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Rakish with Maura Shawn Scanlin to Perform at Indoor Concert at Jones House, September 22

The outdoor summer concerts have wound down for the year at the Jones House, but the downtown Boone community center continues celebrating local, regional, and national acts with indoor performances. The first house concert of the fall takes place on Saturday, September 22, with a performance by Rakish.
 
Based in the New England area, Rakish features violinist, fiddler, and Boone-area native, Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn. The duo gets their namesake from the traditional Irish tune “Rakish Paddy,” celebrating their shared background in traditional Irish and Scotish music.
 
“Rakish also suggests something strikingly unconventional in its appearance,” say the band members. “We embrace this in our music, drawing on the traditional music we grew up with presented in a performance style that is more akin to concert music.”
 
The band explores tunes and songs from Irish and American folk traditions, while also reflecting on Scanlin and Hearn’s shared interest and love for chamber music and jazz.
 
“These are two incredibly talented musicians, who are interpreting centuries-old music through a contemporary lens,” says concert organizer, Mark Freed. “It is very exciting and makes a fantastic meeting place for fans of traditional Irish fiddle tunes, jazz played on stringed instruments, and classical violin and guitar music.”
 
Scanlin grew up in Boone, where she studied classical violin and performed traditional and original fiddle tunes with The Forget-Me-Nots. She is a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and has won the prestigious Glenfiddich Fiddle Competition in Perthshire Scotland. She studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston and is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Violin Performance at the Yale School of Music, where she studies with Ani Kavafian.
 
Hearn is a stylistically diverse guitar player and instructor who specializes in accompaniment of traditional Irish and Scottish fiddle playing. He grew up playing fiddle and guitar in the traditional Irish music communities around Washington D.C. and Maryland. While attending Tufts University, Hearn started working as a professional guitar player with an array of groups and projects in the Boston area folk music scene. Hearn currently lives in Medford, Massachusetts where he teaches guitar and performs with a variety of bands.
 
Scanlin and Hearn will present a traditional Irish and Scottish fiddle and guitar playing workshop, starting at 4:00 p.m. The workshop is free to participants of the Jones House Music Lessons program and people attending the evening concert.
 
The evening concert will start at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. The workshop and concert take place in the Mazie Jones Gallery of the Jones House in downtown Boone, located at 604 W. King St.
 
The next concert will take place on Wednesday, October 3, featuring a showcase of traditional singers and fiddlers. Old-time and bluegrass legend and song writer, Alice Gerrard, performs with her band on October 27.
 
Tickets for all concerts are $20. Because seating is limited to 40 people, advanced reservations are recommended, although tickets for open seats will be available for purchase at the door. To make a reservation for the concert or to find out more information about the indoor concert series at the Jones House, please visit www.joneshouse.org or call 828.268.6280.