“Cat’s Melodeon” Traditional Irish music concert

The West Falmouth Library will host a fundraising concert for the Library’s capital campaign building project on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016 at 2 pm. The Cape-based group “Cat’s Melodeon” will perform traditional Irish music. Donations will be accepted at the door.

Banjo/guitar player Bill Black, formerly of Falmouth and now living in Bourne, formed this local group of musicians a couple years ago. The group’s name is taken from an expression from Ireland’s County Mayo referring to a highly informal assemblage of anything. Group instrumentation consists of fiddles, flutes, uilleann (Irish) pipes, recorders, tin whistles, accordions, and bodhrans (Irish goat-skin drums), in addition to guitar and banjo.

The Cats specialize in performing the lively dance music of Ireland (including an occasional song in English or Gaelic) in an acoustic (unamplified) setting, and are looking forward to performing in the library. “The musicians in the group all love the music and are constantly working to improve their playing skills – and that includes me,” said Black (who started playing Irish music during the traditional renaissance in New York forty years ago). “I’m grateful to all of them who show up for our sessions as often as they can. This will be a special day for us.”

The Cats have also been involved in using their Saturday sessions for fundraising purposes. “We put out a tip jar and dedicate the proceeds to some worthy cause, which recently have included MS, Birthright, the Cape Cod Housing Assistance Corporation, Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger, Cape Cod Veterans, and others,” says Black. “It’s our way of giving back to the community.”