Introducing Stella, my featured musician for November and December! How awesome is the self-portrait that Stella provided for her featured musician poster?!! I hope you can tell that the shirt she is wearing reads “Be Who You Are”. Stella embodies that message so well. It also delights me to no end that Stella’s mother Katie… Read More Congratulations to Stella!
Introducing Dannye and Rob, my featured musicians for September and October! There is a special place in my heart for family music-making so it’s an extra thrill to be featuring a mother and son for the first time in my featured musician series. In addition to making music at home, in school ensembles and at… Read More Congratulations to Dannye and Rob!
There is always magic to be found at the Iowa State Fair! Our first stop was Pioneer Hall for the Iowa State Fair Fiddlers Contest. The friendly face of David Bellegante, 9 Time State Grand Champion Fiddler and the annual host of the Iowa State Fair Fiddle Contest, is always a welcome sight. I’ve been… Read More Iowa State Fair 2017
I recently had the honor of being interviewed by writer Dannye Chase for her delightful new project The Bright Side Blog. Dannye is as gifted an interviewer as she is a writer and we had a lot of fun discussing creativity and parenting along with many other things we have in common. Stop on over… Read More Interview with Dannye Chase
Art Roche, Mary Denmead, William Dutcher, Zach Twardowski and Atticus Dutcher in Richard III. Photo by Andrea Wilson. I am not the only American to have spent the past week alternately devastated and enraged but I am so grateful to have also experienced flashes of true hope and deep love for how my community has responded. Between… Read More ACLU Update
We had our final rehearsal last night for our pop-up activist abridged reading of Shakespeare’s Richard III coming up on Friday and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. For Ron Clark, for bringing his lifetime of experience and leading us with his characteristic vision and deep compassion, all the while giving us hours upon hours of his… Read More RIII gratitude
Introducing Waylon, my featured musician for January and February! Waylon and I had several fun and productive years working at the piano and when he recently he discovered the joy of the mandolin, he clicked with it immediately. From his picture, you might guess that Waylon is a delight and you’d be correct. I especially love listening… Read More Congratulations to Waylon!
I’m very sad to say that The Beggarmen has come to an end. An epic project such as this can hardly go unacknowledged and yet my emotions are so tangled that writing a post about it seems almost impossible. I am very lucky to have been able to make music with these fine men and superb musicians for so many… Read More The Beggarmen (2001-2016)
This beautiful Irish landscape was created by my father-in-law Jon Dutcher as a gift for my parents. Regardless of how you feel about green beer or the question of the snake metaphor, today is a day to celebrate the depth of beauty and humanity in Irish culture now and for centuries past. If you’re looking for a… Read More A day to celebrate!
My cousin Linda posted this article on Facebook this week and I can’t get it out of my mind. It was published sometime in 1983. This is a profile of my paternal great-grandfather, Homer Rayburn. He grew up in Tennessee and raised his family in Niles, Michigan. I didn’t know him well because he died… Read More Lineage
Tara McGovern 