elly home 
photo by John Ullmann 
photo by James Thieler 
Band news:
March 17, 2008: St. Patty's at Central Avenue Grill, Los Alamos, 6-9 p.m. We're excited... professional sound system and professional sound engineer on the board! You'll hear every chuckle and grunt....
November 10, 2007: Contra Dance in Santa Fe; Odd Fellows Lodge, Cerrillos Road; 7:30 p.m.
September 2007: It's been awhile since I've updated the site, but I'm getting caught up. We've had a busy few months and are looking forward to Scottish on Mondays this fall and a Contra Dance in Santa Fe in November.
November 2006: Los Alamos Contra Dance, Saturday November 18th, Unitarian Church, 1738 N. Sage St. (near 15th and Canyon). Instruction at 6:30, Dancing will be underway by 7:00. Alan Wadlinger calling. Childcare provided, but children are welcome to dance. Money collected at the door will be donated to three great causes: an orphanage in Uganda; small business seed money to help Africans who have AIDS keep working; and a Church that supports informal orphanages, particularly a woman in Durban who is raising 50 AIDS orphans on her own. These humanitarian funds have been organized by Maureen Barraclaugh, a Los Alamos artist who went to Africa in the summer of 2005 as a volunteer to work with families affected by AIDS. She has been fund raising by selling her photographic portraits of people and paintings from the trip. She wires funds directly to recipients in Uganda and South Africa. This is a remarkable local effort to make a difference. Marueen Barraclaugh's art will be displayed at the Contra and available for purchase. She will attend the contra and speak about her trip during the intermission. All of the money she raises goes directly, with no overhead, to those in need.
Contra Dance and Hambo Workshop, October 7th, Durango, CO: Well, Jim and I didn't expect to have to be Warm Bodies for the workshop, but we both learned to Hambo rather than accompanying the dancers! Cathy's big-note reels went well, and the melody trades seem to spice up the tunes!
Los Alamos Contra Dance, Saturday June 24th, Unitarian Church, 1738 N. Sage St. (near 15th and Canyon). Instruction at 7:00, Dancing will be underway by 7:30. Alan Wadlinger calling.
We enjoyed a surprise visit from John Chambers, of the Boston-area Roaring Jelly, who joined our jam session one evening in May! John, it was fun to meet you and your wife and get more connected...unfortunately we had TOO much to rehearse for our upcoming Highland Games and not enough time to simply jam and visit. Drop in again when you're next in town....
Come hear us at the Catamount Bar and Grill (125 E. Water St., Santa Fe) on St. Patty's Day! Pipers at 6:30, RJ at 7:30! Then, once you're out of bed on Saturday (3/18), come eat soup, listen to our music, and support a great cause (Self Help, Inc.) at the Empty Bowls luncheon at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos.
Rick Wallace (guitar, percussion), shares Nobel Peace Prize as part of IAEA !
Contra Dance in Santa Fe on Saturday, January 28 at the Odd Fellows Hall in Santa Fe.
Contra Dance in Los Alamos, on Saturday, November 19, at the Unitarian Church. Alan Wadlinger calling, RJ playing. 6:30 teaching, 7:00 dancing.
Evening Musicale coming up on 10/22/05 at the Unitarian Church in Los Alamos. Coffeehouse-style evening of music (including RJ).
7/17/05: Kitchen Angels' Lavender Faire, El Rancho de las Golondrinas (See photo of Cathy on dulcimer at right).
2/6/05: Band workshop with Roger Landes
11/04: Bette Korber (bodhran, whistle) wins E.O. Lawrence Award and gets cover story on Santa Fe Reporter for her AIDS research!
November 04: The band gets a new bus!! Click on the image below...
Band field trip to hear Lunasa at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe on October 15, 2004!
Who are we?
We're a group of folk musicians who play celtic and old-time tunes in the upper Rio Grande valley of New Mexico. Our bread and butter is accompaniment for Scottish country dancing (RSCDS) and contra dances, though we've been known to play an occasional gig at a pub on St. Patty's or for an occasional bar mitzvah (Hava Naguila anyone?).
We're an open group (come join us!) who jam on Sunday nights at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church in Los Alamos. We assemble a subset of the jam group for any given gig.
Our name comes from one of our standard tunes, also known as "Smash the Windows". And we're not to be confused with the venerable "other" Roaring Jelly band in the Boston area! (Think of us as bearing the torch in the wild West...)
Contact info:
keating at cybermesa dot com
