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Folk Music - Tom & Mary Kay Aufrance

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March 11 Borders Bookstore

March 17 Red's 395 St. Patrick's Day

March 18 Carson City Public Library

About Us
Tom and Mary Kay Aufrance, BMI husband-and-wife musicians and singer-songwriters from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Carson City, NV. You will find them performing close to home on festival stages and also in intimate settings, making music for coffee shop or pub audiences.

People know us as two singers who blend our voices as we do our hearts. Our original arrangements and harmonies extend musical traditions, and we have never tried to immitate anybody else, so we don't always fit any particular niche. But you will hear influences from the very beginnings of folk music starting with the origins of music itself in pre-Renaissance choral times, when European people discovered the entrancing effects of vocal harmonization. They got so into musical polyphony that they designed enormous halls in order to enhance the reverberation and enjoy music for its spiritual qualities, at first, and then for dancing and well yes wild parties too! And, like those adventuresome sorts, we also explore the irreligious as well as sacred side of life in our interpretations.

We have performed for rogues in pubs as well as for genteel audiences with symphonies, and we've stood on dusty lanes in Renaissance faire villages and with the wind in our hair on stage at outdoor festivals as well as in the confines of the rehab. unit of our local hospital. So, our music truly fits many moods and events. We also offer original music when the occasion fits. Mary Kay's original music fills our new CD Musical Dreams. Her songs and tunes range from the ethereal mood music of Musical Dreams and Go Ask the Rain -to- her rollicking ballad of Mr. Potato Head.

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. 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 also give back to our community with twice-a-month shows for old folks and a little teaching. In 2006 we became part of a really fun State of Nevada and Carson City Symphony program called Strings in the Schools. Through 2008, we were music instructors for the program, with the goal of bringing the enjoyment of making Celtic music to the program's nearly 80 students.

We started recording in 2005, and have released four CDs - Ramblin' Irishman, In the Moon of Wintertime: Christmas Music , Musical Dreams and Shamrocks, Thistles and Silver Spurs. In 2009 we also published a music book with our arrangments of the songs on our Ramblin' Irishman CD plus more easy-to play but still interesting arrangments.

Just click on a link in the Green bar below for more information. Contact us: (775) 841-1193.

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Contact us for music: Email or Call (775) 841-1193


License our music through Pump Audio
License works by Mary Kay Aufrance, BMI
 License our music through BMI

© 2004-2010 Tom and Mary Kay Aufrance Carson City, NV All Rights Reserved
This Lake Tahoe area web site site powered by Aufrance Associates

Click to hear our music
CDs &
Music Book/CD
Old Time Music Sampler Shamrocks Thistles & Silver Spurs
23 Songs and Tunes 23 Songs & Tunes Music Book & CD Set
Musical Dreams CD Musical Dreams CD
Ramblin Irishman Irish and Scottish Celtic Music CD Ramblin Irishman CD
In the Moon of Wintertime Christmas Music CD In the Moon of Wintertime: Christmas Music

We have performed at:

Nevada Soc. of Scot. Clans Robert Burns Supper Circus Circus Reno - Sierra Philharmonic League 4th of July with the Reno Philharmonic - Sierra-Plumas County Fair - Portola Railroad Days - Carson City Rendezvous - Nevada State Railroad Museum - Sons and Daughters of Erin - Nevada Society of Scottish Clans - Reno Irish Dance Company - Brewery Arts Center - Tahoe-Tallac Association Valhalla Grand Hall & The Boathouse - Reno Artown Events - Ceol Irish Pub, Reno - Reno Celtic Celebration - Marriott Hotels Reno & Tahoe - John Ascuaga's Nugget - Channel 10 Public Access TV, Carson City

and more!
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