Castlebay weaves the heritage of New England and the Celtic lands in story and song, blending history, legend, and experience into engaging performance featuring Celtic harp, 12-string guitar, fiddle, tin whistle, strings, and woodwinds. Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee play poignant ballads interspersed with joyous dance tunes, with Lane’s ethereal soprano and Gosbee’s rich baritone giving life to the evocative imagery, beautiful melodies, and salty humor of the history and characters of life close to the elemental beauty of the sea and shore.
Castlebay has released over three dozen albums and has toured the United States, Ireland, England, and Scotland, including five appearances at International Festivals of the Sea in the UK. Julia Lane is a past winner of the International Folk Harp Competition. Fred Gosbee is a musical instrument maker whose family worked as lumbermen in the forests of New Brunswick and Maine. They have loved, researched, and performed traditional music for most of their lives, and their original compositions — which have been heralded, sung, and recorded by other artists — will surely become part of that canon.
Castlebay played nearly annually at the Stone Church Arts world music concert series in Bellows Falls until the demise of that venue in 2017. Stage 33 Live is pleased and honored to host their return to the area.
This is a 3:00 PM matinee on Sunday, December 3, 2023, at Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Tickets are $10 in advance through stage33live.com or $12 at the door — half what a ticket to see them typically costs. All proceeds benefit the performers. Seating is limited. The performance will be recorded and filmed.
Stage 33 Live is a casual and intimate industrial-rustic listening room in a former factory hosting local, regional, and national performances and presentations of original material. No bar or kitchen, the stage is the mission; coffee / soda / juice / water and weird snacks available by donation. More info about the nonprofit, all-volunteer project, and this and other upcoming events, online at stage33live.com
Stage 33 Live gratefully acknowledges the help of so many individuals without whom none of this would be happening, and institutional support this season from The Island Corporation, the Vermont Arts Council, WOOL-FM, the Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, and Chroma Technology to help fund improvements and maintenance, and generally smooth out a lot of the rough edges. Stage 33 Live is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and all donations are deductible to the fullest extent. Volunteers run the thing from stem to stern.
