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4/1/2012
20/12/2011 We are looking forward to the Waipu ceilidh - love to see you there. Then we are into the wedding season ...
9/11/2011 Yes we are playing and dance calling for the Waipu Highland Games ceilidh on January 2 in the New Year. We think this is our tenth time! Note that it is not on Jan 1 (the usual date) as New Year's Day is on a Sunday and good Presbyterians do not do Sundays. Always a great night. We have booked the Irish Club for our End of Year Hooley!! on Saturday December 17. Yes, we know it is close to Christmas - what better reason to let your hair down? It is never easy finding suitable dates at this time of the year. We have also set dates for our dance classes at the Irish Club for Terms 1 and 2, 2012. So good news for all you dancers. 26/6/2011 It was great to perform again in the Plaza area at Brown's Bay for the Market Day at Browns Bay last Saturday. The rain threatened but stayed away until we were packing up! We enjoy the family groups and attentive audience. The clowns worked hard and effectively. Plenty of fun for all - including us! Once again the Riverhead ceilidh last night was superbly organised by Jude's "A" team and band of helpers. The hall looked a real picture with the midwinter festive theme. The shared supper was great. There is something warm and comforting about a local community hall and the the Riverhead Hall is up there. That crowd doesn't stop dancing! 19/4/2011 There was a great turn out for our end of term ceilidh at the Irish Society. There was a real buzz and plenty of vigorous, stylish dancing. The treat of the night was Hayley dancing a soft shoe hornpipe and later a hard shoe jig. Lovely work as always. The term 2 dance classes start again on Monday 23 May (see gig page for details). A great way to warm up for the week as the nights get colder! Twisty Willow is playing again for the Riverhead Ceilidh in the Riverhead Hall on Saturday 25 June. The locals really get into this fund-raiser. The organisation, decoration, costumes, supper and fun atmosphere is top notch. A really good night out. More details to come. If you haven't watched it before, check out the TV1 snippet of Te Radar going to it a couple of years ago. Its on our Home page. 24/3/2011 We really enjoyed the concert in the park at Cornwall Park. Great turn out and pleasing feedback. St Patrick's day was a blast. It was Kerry's first St Pats with Twisty Willow and he did a great job. We have worked very hard melding together Kerry's repertoire and the established Twisty Willow repertoire and we are pleased with the result. The Term 1 Ceilidh Dance classes finished last Monday. We have seen plenty of great dancing during the term. Next Friday 1 April we have our Term 1 family ceilidh at the Irish club. Should be a fun night. Make up a party and come and enjoy the music and the craic. Past and present members of the dance classes, family and friends and anyone who enjoys Celtic music and called social dancing is welcome. See the gig page for details 5/1/2011
Some pics from the Waipu ceilidh:
30/12/2010 During 2010 Duane travelled back to the UK for family reasons. He found a job over there so will not be returning to Twisty Willow. It has been a great 10 years with Duane - 3 albums produced and around 500 gigs. So it is the end of an era for us and the start of a new one. Martin Pyke has played guitar with us whenever Duane has been back in the UK and had agreed to join us long term. Unfortunately arthritis in his hands has flared up and so has reluctantly declined the long term commitment. We hope we can work with him in the future on short term recording or performing. Martin is a skilled musician who can back anything and enjoys a challenge. 26/7/2010 Barb and Wes are back from a great holiday in Scotland. This included a week in Hatton Castle north of Dundee where Barb joined 12 other fiddlers mainly from NZ with 1 from each of USA, Australia and Scotland for master classes with 2 of Scotland's top fiddlers and teachers: Dougie Lawrence and Gregor Borland. Magic. Some pics (click on a pic to see larger view, then use Back arrow)
10/6/2010 The family ceilidh on June 4 was great fun and the Auckland Irish Society clubrooms once again proved an excellent venue. The dance floor was full all night and we had a good group of musicians join with the band. Our next round of classes starts on Monday August 9 - see the gig page for details. Some pics from the ceilidh (click on a pic to see larger view):
7/5/2010 The ceilidh dance classes at the Irish Society have started really well. Past dancers have commented on how much better the facilities are. It is not too late to join! $40 will give you entry to the remaining 3 Monday nights plus the Family Ceilidh on Friday 4 June. Or you can come along on a casual basis for $12 per night ($2 for under 16 or over 70). The Family ceilidh on June 4 promises to be a good one. The bar will be open with very reasonable prices. There is a comfortable lounge area and a great dance floor. It is free if you sign up for the remaining dance classes. Otherwise: Adults $12, Children $2, Family group $20. Bring a plate of finger food (that does not need heating) for a shared supper.
30/3/2010
6/2/2010
1/2/2010 The Taupo Joust was fun as usual. The historical encampment and the jousting, individual skill competitions, battles and all sorts of strange random activities makes for a really interesting time. The revels were a blast with several hundred of the encamped jousters dancing all night. We just find it hard to understand why many more of the general public don't turn up to what is a great family entertainment for 2 days. 4/1/2010 Happy New Year! The Riverhead Christmas Ceilidh was a blast - looks as if it will become an annual event. Whangamata was a challenge given the audience in the first hour and a half consisted of family groups while in the last half after dark it was mainly teens. We kept them all happy - managed a couple of called dances which set the scene for some creative moves to our music that transcended calling! There were many attempts at stage diving and some great singing along. A big thanks to Scott who did the sound and lighting - one of the best. The Waipu Highland Games ceilidh had a great turn-out and the dancing was vigorous and continuous. This gig is one of our favourites helped in strong measure by the excellent planning and organising by the Waipu Caledonian Pipe Band and the able leadership of Fraser. 15/11/2009 Welcome back to Duane and a big thank you to Martin for so ably backing on the guitar while Duane was away. We have a busy schedule from now and into the New Year. Our annual end of year ceilidh is coming up on Friday 27 November, 7.30pm at Henderson High School Hall. Note that it is on a Friday this year as our Saturdays are tied up with private gigs. Always a good night. Make up a party group and come and join us. 19/10/2009 We are thrilled to have been asked to play at the Whangamata Festival for our 4th time this year. We enjoy the professional yet laid-back way it is run. It is pleasing the organisers have returned to a format of different genres each night and that we have been invited back on the basis of passed performances. It will be good to do a full 3 hour concert set. We will adding in a few called dances. Cool. Term 4 ceilidh dance night classes started with a keen group of dancers last night. We can always do with more! Don't forget you can come on a casual pay by the night basis. 24/09/2009 We are very pleased to be asked to play for the ceilidh at the 139th Waipu Highland Games on January 1, 2010. We have played this gig many times and have always enjoyed ourselves. Don't miss out - the whole day is a great Scottish event that gets better every year. Book your summer holiday accommodation up that way NOW. Camping grounds and motels fill up fast! Night class Ceilidh Dance classes start again on Monday October 12 at Henderson High School Hall. This will be the last term of government subsidised classes (see Wes' view of this stupid decision to cut funding). However we are determined to see classes continue in some form. The local Community Education organisation is continuing next year with hobbies classes on a user pays basis. So we are in negotiation ... 28/06/2009 What a great night last night at the mid winter ceilidh! The hall was full, the dancing was vigorous and skilled and the shared supper was varied and generous. We were thrilled to be able to celebrate Helen Koller's 70th birthday on this night. Helen and family have been loyal and enthusiastic supporters for many years, so it was a special treat to have grand daughter Hayley dance a sword dance. Hayley has developed into a confident, skilled dancer who has poise and makes all the moves look so simple. It is no wonder she is winning prizes. We have been privileged to see her dancing develop. She followed up the sword dance with a fling joined by Helen and aunty Alison. 3 generations dancing together! Piper Robert Haliday provided the music for this dancing on the bag-pipes with his usual high standard of performance. We meet up with Robert on many Scottish gigs and it is always a pleasure.
Click on a picture above to see larger image. Use Back arrow to return here The large number of family groups added great energy to the occasion. We had up to 12 musicians in the "orchestra" supporting Twisty Willow's playing including some of Barb's fiddle students. We enjoy providing the opportunity for musicians to perform live and seeing the young and not so young develop their playing and repertoire. The next ceilidh dance classes start in Term 4 on Monday October 12. 10/04/2009 We finished the Term 1 ceilidh dance night class last week with a great group of dancers and musicians. We say goodbye to Duane who is heading back to London for 6 months to see family. This will be his 4th summer in a row! He will be back in October. Meanwhile Martin Pyke has again agreed to be our guitarist during this time. Fans will remember his excellent backing. Welcome back Martin! Duane's last gig before his trip, will be at our album launch/ceilidh at the Oratia Bowling club on Saturday April 18, 7.30pm. See the Gig page for more details. The Term 2 classes start on Monday May 11. See the Gig page for more details. 3/03/2009 What a great group of dancers we have at this term's ceilidh dance night class! With over 50 dancers each night so far, it is a real buzz. Everyone has picked up the moves so quickly - despite the hot nights! There is also a mini orchestra joining Twisty Willow to supply the music. We encourage Celtic musicians to come and play with us and on Monday there were a flautist, a guitarist and 3 fiddlers! Don't forget it is never too late to join the fun and you can come along on a casual basis for just $7.00 per night. And that includes juice and bickies for supper. 16/02/2009 Yesterday's gig at Cornwall Park was a blast. Nice weather, big, responsive crowd, lots of friends - great fun. Pity about the parking - we know some people had to walk quite a distance to join us. Thanks. 8/11/2008 A big welcome back to Duane and a big thank you to Martin for so ably filling in on guitar while he was away. While Duane was away he had a couple of London friends add tracks to our current recording tracks - some nice bass, mandolin and squeeze box. We are having an excellent turn-out to the ceilidh dance classes - 50+ last week. Don't forget you can come along on a casual basis. If you are a Celtic musician you are welcome to come and play along. We have had 3 extras each night this term. Check out the gig page for: St Andrews night; End of year Night Class ceilidh; Waipu Games ceilidh and concert; Music in Parks. 9/07/2008 Another fun ceilidh night last Saturday! It was great to have the City of Auckland Morris Dancers as guests. They added colour and a vigorous dancing display. Some audience members were brave enough to join in! Henry Faulkner's camera was in good form too, so there are photos to follow. A special moment was Robert Halliday playing impeccably on the pipes and 7 Year old Hayley dancing a Highland Fling. Grandmother Helen, who has been a member of our dance classes since inception, looked fit to burst with pride! The hall was pretty cold so it was great to have so many people dancing up a storm to keep the temperature up! Guitarist, Martin came from his sick-bed to perform - hard when it was so cold on stage - well done Martin! It was also good to have 2 of Barb's fiddle students, Helen and Irene, join us on stage to play along for the dances. We like to encourage Celtic musicians to come and join in during the regular night class nights as well. Ceilidh dance classes start again in Term 4 on October 20 - see Gig page for details. The end of year ceilidh will be on Saturday December 6. Mid Year Ceilidh Pics: (Click on an image to enlarge) 19/04/2008 It was sad to say goodbye to Duane at the last Ceilidh Dance Night. Duane and Rebecca are off to London and Belfast for 6 months for family reasons. We will miss Duane very much from the band and hope that their time with family is warm and rewarding. He will be back in time for the end of year rush of gigs! We WILL finish that difficult 3rd album eventually!! Martin Pyke has agreed to bring his considerable guitar skills to the band over that time so a big welcome to Martin! 03/03/2008 Ceilidh night class numbers have grown to around 80! It is a great group who pick up the dances very quickly! 22/02/2008 Ceilidh Night Class We were blown away with the great turnout at the ceilidh dance night class on the first night of the year. With 70 or more it created a great craic and the dancing was of a high standard too with the newbies picking up the moves quickly. We had a ball. With 3 guest players up with the band it added to the buzz (1 extra of each of fiddle, guitar and tin whistle). 17/02/2008 House Concert at Wes and Barb's place We enjoyed this inaugural event. It was pleasing to play the sorts of material that often gets left out of our regular gigs - especially Duane's songs. Thanks to all who attended and contributed $100.00 towards the Native Forest Restoration Trust. We plan to have a couple of House Concerts next summer. 10/02/2008 **POSTPONED** House Concert at Wes and Barb's Native Fern Nursery Sunday 10 Feb, 1.30pm **POSTPONED** 26/01/2008 We had a great time at the Great Lakes Medieval Festival. It was a pretty impressive site. A medieval village set up over a large area, Knights, damsels, belly dancers, peasants, horses, Romans, battles, competitions, great food ... 3 days of everything medieval. Our music went down a treat and the crowd danced until late after the feast. Couldn't get enough of the called dancing! Some pics (click on a thumbnail to enlarge, then back arrow):
5/01/2008 We will miss the Auckland Folk Festival this year as we have been invited to play at the Great Lakes Medieval Festival at Taupo over anniversary weekend 26-28 January. This is a 3 day event of things medieval with serious competition in the arts of medieval warfare! We will be leaving our weapons at home of course. Instead, on Sunday 27 we will be performing in the afternoon for the visitors and competitors. That night we will be the minstrels entertaining and calling the dancing at the Banquet along with the jugglers, sword-swallowers and fire eaters! Details: www.taupojoust.com
The Waipu Highland Games ceilidh on Jan 1 was a full house and lots of fun. Despite the heat, everyone danced vigorously. There were wonderfully precise performances by piping competition winners in the breaks and the Waipu Pipe Band were great hosts as usual. The feedback we received was most gratifying and it looks likely we will be there again next year. This year's games had the highest attendance ever - up from 4000 last year to 7000. We have six of Duane's songs almost complete for our new album and hope to finish the other tracks very soon.
The wedding season gets under way late January so we have a good number of bookings. We really enjoy the family atmosphere of these. There are many couples who meet overseas where they have experienced the craic of a ceilidh and wish to have the same at their special day back home. 02/12/2007 Ceilidh dance classes start again in 2008 on Monday February 18. What this space for details. Also check here for a house concert at Wes and Barb's in late January on a Sunday afternoon - still working on the date. We will feature Duane's new songs and of course hope to have the new album available! Promises, promises! There is enough space on the decks for some dances as well. If you are up in Waipu for the new year, we would love to see you at the ceilidh on the night of Jan 1. 23/11/07 CHANGE OF VENUE FOR END OF YEAR CEILIDH Map and Directions from Henderson High: (Click here for a printable pdf version: Bruce McLaren Int Hall)
11/11/07 CHANGE OF VENUE FOR CEILIDH NIGHT CLASS Map and Directions: (Click here for a printable pdf version: Waiatarua Community Hall)
04/11/07 We have been impressed with the enthusiasm and expertise of the new dancers at our ceilidh dance night class! It really helps that experienced dancers continue to come to the classes. Having the "experts" means dances flow easily and learners can follow them. If you are considering joining, be assured that you will be most welcome. It is never too late to come on a casual basis. We enjoyed playing at Mt Eden's "Spring Thing" street festival on Saturday and it was good to see familiar faces in the crowd. What a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and there were plenty of things happening - great village family atmosphere. We are thrilled to be invited to play for the Waipu Highland Games Ceilidh once again. Our brand of called dancing mixed with songs went down a treat this year and they have asked us back for Jan 1, 2008 starting 8.00pm. Get your tickets early as this always sells out on the day. If you have never experienced the unique atmosphere of the dancing and athletic competitions, aim to spend the day there then dance the night away with Twisty Willow! Games site: www.highlandgames.co.nz 22/10/07 Next Night class Ceilidh - Saturday 1 December, Henderson High School Hall, 8.00-10.30pm 01/07/07 What a great midwinter ceilidh last night with a full hall! We enjoyed catching up with old friends, past and present dancers and their friends and families - and the shared supper was superb. The dancing was pretty good too! Even the interruption when the school alarm went off had its positive side - our friend from the City of Auckland Pipe Band brought out his pipes and a vigorous Strip the Willow outside kept everyone warm! Later we were treated with a solo from the pipes and a Highland fling from a young, keen dancer. All-in-all a most satisfying night for Twisty Willow and everyone had a good time. Thanks. Remember there are no Ceilidh Dance night classes in Term 3. Looking forward then to Term 4 when classes start again on Monday 15 October and our End of Year Ceilidh on Saturday December 1. 12/04/07 We had a most relaxing, enjoyable visit to Great Barrier Island over Easter. It was a holiday break to celebrate Duane and Rebecca's 30th anniversary and a chance for them to do something interesting with their son and his wife over from England with Duane and Rebecca's new gorgeous grandson, Athan. We performed an impromptu set at the Currach Irish Pub and enjoyed the hospitality of hosts Phil and Moira. Island life is special. A great place to visit. We will be back. (Photo: Kaka feeding outside our room) News We routinely record new material. Duane is writing new songs faster than we can learn them; there are the tune sets we use at our night class; there are "old favourites" that audiences request; new traditional tunes that Barb wants us to do ......... We will be producing small CD runs but this is not the only way to distribute our music. So we have set up a Twisty Willow site at Amplifier where we will add tracks. Amplifier promotes New Zealand music and provides a service where you can listen to or purchase tracks for download. We think this is a great way of legally paying for the music you really wish to hear.
We sent off a copy of "Remember Them" (Duane's song inspired by the battlefields of France) to the government when they were deciding if there should be entertainment at Gallipoli. We didn't get the job! Next time. It is a great song.
Some pics from our UK trip (click on a thumbnail to see larger view):
Twisty Willow is one of the three featured bands in an article about wedding bands.
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Great Lakes Medieval Festival at Taupo
