CARTHAGE – New England Celtic Arts will host Maine fiddle legend Frank Ferrel at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 9, at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center. A preshow jam will start at 6:15. Audience members are encouraged to bring their instruments and jam for a few minutes with the artists.

Widely regarded as a composer – the classic Cape Breton jig “Spin-N-Glo” is one of his compositions – Frank Ferrel is considered to be one of the leading North American fiddlers performing today.

Ferrel began his fiddling at age 8, influenced first by his grandfather, a traditional musician and native of Ohio and West Virginia. His father’s family originally came from the Longford area of Ireland via Maritime Canada. Ferrel rekindled his interest in traditional fiddling under the influence of local Irish, French-Acadian and Canadian Maritimes fiddlers while stationed at the old Charlestown Naval Shipyard in Boston in the 1960s.

Over the years, Ferrel has appeared on National Public Radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and is included on their anthology recording, “PHC Tourists.” He has performed on numerous occasions with the legendary Celtic group, The Boys of the Lough, both as guest artist on their Scottish Highlands and Islands tours, as well as in concert performances in North America. The Library of Congress chose his major label CD release, “Yankee Dreams,” for inclusion in its Select List of 25 Recordings of American Folk Music. Most recently, he’s been performing with legendary Irish-American accordion player Joe Derrane and is music director of the National Public Radio series “Says You.”

Frank has published two collections of fiddle music for the international music publisher MelBay and is currently putting the finishing touches on a third collection. He also has produced recordings of traditional music for such major folk labels as Rounder Records, Voyager, and Flying Fish Records. In addition, he has made a number of recordings, both as a solo artist and as a studio musician.

Tickets are $10 at the door. Reservations are required for this show. Call New England Celtic Arts at 562-4445. Skye Theatre is at 2 Highland Drive off Winter Hill Road and Route 2. For more information, visit www.necelticarts.com.

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