Matching Orange's Cape Breton sound returns to our stage Friday June 18

Friday, June 18

8:00 pm

Matching Orange

tickets $10; students with ID, $8

available at the door or online via Brown Paper Tickets

important!  map/directions/GPS

We're pleased and proud to welcome Matching Orange back to Studio 99!  This will be the band's third appearance on our stage.

MATCHING ORANGE is an exciting new band from the Boston area, distinguished by their high energy playing. Eric McDonald (mandolin) and Brendan Carey Block (fiddle) create a swirling level of intensity, sometimes gritty, sometimes pure, and always engaging.

Matching Orange takes full advantage of a diverse musical background, with extensive training in folk, classical, jazz, and other traditions. Using this training, a love for all varieties of traditional music and dance, and a desire for minimalism, they bring to the dance floor an intriguing mix of sound that is equally at home in front of a listening audience.

BRENDAN CAREY BLOCK has been performing on the fiddle since he was 10 years old. For five summers he received scholarships from the New Hampshire Highland Games and the Saint Andrews Society of New Hampshire enabling him to travel to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to immerse himself in Cape Breton music. He has been a member of the renowned Glengarry Bhoys and currently performs with the Boston based Annalivia and his own duo project with Flynn Cohen. In May of 2009, Brendan was selected by the New Hampshire Council of the Arts to represent the state at the Library of Congress and The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington DC. The concert series was put on by the American Folklife center. They produce eight concerts a year, each performer representing a different state. Brendan was one of the youngest performers selected. Brendan has performed with countless notable artists, including Natalie MacMaster, Jerry Holland, Alasdair Fraser, Cherish the Ladies, Brenda Stubbert, Gaelic Storm and Jay Ungar.

From the band's news site:  In May, our fiddle player Brendan was in Washington DC with guitarist Flynn Cohen, performing an afternoon concert at the Library of Congress and then heading over to The Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage for an evening concert. This series is put on by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. There are about 8 concerts per year, and each one features a traditional performer from a different state (meaning it will take eight years to cycle through). Brendan is representing NH, and he is the youngest performer to be selected for the honor.

ERIC MCDONALD was a founding member of Jaded Mandolin, a teen string band that became a local phenomenon in the Boston area. He plays regularly with Ari & Mia Friedman and tours with The Dave Rowe Trio. As a mandolin accompanist, Eric has performed with songwriters including Chris O’Brien, Thea Hopkins, Jess Yoakum, and Patty Keough. In 2008, he served as music director and accompanist for The Actors' Shakespeare Project’s production of "The Tempest." The Wall Street Journal said “Eric McDonald performs his incidental music in full view of the audience, rattling a thunder sheet and tootling on a slide whistle with the flair of an old-time radio sound-effects man.” He is currently a student at Berklee College of Music, where he studies under John McGann and Eugiene Friesen.

ERIC EID-REINER performs throughout New England with numerous groups, including the Reiner Family Band, and the Rachel Cole Band (Jewish pop/rock). He grew up listening to fiddle music and attending camps from Vermont to Cape Breton. In late 2007, Eric was invited to perform with Ashley Macisaac, Tony Demarco and John Doyle. Next, in early 2009, he appeared on Brian O’Donovan’s “Celtic Sojourn: A Boston Session,” where he performed with fiddler Oisin Mc Auley, The band The Hay Brigade and a number of other performers. Eric has released two CDs under his own name. The first is entitled: “Grand Tour: Traditonal Music on Piano” and the second, “On A Meadowlark Night” was released in April 2009.