June 24 Tuesday
Just thought I would give an update before we head into our busy Kutztown Festival week.
On Saturday we were scheduled to perform at the Penn-Mar Irish Festival with the Lancaster School of Irish Dance. But in an unfortunate turn of events, the dance school had to pull out of the show and we went just as the Martin Family Band.
The festival was a really fun event with lots of bands and Irish dancers performing throughout the day. Melissa and I had a chance to play in the jam session with Round the House, a Celtic band fromTuscon, Arizona. After that, we watched the Broesler School of Irish Dance perform, and they were amazing! Two of the dancers are in their own family band called Irish Blessing. Its always great to meet other families who also perform. They stayed around to watch our show. I must say, it's very nerve-racking to have the best dancers in North America watching me dance!
A concert by Barleyjuice finished up the day. They are very good. I especially enjoyed the bagpipe tunes that they played.
The Kutztown Festival starts this Saturday and ends next Sunday. Hope to see you one of these days!
Leave us a message on the guestbook!
~Emily
June 1 Sunday
Hello everyone! Here's a quick review of what's been happening around here.
On the first of May we did another show at Highlands Assisted Living. We were all ready to put our table boards together for dancing when we realized that we were out of duct tape! What a dilemma. Fortunately someone found some for us and saved the day. If you are a Irish dancer, you know that duct tape is a requirement. Some of us at the Lancaster School of Irish Dance can't dance without it!
On May 17 I officially graduated from high school. YAY! What wonderful weather we had that day. Unfortunately, the next day wasn't so nice. We had a show to play at the Family Festival in Sinking Spring. The event lasted from 9 am-3pm and that's exactly how long the rain lasted.
On May 24, I was in the Annville Memorial Day Parade with the pipe band. It was a gorgeous day for a parade!
Yesterday we did a show at the Fiddle Festival and Competition at the Gruber Wagon Works. Before we headed out, the rain was dumping down. We all were thinking, "Oh no, is this going to be another rain event??" By the time we arrived at the festival the rain was done. The show went well. I loved the sound of the stage. It was great for hardshoe dancing! Melissa and I did not compete in the competition but Christy signed up for it. And she took 1st place in her division! Congratulations Christy!
I will try to write again soon. Hope to see you at one of our upcoming shows!
~Emily
April 30 Wednesday
Our first show for April was at the Millcreek Community Center right here in Newmanstown! It was very nice to be able to go and set up, come home and go back just in time to perform. My bagpipe teacher, Linda, came to watch the show and of course we asked her to play a few tunes on the pipes. She and I played several tunes together before the show and in between sets. Thanks so much, Linda! Also a big thank you to all who came out to see us!
The next week we did performances at Cedar Haven and the Wernersville State Hospital where Earl worked for many years.
On the 19th there was a session at Cahill's Fish and Chips. We always have alot of fun jamming with other musicians and learning new tunes. We also got to hear Terry play his uilleann pipes for the first time. Wow! Next month's session is May the 17th. None of us are able to be there that day (I'm graduating!) but come out anyway. If you play an instrument bring it along or just sit and listen and eat the delicious food they have!
Last Monday we did a MFB/Lancaster School of Irish Dance (LSID) show in Philadelphia at a convention center close to the Philly airport. It's always alot of fun doing shows together with LSID!
The next day we played at the Renova Center and one of the volunteers came onstage and did some hoedown dancing. Thusrday, we played at a Transition to Community banquet.
Last night we did our last show for April at the Bird-In-Hand Restaurant. Their desserts are excellent by the way!
On May 24, I will be in the Annville Memorial Day parade with the pipe band if you would like come and watch.
We finally did some recording for a new CD this month and we hope to have it out soon! Hooray!!!
I hope to see you all soon at an upcoming show! Leave a message on our guest book.
~Emily
April 9 Wednesday
Hello everyone! Here's an update on what we have been doing these days.
On March 5 I did a show with the pipe band at Masonic Village. While they were taking a break, some of us from the Martin family played some tunes. So I didn't get a break! It was a lot of fun though!
Later that week we played at a private St. Patrick's Day party and at a church in Lancaster.
On Sunday of that week, I spent the day with the pipe band marching (mostly waiting at the top of the mountain) in the Jim Thorpe St. Patrick's Day Parade. We were on the mountain for hours freezing and waiting for the parade to start. Dad traded his little green leprechaun hat with a fireman who gave him a pile of hats in return. We tried several creative ways of staying warm. Standing at the exhaust pipe of the fire truck in front of us, dancing, singing rounds of Kumbaya, jumping up and down- it certainly was an interesting experience and I hope to do it again next year!
The next Wednesday, we were scheduled to perform at Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia. It was unusual to watch people grocery shopping while we played! The next day we did a show at the Youth for Christ Benefit Auction. On Friday we did a show for the Annville Senior Group and another performance later in the evening at Arbor Gate. On Saturday we did our 3rd annual performance at Twin Grove Campground for their St. Patrick's Day celebration. On Sunday some of us performed at the Giant Center with the Lancaster School of Irish Dance. We supplied the music while they danced. The next day (St. Patty's Day) we had to get up and do two more shows, one at Country Meadows and another private party where they had the most neatest hats! The next day we had yet another show to do, this time at the Highlands Assisted Living. Whew, nine shows that week!
March 20 we played a sold out show at the Lititz Library. The next Friday we performed at a banquet. Saturday, we did a show at the Brandywine Heights High School. Before leaving for the show, Dad and I arranged a tune for the band called 'The Sleeping Tune'. Everyone learned their parts and we performed it that evening at the high school. It was a lot of fun!
Our last show for March was at the Berks Guild of Craftsmen at Kutztown University. Since Mom was a little under the weather, Butch filled in for her on bass guitar. Good job, Butch!
Right now it is birthday season for us. On the 26th of March I turned seventeen and a week later, April 5th, Melissa turned fifteen. The day after that, Brian turned twelve.
We are all really excited about performing all nine days of the Kutztown Festival and possibly going to the Leahy Fiddle Camp in Ontario once again!
Hope to see you all at an upcoming show!
~Emily
February 25 Monday
On the twentieth of January we played at the Chilly Cheeks race at the Liederkranz in Reading. It was a frigid day, and hoards of people were milling about warming up for the race. We started playing to an almost empty room that filled up as frozen runners returned from the race. They were quite a lively audience.
We played at the Adam 2 Center on January 25. Alex joined us on Old Joe Clark on his toy guitar. In between sets, Dad, Mom, Butch, and Earl played some worship songs, then Butch did a few songs.
February 9 we performed at a sweetheart banquet in Wernersville. The stage was in 3 levels. We put the dance floor on the top level,Mom and Dad and Brian on the second level, and the rest of us on the bottom level. We had a lot of fun on that stage.
The next week, we played at another sweetheart banquet. It was a lot of fun.
On Saturday we were at the jam session at Cahill's Fish and Chips. After the session, we headed over to Crave Coffee and Gelato. Once again the coffeeshop was filled with friends and neighbors. Craic'n Hooley performed while we took a break. They did a wonderful job!
Keep an eye on our schedule as we have a lot of performances coming up in March.
-Melissa
January 1 Tuesday
We are enjoying a slower pace these days and enjoying our holidays with family and friends. The Martin Family Band/Lancaster School of Irish Dance Show was a success, possibly one of our best shows ever! My favorite part of the show was when all the dance teachers did a hilarious dance to 'Fire on the Mountain'. In the finale, the entire dance school and Martin Family Band came out and danced!
We had a band Christmas party/farewell to Steve party with lots of friends, food, and music. Steve joined us for his last show at the Zembo Shrine on Dec. 15. We will miss his vocals and off-the-wall humor. God bless you, Steve, and keep playing and singing!
Well, we certainly hope to see you at a future show or session. There are a lot of good ones coming up.
Happy New Year!
~Me, Piper, Emily, Emzers, etc. etc.
November 28 Wednesday
Hi! The show at Crave Coffee house went well. We tried to match our clothes to the decor. It looked interesting as you can see on our gallery. Mr. Moxiemer entertained the audience between sets and it sounded good, as usual.
The 17th was quite a busy day for us. In the morning, I was in the Lebanon parade with the pipe band that gave me bagpipe instruction (Quittapahilla Highlanders). Mr. Moxiemer drove the vehicle over to the parade and went through several stop signs in the process. Anyway, I had a lot of fun playing with the band in the parade. In the afternoon, we went over to Cahill's Fish and Chips in Lebanon for an Irish jam session. There was quite a few musicians there and we spent a couple of hours playing music. We hope to see more musicians there next month. So if you play an instrument or a harmonica bring it out to Cahill's! Or just eat fish and chips! Well, that was the day we spent a week in Lebanon.
On the 18th we played at Salem Lutheran Church in Bethel. Everything went well. When we were loading up to go home it was snowing!
The next Saturday, I was in the Myerstown parade with the pipe band. It was even colder than the week before. We played our Christmas tunes for about an hour and a half. My cousins came all the way from Exeter to see me in the parade. Thanks for rescueing the ear muffs Nebin and Celeste! I had much fun in the parade. You can check out all the pictures of the parades on the gallery page.
I hope to see you all at the Martin Family Band/Lancaster Irish Dance show on Dec. 1st!
~The Piper
November 9 Friday
Howdy. How's everyone? We are keeping busy with shows and school but I'm not liking the frigid weather so much. Nov. 3 we had a private show at the Zembo Shrine and I was invited to play bagpipes with the Zembo Highlanders during mass bands. I enjoyed it.
On Monday we were on Berks Community Television with the Lancaster School of Irish Dance to promote the show on Dec. 1. So if you need something to do, that will be a show you won't want to miss!
Next Saturday I will be marching in the Lebanon parade playing bagpipes with the Quittapahilla Highlanders. And tonight we will be at Crave Coffee house. Bye!!
~Me
October 29 Monday
Hi again! Yesterday afternoon we did a show at City Espresso in Reading. Our good friend Rich Machemer a.k.a Mr. Moxiemer played his guitar and sang while we were taking a break. We all enjoyed his amazing guitar playing and his humorous songs! We did our "orchestra" debut with Brian performing on the fiddle for the first time and dad being the orchestra director.
That evening we had another show at Lighthouse Community Church in Lyons. Our "cousins" Mr. and Mrs. Gresley made us a delicious meal and we also had a chance to jam with them and Pastor Z. before our show. Wow! Pastor Z. can really play piano! We were honored to have him accompany us on 'Canon in D' during our performance. Butch Imhoff also sang a song halfway through the show. Incredible! He helped us out with the Orange Blossom Special and Harold and Mim came out and cut the rug. We had a lot of fun there!
Last Friday some of the Martin family went to Cahill's Fish and Chips, a new Irish resteraunt in Lebanon. We were delighted to be a part of beginning a new Irish session there. Steve Scrinerie was also there with his whistles and we met another fiddle player who helped us out on a tune. We will be there Nov. 17 so bring your instrument and help us out! They also have great fish and chips!
Remember to leave us a message on our guestbook.
Till next time!
~Emily
September 13 Thursday
Cead Mile Failte! That is the saying I have been seeing at these Celtic Festivals the last 2 weeks. Sept. 1st was the McLain Celtic Festival in Carlisle. We were happy to be part of their festival again this year. The weather was wonderful opposite to last year when there was a hurricane going through. I must say it was our first time seeing "The Scottish Guy" in a kilt. Before the festival got going I was warming up the bagpipes with Scotland the Brave. When I was finished another piper started up with Scotland the Brave. When that piper was finished the whole Zembo Highlander pipe band started up Scotland the Brave! That was very interesting. We had a good time performing and watching the other performers. The Coyle School of Irish Dance and the McGinley School of Irish Dance were the two Irish dance schools that performed at the festival. We had a chance to watch Scottish country dancing and also learned a dance during audience participation. There were other bands performing too which we only had time to see Charlie Zahm and Tad the Fiddler. They were very good. We played one more set and went home.
Sept. 8 and 9 was the Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival in Elizabethton,Tennessee. We got an education learning how to say Elizabethton. It is pronounced ElizaBETHon. Same as how people say Langcaster for Lancaster here in Pennsylvania. It was an 8 hour drive to ElizaBETHon and we were glad to relax in the hotel pool. Friday night, the night before the festival started, we all went over to the festival grounds to watch the calling of the clans ceremony and check out the place. The place was similar to McLain. When we went back on Saturday, we were happy to see our good friends, Faith and Jane Mbarathi,from Kingsport,TN. Faith and I have been good friends for many years and we had not seen each other for 6 long months. Well I guess that's not that long. We had a good time together and tasted haggis for the first time. We liked it so much we bought some more. When we were eating it a lady asked us what in the world we were eating. Faith said "It's haggis." And the lady looked at her and said, "What's haggis?" Faith said very bluntly, "Sheep guts." The lady turned green and said, "I'm glad you are eating it and not me!" While the haggis was good, the Scotch cream was not and it nearly ruined Faith's day. So try haggis without Scotch cream. That afternoon we did a show and then later in the evening we played another show in the ceili with the other bands, Coyote Run, Iona, Beggar's Circus, Warpipe, and some others. On Sunday we went back to the festival. This time we had a chance to watch the other bands. They all did an excellent job and they were all very friendly. We played our last show at the festival and went back to the hotel. Steve and Earl left for PA right away. They were only a half an hour away when Earl's truck broke down. They ended up staying another night and we all left the next day. We stopped in Kingsport to say goodbye to Jane and later stopped in Virginia to see the Natural Bridge.
Bye!
~The Piper
