Welcome to Shouting from the Hilltop. I like to think of it as our little virtual cabin on a virtual hill overlooking the glittering lights of the Worldwide Web.
It seems that your meandering Internet path has crossed with that of brothers Mark and Ehrich Gauvin, known to the music-loving world as Iron Hill Vagabonds. Well... maybe not the whole world... not yet, anyway...
I suppose some introductions are in order.
I'm Mark, and it will usually be me from whom you hear here in Cyberspace. I have played guitar for about 16 years, and I have been singing since before I could talk. In addition to guitar, I have been known to dabble on piano, bass, and mandolin. I also have a weakness for strange, unique, and historical instruments, but don't usually have the budget to pursue it. In days past, I kicked around the country playing various instruments and singing with a couple of exceptionally loud (and also exceptionally good, if I may say so myself) rock bands, particularly Frail. After I'd done that for about ten years and was not yet an internationally renowned Rock Star, I figured it was time to branch out. I studied music theory, composition and vocal performance at SUNY Orange in Middletown, New York, and it was this study that brought me back to my first love, folk and traditional music.
My brother, Ehrich, is too busy playing fiddle to post on the Internet too much, but when he does, he will probably have something hilarious or profound to say, so take heed. A fourth generation violinist, Ehrich started playing violin (the same 3/4 size violin our mother learned on) when he was about nine or ten, and has hardly taken a break since. Nowadays, he pretty much only stops fiddling to cook, eat, sleep, sing or play mandolin. He has spent the last few years traveling around the country from Maine to Texas playing fiddle, and I intend to do my level best to see that it stays that way.
As you can probably tell by now, music has always been an important part of our lives. Our biggest musical influences have always been our family members. Our father, Jim "Spider" Gauvin, is a Lake George, NY based harmonica player and vocalist who regularly performs with blues and rock bands in the Adirondack and Capitol regions of upstate New York. Our mother, Bonnie, once claimed to be "just the audience," but we have since uncovered her "checkered past" - a history of accomplishment on piano and violin, as well as an infectious appreciation for music of all kinds. Our brothers James, Richard, Arthur, and Sam are all performers, and numerous members of our extended family have been entertaining audiences for generations.
All that being said, we have been performing, separately and together, for our whole lives. Since 2005, we have appeared together at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire, New England's second-largest Renaissance Faire and one of the most highly regarded Faires in the Northeast, and we have appeared in various combinations at many other Renaissance Faires throughout the region.
Between Faires, we have returned to our 200 year old family home in New York's Hudson Valley, tucked on a forested hillside riddled with colonial era iron mines. It is here that we have sat around the fire and shared our musical tradition with our friends and family, and each other. In addition to the Renaissance, Celtic, and English musical styles drawn from the Renaissance Faires we love, we found ourselves sharing American traditional music, folk and bluegrass standards, original songs and instrumental pieces and pretty much anything else we can pull off with a guitar, fiddle and our voices.
During the dark of winter, in December, 2008, we finally decided that it was time to take our music out of the hills. So, we packed up the van, scraped the snow off of our boots and set off to share our music with whoever would listen.
Next up, we will be appearing at the Four Winds Renaissance Faire in Troup, Texas, weekends from February 28 to April 19, 2009. After that, you'll have to watch this space for more information about where we'll be and what we'll be doing, for updates, 'blogs about the road, video, and, of course, for music!
Don't hesitate to drop me an email, I love to hear from anyone who's interested in what we do!
See you when our paths cross again!
-Mark Gauvin
writing from Boston, Massachusetts
Official news and updates from Iron Hill Vagabonds.
