FARMINGTON – Old South Church Concert Series is excited to welcome internationally renowned fiddler and step dancer Richard Wood along with guitarist Gordon Belsher, Celtic musicians from Prince Edward Island, to the stage to kick off the 2019 season. Wood and Belsher will perform on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.
Acclaimed fiddler and step dancer, Richard Wood has been hailed by Time Out London for having “the fire of a rock god and all the talent and skill of a master musician.” For more than two decades, Wood has been applauded by audiences across Canada, as well as in the US, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Career highlights include TV appearances with Shania Twain on David Letterman and “Good Morning America,” a Carnegie Hall appearance with The Chieftains, a featured performance on CBC’s Canada Day on Parliament Hill program, “Rita MacNeil and Friends,” and an appearance with Jean Butler of Riverdance on “Celtic Electric.” Wood has played for Canada’s Prime Minister and Governor General, the Queen of England (in Toronto), and for the Emperor of Japan in Tokyo. Other notable gigs are Lincoln Center in New York City, Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World, and the touring fiddle spectacle “Bowfire.” Wood is proud to have entertained Canada’s armed forces in Bosnia and Afghanistan. He has seven CD recordings and has won three Canadian East Coast Music Awards.
Gordon Belsher has been entertaining audiences in Canada and around the world for more than 40 years, performing solo at concerts, ceilidhs, conventions and pubs. In 2014, Belsher received the Music PEI’s Lifetime Achievement Award. His album “Vagabond Minstrel” was nominated for Male Solo Recording of the Year at the 2015 Music PEI awards; previously his CD “Passed Presence, Past & Present” won Roots Traditional Recording of the Year at the 2013 awards. As accompanist and featured vocalist with Prince Edward Island fiddlers Richard Wood and Cynthia MacLeod, Belsher has toured extensively across Canada, in the US, the U.K., Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Whether playing before large festival crowds or in intimate folk club settings, Belsher’s engaging personality, charming voice and versatility on a variety of instruments are a recipe for a memorable evening.
Adult tickets are $15, and students $10/$5. Students participating in the jam session that begins at 6:15 p.m. get free admission to the concert. Tickets reservations are available by calling 207-491-5919. Old South Church is located at 235 Main Street in Farmington and is handicapped accessible.
For information about the Old South Church Concert Series please visit www.farmingtonucc.org or Facebook/Old South Church Concerts.
For more information about Richard Wood, please visit http://www.rwood.ca ; for information about Gordon Belsher, please visit http://www.guernseycove.ca.
