TURNER — Maine trio Ti’ Acadie will perform a holiday concert titled “Hidden Gems of the Season” at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Nezinscot Farm Store. The group will also bring “A Maine Mountain Christmas” to Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Both performances will feature lesser-known ancient music, modern
seasonal songs and tunes from Appalachian, Cajun/zydeco,
gospel/doo-wop, Celtic, Quebecois and Maine traditions.

The Turner concert will be followed by an old-fashioned house party with caroling and family contradancing. The Carthage concert will be preceded by a potluck supper at 6 p.m.

Band members Pam Weeks, Jim Joseph and Bill Olson are well known for their inventive instrumentation and three-part harmonies.

The band owes its name to its home base in Maine, part of the region including the Canadian Maritime Provinces known as Acadia. Ti’ Acadie means “a little Acadia.”

Weeks is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a tunesmith. With Ti’ Acadie, she focuses on Cajun, old-time and Quebecois fiddle, and mountain dulcimer. She occasionally adds piano, mandolin, guitar, viola, cello, Celtic harp, flute or saxophone.

Beside joining in on vocals, Joseph plays button accordion, five-string banjo, mandolin, fiddle, jaw harp and percussion. Olson usually plays guitar and occasionally upright bass. His driving guitar “chunk” can be heard most clearly in the band’s Cajun and French-Canadian tunes. For old-time tunes, he uses the traditional bass run flat picking style.

Olson also calls contra dances with Ti’ Acadie and other bands, and has written scores of dances that are popular with callers and dancers worldwide.

Turner concert tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for children with a $30 family maximum. The Nezinscot Farm Store (www.nezinscotfarm.com) is on Route 117.  The concert  is part of an all-day open house at the farm. Light snacks and refreshments will be available. For more information, contact 225-3231, 666-3709 or [email protected].

 Skye concert tickets are $10 at the door. Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive off Winter Hill Road and U.S. Route 2. For more information, call 562-4445.