now plays with dance band Tidal Wave. George has played with Bill Spence in Fennig's All-Stars for 30 years and also in Whippersnapper. Max Cohen, a rocker and Celtic fingerstyle guitarist, also accompanies singer Priscilla Herdman. All five have solo and group recordings.

Calendar or festival program - trio

When veteran dance, concert and teaching musicians Groovemama take the stage, their groove-driven music of two fiddles, banjo, guitar and three-part harmony can raise the roof without even trying. When they step on the gas, magic happens! They were dubbed "A wild, unstoppable storm of music," at the 2007 Philadelphia Folk Festival, and that's true whether Groovemama are on a concert or dance stage.

Band members are Donna Hébert (fiddle, vocal), Jane Rothfield (fiddle, banjo, vocal), Max Cohen (guitar, vocal). Coaching the Great Groove Band  of young musicians at both Philly and Old Songs Folk Fests every year, they also teach two weeks of fiddle camp for Old Songs each summer and work with school string programs in the northeast to develop an integrated fiddling curriculum for strings.

The band's new jam CD, "Fiddlejam," was recorded as a companion to Donna Hébert's "Fiddling Demystified for Strings" teacher-training curriculum for string teachers.

Donna founded Yankee Ingenuity contradance band, Rude Girls, her current Franco-American band Chanterelle (and with George Wilson), The Beaudoin Legacy. Jane plays in Celtic band Atlantic Bridge, dance group Jane's Gang and concert quartet Blue Yonder. Max Cohen, a rocker and Celtic fingerstyle guitarist, also accompanies singer Priscilla Herdman. All five have solo and group recordings.

Quotes

"Donna and her Groovemama colleagues changed the way my students and I think about fiddling. They helped us to feel confident enough to turn our music over, close our eyes and play independently. The techniques can be a real help to your ears for harmony and melody, your sense of rhythm and your bowing technique. There is nothing in classical music that approaches these skills in this way. I even started playing Mozart the following day in a different style - much lighter and more at ease! Through careful preparation, Donna has designed a program that teaches students theory and fiddling styles. She instructed us in detail on what to prepare, and she was very easy to work with. The students and their director will have materials to play and work with for the rest of their playing lives. They now have the tools to pursue fiddling further and we have all gained an appreciation of the art." Jane Ezbicki - Mass. ASTA chapter president, Fine Arts Director & Orchestra Conductor, Wayland MA Schools

"What a wild, unstoppable storm of music!" Ron Buchanan, dance caller with Groovemama, 2007 Philadelphia Folk Festival

"Donna gets it all right! I suspect that the general level of fiddle knowledge and playing will take a major uptick soon after [Fiddling Demystified] is published, just as other great music books such as Earl Scruggs’ original banjo book, O’Neill‘s great Irish fiddling reference, and the infamous jazz Real Book influenced the course of musicians’ lives and work." String wizard Darol Anger in his foreword to Fiddling Demystified

"Donna Hébert is an outstanding performer and world class teacher. I consider her at the forefront of the developing field of fiddle pedagogy." Dr. Alan Jabbour, Dir. (ret)., American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

"Max Cohen delivers lush glistening tones and makes use of immaculate arpeggiations and stately slurs. His relaxed but spirited execution holds true, even at virtuoso speed." - Guitar Player Magazine

"An endearing and inspiring performer. I love Max." -Dar Williams