Kyle Alden has been to Ireland many times, touring with Irish musicians from the Bay Area and making friends along the way. On his most recent trip, though, he found himself with an unexpected and rather uncanny companion — the spirit of the great Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats. This concert will feature Songs from Yeats' Bee-Loud Glade, a collection of 13 poems by the revered Irish poet and playwright. Kyle Alden, well-known in the Bay Area Irish music scene, has set them to music, singing in a pleasing baritone and ably accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Filling out the sound are some impressive guest musicians, including mandolin ace Mike Marshall, former Frank Zappa band bassist Scott Thunes and celtic fiddler Athena Tergis.


Born in NYC and raised in San Francisco, Athena Tergis showed a love and talent for the fiddle at an early age. She began with the Suzuki method of violin at age four, yet she yearned for more creativity and freedom in her music. She found it at Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School where she studied with such greats as Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Alasdair Fraser and Buddy MacMaster, winning the Junior National Scottish Fiddling Championship three years in a row.


Athena was a featured soloist in the 2009, USA tour with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra. During the 10 week, 49-city tour of America, Athena was a featured soloist in 9 compositions including Inishlacken, a concerto for two violins, written by Bill Whelan alongside classical violinist Cora Venus Lunny. Her most recent tour of China with The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra included the live, nationally broadcast debut of her original compositions ‘Old Quarry’ and ‘Slide’, co-written by John Doyle, at the Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts Opera Theater.

 
Kyle Alden
& Athena Tergis
What the Critics Say

Songs from Yeats' Bee-Loud Glade


"Just been reviewing your Yeats-to-music recording. It is a complete and marvelous surprise. You really have made something new, fresh, relevant and compelling from this fine, but dusty old verse. There is hardly a song in the collection that won't find it's way enthusiastically to The Road Home (a mix of music and spoken word) on CKUA.  Thank you, thank you—well done!"—Bob Chelmick, CKUA Radio, Alberta, Canada


"One of those "maybe this shouldn't work, but hell, it does!" discs, where San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Kyle, with help from Athena Tergis, Mike Marshall, et al, creates genuinely fresh-sounding capital from Yeats' words, with 13 of the man's poems rendered in an appealing folk-bluegrass-Americana idiom that proves extremely persuasive. A real grower."—fRoots Magazine, UK


"Kyle Alden's melodies and performance rank with the most-pleasing-to-hear of any settings of W.B. Yeats I've heard. Excellent work! "—Andrew McGowan, president, W.B. Yeats Society of NY.


"Alden has crafted a notably imaginative album. There's persuasive power and control in the singing. The tunes and texts are well-matched and the arrangements and playing are top drawer. It's a sharply sweet suite of songs."—Tom Clancy, The Old Blog Node


"A great albumone of the best of 2011. Thanks." John Weingart, Music You Can't Hear On The Radio, WPRB, Princeton, NJ

Listen to Their Music
Performance: Saturday
March 2, 2013, 7:30 PM

Athena’s MySpace page and videos on her Athena.CD page.


Kyles music from KyleAlden.com.

Athena will be teaching a fiddle workshop at 3pm, price $25.

Call 530-885-4292 or email info@auburnhouseconcerts.org to reserve your spot.

Private lessons also available.