“T’were the days before Christmas and all thru the hall, armadillos were lurking beside Woody Paul, the canteens were hung on the mic stands with care, while Too Slim and Ranger Doug stood unaware, and Joey the Cowpolka King, there to distract us, near cellophane campfire and inflatable cactus…”

“Christmas the Cowboy Way”, the amazing and hilarious Riders in the Sky, 41 years of shenanigans and harmonic expertise under their big old silver belt buckles, from Rawhide to Rudolph, from Side-Meat to Longfellow, oh, such fun was had by all as hilarity ensued. Their backgrounds are diverse and perhaps a little surprising: from Woody Paul’s Ph.D. in theoretical plasma physics from MIT to Too Slim’s former careers as industrial galvonizer and puppeteer. Wonderful performance, and we all left with big smiles on our faces.

And so begins the winter into spring season at Carnegie. Coming up on January 19, and this will blow the roof off the place, Lift Me Up!  Masters of American Gospel: Special Event, featuring the Legendary Ingramettes of Richmond, Virginia, and the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers from Covington, Kentucky. This will be amazing!

Other upcoming performances include the Christian Sands Trio, and Béla Fleck The Solo Concert: Special Event, and The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, all in February.

March 8th brings the  African-Caribbean music of  Kaia Kater, while April features pianist Barbara Nissman on April 7th , and accordionist Magda Giannikou’s Banda Magna on the 12th .

On May 10th, the fabulous SteelDrivers will return. I can’t stop singing their song “If It Hadn’t Been for Love”…Truer words were never spoken. “Never would’ve seen the trouble that I’m in, If it hadn’t been for love, would’ve been gone like a wayward wind, if it hadn’t been for love. Nobody knows it better than me, I wouldn’t be wishing I was free, if it hadn’t been, if it hadn’t been for love…”

Go out and hear the music that calls to you. Surprise yourself.  Happiest of New Years , my darlings.

– Susanna Robinson, HashtagWV #109. January 2019.