Episode 17 - Gordon Peery

Contra Pulse

The intro and interstitial tracks from today's episode are Miss Thornton’s/John Stenson’s/Moving Clouds, Valse Aldor, and Tour of Scotland/Ashokans’s Farewell to Celtic Week from Fresh Fish and Callum’s Road Set from a forthcoming album by Skip Gorman and friends.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

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See and hear Gordon Peery in action:

• Trip to Nelson was Gordon, Richard Backes, Lizza Backes, Matt Garland, and Perin Ellsworth-Heller
• You can listen to the Fresh Fish album, Turning of the Tide on Gordon’s website
• Gordon’s work with Paul Klemperer

Some dances and events mentioned in this interview:

• The Nelson, NH contra dance happens in the Nelson Town Hall during non-COVID times. Here’s a great local write-up from 1990.
• Here’s an article from 1983 that mentions Harvey Tolman
• Monadnock Folklore Society

Some people mentioned in this interview:

• George Marshall talks about some of his experiences with Ralph Page in Episode 13 of this podcast
• Julie interviewed Dudley Laufman in Episode 1 of this podcast
• Rodney Miller and Randy Miller’s websites
• Learn more about Harvey Tolman from this brief bio and from Gordon’s website

Some musical groups mentioned in this interview:

• You can find the New England Tradition and Old New England albums — Bob McQuillen’s bands — on Great Meadow Music’s website

Some odds and ends mentioned in this interview:

• Check out this great interview from New Hampshire Public Radio with Gordon Peery and Skip Gorman about the origin of contra dance.
• Gordon has a write-up of his experiences with The Chieftans and the Nelson Country Dancers on his website.
• The Folkway in Peterborough closed in 1996, but you can read a remembrance here. The Peterborough Folk Music grew out of it and still hosts concerts, including some livestream concerts during COVID times.
• Here’s Randy Miller’s write-up about John Taggart from liner notes of The Music of John Taggart, the out-of-print recording by the New Hampshire Fiddlers Union. Gordon does have one track from this recording available on his website.
• The Green Mountain Volunteers’s website