Library Links
By Dora St. Martin
The McArthur Public Library continues its Sunday Concert Series on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. with The Radio Gang, featuring famed bluegrass musician Mac McHale.
For the past 17 years, McHale has led the Old Time Radio Gang in presenting vintage American country music from the 1930s and 1940s. Country music had its start, in many cases, as live broadcasts over the radio or was performed in grange halls and churches. This concert is a must-see for all fans of real old-time bluegrass music.
McHale was born and raised in Bangor. He was influenced at an early age by the live country music of Gene Hooper, Hal Lone Pine and Smiling Bill Waters on WLBZ and WABI in Bangor. He started playing banjo at age 18.
From 1965 to 1968 he had a hootenanny show that toured Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. He started the Northeast Winds band in 1978, which became New England’s most popular traditional Irish music group. They recorded five albums, two videos and did many television and PBS specials.
The Old Time Radio Gang was formed in 1987 and they still keep a busy schedule playing traditional American country music in grange halls, town halls and libraries. The Radio Gang has 11 recordings to its credit. In addition to McHale, the Gang consists of Herman McGee, banjo and guitar; Sally Roc, stand-up bass (she keeps the rhythm going); and John Roc, mandolin and guitar. The band’s selections are varied – spirited fiddle and train songs, gospel music, hand-clapping and toe-tapping tunes, and ballads of love and heartbreak.
McArthur Library offers other selections for lovers of traditional bluegrass and country music. For live shows, check out The Radio Gang-Live at Wolfeboro, a DVD performance recorded in 2007, or try “Down From the Mountain,” a film celebrating the music from the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” featuring the music of Ralph Stanley and Norman Blake.
Other great bluegrass discs in the collection include Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall with the Country Gentlemen, Alison Krauss + Union Station Live, Dolly Parton’s Little Sparrow, Earl Scruggs and Friends, and Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: a tribute to 1946 and 1947 with Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder.
For more information about the concert and other events at the library, check out the online events calendar at www.mcarthurpubliclibrary.org.
Dora St. Martin is director of the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford.
The McArthur Public Library continues its Sunday Concert Series on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. with The Radio Gang, featuring famed bluegrass musician Mac McHale.
For the past 17 years, McHale has led the Old Time Radio Gang in presenting vintage American country music from the 1930s and 1940s. Country music had its start, in many cases, as live broadcasts over the radio or was performed in grange halls and churches. This concert is a must-see for all fans of real old-time bluegrass music.
McHale was born and raised in Bangor. He was influenced at an early age by the live country music of Gene Hooper, Hal Lone Pine and Smiling Bill Waters on WLBZ and WABI in Bangor. He started playing banjo at age 18.
From 1965 to 1968 he had a hootenanny show that toured Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. He started the Northeast Winds band in 1978, which became New England’s most popular traditional Irish music group. They recorded five albums, two videos and did many television and PBS specials.
The Old Time Radio Gang was formed in 1987 and they still keep a busy schedule playing traditional American country music in grange halls, town halls and libraries. The Radio Gang has 11 recordings to its credit. In addition to McHale, the Gang consists of Herman McGee, banjo and guitar; Sally Roc, stand-up bass (she keeps the rhythm going); and John Roc, mandolin and guitar. The band’s selections are varied – spirited fiddle and train songs, gospel music, hand-clapping and toe-tapping tunes, and ballads of love and heartbreak.
McArthur Library offers other selections for lovers of traditional bluegrass and country music. For live shows, check out The Radio Gang-Live at Wolfeboro, a DVD performance recorded in 2007, or try “Down From the Mountain,” a film celebrating the music from the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” featuring the music of Ralph Stanley and Norman Blake.
Other great bluegrass discs in the collection include Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall with the Country Gentlemen, Alison Krauss + Union Station Live, Dolly Parton’s Little Sparrow, Earl Scruggs and Friends, and Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: a tribute to 1946 and 1947 with Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder.
For more information about the concert and other events at the library, check out the online events calendar at www.mcarthurpubliclibrary.org.
Dora St. Martin is director of the McArthur Public Library in Biddeford.
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