About Us
 We're
Gáirín: Tom and Mary Kay
Aufrance, BMI and we usually perform as a duo, but also enjoy working
with other performers, like Rex and
Debbie Reed and Lincoln-Chataquan Wally Earhart, shown above at an international
reception
hosted by Dorla Salling, Chairman of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners.
We have been performing and writing music since the 90's,
when we got our start at Renaissance faires and Tahoe-Tallac Association
events
at
Lake
Tahoe. We started recording in
2005, and
have released
three CDs
- Ramblin'
Irishman,
In the
Moon of
Wintertime:
Christmas Music and our latest CD of all original music: Musical Dreams.
We're two singers who blend our voices as we do our hearts.
Our
original
arrangements
and harmonies extend folk music
traditions, and we have never tried to sound like anybody else, so we don't
always fit any particular niche. But you will hear a folk and Irish-Scottish
flavor in everything we do.
Our vocal harmonies grow out of the
Renaissance singing and choral tradition. Our first group was the Motley
Madrigals, a part singing group that recreated the experience and history
of early music. The Motlies became popular at Renaissance faires
and theme events in the Lake Tahoe area. All the while,
Mary Kay was writing original melodies and lyrics, and Tom was creating sometimes
outlandish and irreverent arrangements of pop music to spring on Ren. faire
audiences, such as Stasera Dorme il Leone!
(Translation: The Lion Sleeps in Italian Renaissance style.)
In addition to singing, Tom also plays 6 and 12-string
guitars, Irish bouzouki and mandolin. He got his first mandolin as a
college student,
because it was small enough to play it in the front seat of his car while
working on his night job as a security guard. Mary Kay also plays accordion
and bodhran. Although her beginnings in music included a variety of musical
arts, starting as a dancer at the wee age of 2, and then going on to piano,
guitar, violin,and voice, the accordion has always been her favorite.
We take our music to
audiences at festivals, pubs and coffee shops, corporate
and private functions. We also give back to our community
with twice-a-month shows for old folks and the local hospital. In 2006
we became part of a really fun State of Nevada and Carson City Symphony
program called Strings in the Schools. Now, we're music instructors
for
the 2007-2008
school year, and now our job is to bring the enjoyment of making Celtic
music to the program's nearly 100 students.
Sue
Kitts sometimes joins us on fiddle. Sue is a spirited
musician and violin teacher. She heads up the Carson
City Symphony Strings in the Schools program, a State
of Nevada
funded
nonprofit organization that provides music education to over 80 students
in Carson City Schools.
Wendy Ray has
gone off to California, but you will still see her on some of our
YouTube videos. She's the descendent of a Scottish Ray who came over
on a big wooden boat sometime during the 1700's, so Wendy's got Celtic
music in her veins. She plays the Irish flute with inspired passion. |
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Just click on a link in the Green bar below for more information.
Contact us: (775) 841-1193.
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