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Subject: Rum & Onions XXIX - it's on!
From: Michael Bell
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:39:41 -0400
Dear R&O musicians, past, present, and future,
Yes, Rum & Onions *is* gearing up again this fall!
For those of you new to our community, R&O, as it's affectionately known, is the name of the band which for many years now has formed and rehearsed for several weeks in the fall to play at a Halloween contra dance organized by the Princeton Country Dancers. This will be R&O XXIX! We have been joined in the past by many musicians from near and far. Instruments of all kinds are welcome, melody, rhythm, percussion.
We, Barbara Greenberg and Michael Bell, will be leading the band this year. The caller for the dance will be Rick Mohr, now from Philadelphia, well known for his great choices of dances, some of which he has composed like the new grid squares. Rick, a fine fiddler, is also the composer of some wonderful tunes.
The R&O Halloween dance this year is scheduled for Saturday, October 25 at Lawrence Intermediate School (venue for R&O XXVII in 2006). This year we will have an afternoon dance from 3:00 to 5:30pm followed by a pot-luck supper, starting at 6:00pm, then an evening dance from 7:30 until 11:00pm. The band will have to arrive well before the afternoon dance, probably by 2:00pm, so we can get everyone miked, run a sound check and get to hear ourselves in a different hall with a big sound system. Details of the arrangements will be provided later.
SIGNING UP
Please let us know by August 31 if you'd like to join us so we can arrange to have enough music. (If you're not sure by then, a "maybe" answer is also helpful. If you're on vacation and get this message later, answer when you can.) Also tell us what instrument you play, if we don't already know or if you're trying something new.
REHEARSALS
We will be having six rehearsals on Sundays in September and October:
Sep 7, 14: from 7-10 pm
Sep 21: from 3-6 pm (note the change in time)
Oct 5, 12: 7-10 pm
Oct 19: 2-10 pm (we break for a pot-luck supper in this final rehearsal)
All the rehearsals will be at the Suzanne Patterson Center, located behind Princeton Borough Hall on Monument Drive, Princeton, off Route 206, just south of the intersection with Route 27. Detailed directions are available at http://www.princetoncountrydancers.org/links/directions/dir_SPC.html
ATTENDANCE
Although we play tunes mainly from the contra dance repertoire, we always include a few surprises and make special arrangements, which is why we ask you attend most of the rehearsals. If you must miss one or two, let us know.
THE WARM-UP DANCE
By tradition, R&O also performs for the weekly contra dance in Princeton on the Wednesday immediately before the Saturday event. This year the warm up dance will be on Wednesday October 22, 8-10:30pm, once again at the Suzanne Patterson Center. * We encourage as many of the band members as can to come and play for the warmup dance. It helps the band gel by playing for a real, live dance. *
TUNE SUGGESTIONS
We are looking for some new tunes to include in the program this year. If you have heard or composed a tune that you would like the band to play, let us know and we will see whether we can include it in the program. Send us an email with the name and, if possible, a source or an electronic copy of the tune, or mail us a copy (either Michael at 70 Coppermine Rd, Princeton, NJ 08540 or Barbara at 325 Glenn Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648). We would like to have any suggestions ASAP, but certainly by the end of August.
We apologize that this announcement has been delayed, but we have been waiting for confirmation of the venue - it just came today. We do hope you can join us and look forward to working with you to make R&O XXIX fun and a great musical experience for all involved!
Barbara and Michael
greenbee1 AT comcast.net MBell AT pppl.gov
609 882 5775 732 297 6281