Dave Nealon: Calendar

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Back Home on the Farm

With Mark Currence and Bryan Bridges (as The Foddershocks).

Opening for Loose Gravel (http://www.loosegravelbluegrass.com).

Fun for all. Kids will enjoy the carousel and cow train.

What a beautiful place! Just off of Rt. 42, but you can't hear the road at all. Nice shade provided by the walnut trees, and there landscaping is amazing. The Hesses are very friendly--they'll bring you food so you don't have to leave the music. They're really making Down Home on the Farm a nice place. And the Virginia Carousel is really cool--lovingly hand painted by Britney Mongold with historic and natural scenes.

So the venue is really nice, and it was great fun to play music tonight. So glad that Bizzy Smucker and Keith Bly came to hear. And what a treat to open for Loose Gravel. If you haven't heard them, you oughta. Swing, traditional grass, and some innovative loveliness. http://www.loosegravelbluegrass.com/

Anyway, every time I play out, I learn something. I'm trying not to dwell on my mistakes. A little improvement each time.

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Back Home on the Farm

Bluegrassiness with Mark Currence and Bryan Bridges. We're billed as The Foddershocks. Family atmosphere with carousel, cow train, water events, and fine music.

Great (and humbling) to see fine musicians Don Depoy and Martha Hills--plus Dave Landes who came all the way from Turkmenistan to see us.

I'll write more after our Sunday night show.

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Private Party

Birthday bash with Mike Williams on fiddle. Maybe others will bring instruments, too.

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Highland Retreat

Great annual event at a great place. Featuring Mike and Ramona Shenk, backed up by Terry Newman on bass, Mike Williams on fiddle, and me on banjo. Nice ad-hoc band!

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Private Wedding

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Eastern Mennonite School

Songwriter and comedy extravaganza!

Wow. That was euphoric. I just can't believe all the great songs people write. They really understand the human condition! What a great bunch of folks, and the audience was wonderful! First time in a while that I've played for several hundred in rapt attention. Thanks to all!

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Crozet Music Festival

3rd Annual. Great festival! The best of Piedmont Virginia (and this Valley kid). I'm on the Indoor Stage.

What a great festival! I'm actually shy enough to avoid most festivals, but Crozet was delightful. I really enjoyed the bands. And the sound was just right. Crystal clear, but not too loud. You could enjoy chatting with friends.

Very impressed with Mariana Bell, Wes Swing, and Martinez & Guthrie. Blues Farm and Mando Mafia were up to their usual standards, too.

Plus great talking with Flip, Bain, Biff, Anna, Daniel, Molly, Tewks, and Gene.

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Staunton Contra Dance

I'll be the rhythm section in Wilderness Road, the band led by fine fiddler Rus Stallings.

Really fun playing with Rus. He's a fine, fine fiddler. Fine. And very nice atmosphere, too.

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Highland Retreat

with an expanded Case Studies! Fiddles, mandos, banjos, who knows?

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Cross Keys Vineyards

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Spring Fest

with Mark Rallings

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

Fundraiser

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Wedding

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Garbers Church

Talent Show, Silent Auction, Dinner, and Bake Sale to raise money for Relay for Life. I'll play a 20-minute set or so.

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Fareways Restaurant

Massanutten Resort.

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food and fine tunes.

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Earth & Tea

Relax with good food and good tunes.

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food, great tea. A good listening room. It would be great to have a nice crowd.

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great tea. Smoke free. Fine tunes. Downtown.
(Tentative)

Friday, May 16th, 2008

Hideway Lounge

The Finals! Come cheer me in the championship round!
Massanutten Waterpark.

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food, great tea. Smoke free and a good place to hear the music. Please come!

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Brad Yoder in backyard concert

Another great Mennofolk night at the home of Dave and Lisa Landes. Bring a lawn chair and a snack to share, if you wish. I'm not playing, but Dave Landes and Chris Kniss will each play a short set before Brad takes the stage. If you haven't heard Brad yet, you're in for a treat. He's a great songwriter and musician.

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Hideaway Lounge

A friendly competition among performers, so come and cheer for me! Most cheers wins, and last time I got whooped by a guy standing on a chair and doing Tarzan yells. He had a lot of friends in the audience!

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

Relay For Life Talent Show

Talent Show and Bake Sale to raise money for Relay for Life. I'll play a 20-minute set or so.
At Garber's Church of the Brethren.

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food, great tea. Smoke free and a good place to hear the music. Please come!

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Shenandoah Pizza

Great food, nice atmosphere in downtown Staunton.

Monday, December 31st, 2007

First Night Harrisonburg

(Price includes dozens of acts all around downtown.)
Great First Night lineup!
Please come join us. We're in a great listening room; it will be a really nice blend of energies, textures, and songs you'll keep humming well into the new year.

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Joan, Judy & Joni night!

Great performers playing the songs of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell. I'll back up some of the acts on guitar and mandolin. Wendy Chappell-Dick, Kelsey Landes, Barb Graber and Gina Holsopple. Not to be missed.

What a great night! Each performer was unique, inspired, provocative, and a lot of daggone fun. So sorry if you missed it. I had forgotten how influential each of those three women were. What great songs!

Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Hideaway Lounge

At the indoor water park at Massanutten resort. I'll play a 20-minute set sometime in the evening.

Saturday, October 27th, 2007

Wedding

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

Crozet Park

Come to the inaugural Crozet Music festival! Great place, great bands. There's lots of excitement about this one. And Pat Reynolds will join me on bass on who-knows-what. Don't be late!

Saturday, September 15th, 2007

Dylan Night

Another great Mennofolk night at the home of Dave and Lisa Landes. Bring a lawn chair and a snack to share, if you wish. Jonathan Reuel, Jerry Holsopple and Barb Graber, Dave Landes, Alex Albrecht and me. And you singing along.

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

Carytown Streets

A great street festival in the Carytown neighborhood of Richmond, VA.

11:00 - 11:30am - at Stage 3 - Clementines (3118 W. Cary St.)

2:30 - 3:00pm at Stage 3 - Clementines (3118 W. Cary St.)

3:40 - 4:00pm at Stage 1 - Double T (2907 W. Cary St.)

Joined by Pat and Teddi Reynolds--old pals and bandmates.

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

Nature Camp

Private celebration.

Friday, June 22nd, 2007

Little Grill

with Jonathan Reuel

Great to share the stage with Jonathan! I love his songs. They make me think, and they cheer me up. Not just a way with words, but a way to make the guitar and voice have a conversation with each other!

And, of course, Grill folks were wonderful! Thanks also to Jerry and Steve for coming out and participating.

Friday, June 15th, 2007

AO House Reunion

Private celebration.

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food, great tea. Smoke free and a good place to hear the music. Please come!

Friday, June 1st, 2007

Frontier Culture Museum

With fiddler Russ Stallings on the Irish and American farms. Special free admission to the museum for First Friday of the month evening program.

Monday, May 28th, 2007

Elmwood Park

2nd performance of the weekend at a fine outdoor festival in downtown Roanoke.

Beth joined me for a whole set. We played songs we used to sing in college days. Old-time songs and songs that sound old. Great fun for me, and Beth--though dismayed at how well that microphone picked up her guitar--did great.

Saturday, May 26th, 2007

Elmwood Park

Great downtown festival in Roanoke.

Wow! Jam-packed park. Downtown Roanoke was really humming. I feel like I did a good job establishing a groove and getting passersby to stop and listen. Afterward, folks who stopped to talk were really positive. One woman said my style was natural and easygoing, and my song choices a great fit for my voice and playing style. She really liked "Proverbial Rag."

Friday, May 25th, 2007

Woody Guthrie Tribute

Featuring Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels, plus a raft of folkies (including me)--all performing Woody Guthrie songs in a wonderful backyard setting. Thanks to Mennofolk, to Shalom Mennonite Congregation, and to Dave and Lisa Landes. Proceeds help us deliver another great Mennofolk festival.

What a great time! Big crowd, beautiful backyard setting, and amazing to have such a variety of sounds--all on songs by Woody. And the readings were amazing. What a mind! What a heart!

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Konnoak Hills Moravian Church

Family-friendly outdoor festival.

Sunday, May 6th, 2007

Blue Ridge Community College

Case Studies in a rare Virginia appearance! Lots of crafts and acoustic performers, plus pony rides and critters to pet. Nice atmosphere.
Come earlier: We're the last performers on Sunday.

What a blast! So much fun with Mark. And it was really great to talk to folks afterwards--budding musicians, avid listeners, and other performers. Thanks to all.

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great food and teas. Nice atmosphere. Smoke-free. Come and enjoy.

Thanks to Denise and Dwayne Martin for stopping in.

A fine night: lots of compliments and tips and CDs bought.

Friday, April 13th, 2007

Larkin Art Gallery

Pleasant evening with visual art and music all around downtown Harrisonburg. The price is right, too!

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

Grace Mennonite Fellowship

Fundraiser for youth group.
Dinner is at 6:30. Beth and I will sing after dinner.

Thanks for great planning and hard work--kids and Marlene and Bill and Leslie and Jenny.

Beth and I sang Hazel Dickens' "West Virginia," a rowdy yodeling version of "Way Out There," plus Gillian Welch's "Orphan Girl" with Jenny Arbogast. I also debuted my song, "Early," the story of your life in three short verses. And I sang "Proverbial Rag."

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

Earth & Tea Cafe

Great teas, soups, breads, and sandwiches. Nice atmosphere. I'll try out lots of my new songs. Stop by! Just north of Newman Ave. downtown on Main.

Ah, a great place! Smoke free, friendly. A place you can talk. And when I finished, a bunch of folks brought in jembes and a sitar and who knows what all. A splendid time.

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

Frontier Culture Museum

Sitting in with Mollyhawk for a concert of Irish music and a few set dances. Some fine singers plus hammered dulcimer and fiddle .

Great fun. Sarah McCumsey and Kelsey Landes are both delightful singers, and their harmonies with Dave Landes on Wild Mountain Thyme kinda made me cry. Russ Stallings' fiddling was great all evening, but his medley of Slieb Russell and Alabama Ricks was really impressive. And we all knew Dave Landes was hot on the hammered dulcimer and banjo, but I was surprised by his intricate, delicate fingerpicking on guitar.

My job was to add some rhythm and texture without wrecking anything. If I did that, I hope they'll invite me back.

Great turnout, and lots of folks stayed to dance. Three good sets and a last waltz. (And the only beverage was tea.) Imagine that!

Friday, March 16th, 2007

The Little Grill

Hannah's a fine songwriter with a cool jazzy voice. Check her work at www.hannahbingman.com

Cancelled. What a bummer. Hannah was snowed in up PA way, I guess, and the Grill called at about 7:00 to say they were closing up early. I hoped no-one was venturing far to see me. But sure enough, college buddies Jeff and Elizabeth Bowman came all the way across the Blue Ridge to celebrate their anniversary with us at the Grill. And we weren't there! Sorry, friends!

Well, I really did have the flu, and I slept about 8 hours during the day to try to have the strength to perform, so maybe it's just as well that I didn't infect anyone. Hannah would have needed to boil the microphone before following me onstage.

Friday, February 9th, 2007

Hardesty Higgins House

Wonderful food by A Bowl of Good. Come learn about the co-op and help make it happen!
7:00 Nonesuch (traditional)
7:45 Dave Nealon - originals
8:30 Trent Wagler - originals
Come hear us all!
Child-friendly. Great atmosphere.

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Bolton Elementary School

Private concerts for students

Great kids. And Beth did some fine flatfoot dancing. Wonderful to see old friend and housemate Greg Gilliam. He and the faculty of Bolton School are helping kids do some pretty creative things.

Saturday, December 30th, 2006

Twelfth Night

Private celebration

What a wonderful event! I reckon there were a hundred people listening, and every performance was delightful. And then we jammed and sang and had fun till long past the bovine homecoming.

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

Virginia Mennonite Conference

Private Christmas Celebration

Ah, when Mennonites sing together, it gives you chills. A great time.

Beth and I sang about 5 thoughtful songs: Greg Brown's Christmas Street, Paul Stookey's Christmas Dinner, Christ Was Born In Bethlehem (traditional collected from Australia), and Pierce Pettis's Miriam. Then we all sang some carols together.

I was proud of Beth for taking the lead voice on some of these songs. She's usually been the quiet harmonizer in the back.

Saturday, October 14th, 2006

Eastern Mennonite University

Case Studies' first Harrisonburg performances.

Great to introduce Mark to a Virginia crowd. Fun festival, good folks. Thanks to the Trainums for showing up in force. Great to hear Katie Grove Band on stage before us. Nice sound!