Ed Howe
🎻 Ed Howe is a fiddler, sound guru, and solar engineer. Raised in Maine in an off-grid household, he began studying Suzuki violin at age four and was performing for contra dances by eight. Through his youth, Ed played in the Howe Family Band performing at bluegrass festivals across New England. Over the past three decades, he’s developed a style that blends New England, Celtic, and Bluegrass traditions with an adventurous, rhythmic energy that fills dance halls nationwide. Ed gained national recognition with Perpetual e-Motion (2008–2015), a groundbreaking duo that fused traditional fiddle music with looping and modern textures, earning him an endorsement with NS Design electric violins. He now plays with Drive Train, Double Trouble, Howe & Co., The Flying Howes, and occasionally with Breakin’ Strings. In 2023, he was nominated for Fiddler of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association and continues to be a mentor and champion of traditional community music through projects like the Atlanta Folk Orchestra and running festivals like the Lake Eden Arts Festival in NC. Drive Train is one of America’s foremost contra dance bands, bringing the high-octane pulse of Bluegrass and the grounded rhythm of Downeast Maine’s dance traditions to halls across the country. Featuring Ed Howe (Perpetual e-Motion) on fiddle and Bennett Konesni (Gawler Family Band) on guitar, the band delivers a propulsive groove that keeps dancers locked in and smiling all night. Ed’s powerful and innovative fiddling, shaped in the thriving halls of the New England contra dance community, pairs perfectly with Bennett’s rhythmic guitar and melodic drive, informed by his time as a singing garlic farmer and Executive Director of Bagaduce Music, one of the world's largest educational music libraries. Their music takes Maine traditional dance music and infuses it with Cape Breton, Scottish, Old-time, Bluegrass, and even Scandinavian influences - energetic, melodic, and deeply rooted in the joy of live community music and dance.
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Come and join us for a fun dance weekend in a charming walkable mountain town with hot springs! The music of Drive Train and the calling of Christine Merryman will help you shake off those winter blues! Between dancing and soaking, you will leave feeling refreshed and renewed.
Bennett Konesni is a musician, farmer, and community organizer from Belfast, Maine. He plays guitar for contra dances with Drive Train, the Gawler Family Band, and Beat Bucket, blending Bluegrass drive with the pulse of Maine’s traditional dance music. Bennett writes and sings his own songs and tunes, and also performs traditional material from New England and beyond. His passion for Scandinavian music and dance traditions adds a distinctive flavor to his playing. Outside the dance hall, he serves as Executive Director of Bagaduce Music, a nonprofit music library and education center, and leads Moving Music, a project exploring how worksongs and singing while moving enrich communities around the world.
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Christine Merryman brings her heart to the stage with her joyous and playful teaching. She loves seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of the dancers. Originally from the Philadelphia suburbs,
Christine started calling contra dances in her parents' backyard with friends. After being mentored by Bob Isaacs, she began calling around Pennsylvania and soon after moved to Phoenix, leading dances regularly around Arizona. |