On Friday at 2pm, I went to St. Johannes Lutheran Church on Anson Street to see a special event: the Celtic fiddle ensemble Na Fidleiri, comprised of 25 fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, assorted other Celtic instrumentation and singer, all directed by Mary Scott Taylor — wife of the very talented Robert Taylor, who himself is director of the CofC Concert Choir, the Madrigal Singers, and is CSO Choral Director. I imagined that the concert was part of Piccolo’s Folk & Fret Series, which is why I was at St. Johannes Lutheran Church. When I arrived on Anson Street at 1:59pm, though, and saw all the available parking in front of the church, it became clear I’d imagined wrong.
Silly Spoletian, I thought to myself. This event is at Charleston Music Hall, not St. Johannes Lutheran Church.
As it turns out, Na Fidleiri was in fact performing at the Circular Congregational Church yesterday, not at either of the other two locations. At Charleston Music Hall, though, I found the Lovell Sisters on the stage, so I decided to make do with what I had in front of me. I’d like to have seen Na Fidleiri, but poor organizational skills, the hassle of parking, and a brain cloudy from two weeks of non-stop festival-going had brought me to Charleston Music Hall, so I decided to go with the current rather than bucking it.
It was a happy mistake, it turns out. I’d planned to catch the Lovell Sisters’ fusion of bluegrass, folk, country and contemporary acoustic music at noon on Saturday, but Friday worked just fine for me, seeing as how I was already there. I hope Sheri Grace Wenger is pleased with the turnout for her programming at the Music Hall, which also includes Quintango Cabaret, Blue Plantation, John Brannen, and the music theatre events A Chorus Line, The Rock and Roll Heaven Show (big shout-out to my lovely friend Tiffany Coleman in that one), Unforgettable, and Always … Patsy Cline. There was a huge crowd at the Friday matinee concert, which suggests she’s doing pretty well. Hope so.
The Lovell Sisters consist of 14-year-old Rebecca on mandolin, 15-year-old Megan on Dobro, and 19-year-old pre-med student Jessica on violin, with all of them also on vocals. They’re backed up by Joshua Miller on guitar and banjo, and Jess Holloway on bass. The five of them made great, toe-tapping music, and the three girls performed (and worked the audience) in a manner well beyond their years. If Jessica becomes a doctor, she’ll have missed her calling. The three girls and Joshua chatted with audience members (mostly the young girls) and signed autographs in the lobby afterward. When Jessica said, “Thanks for coming, really,” she looked right into the eyes of the person she was talking to and you could see she meant it.
