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Hands Five

About Me

Scenes from BOO CAMP '06, Jemez Springs NM
MySpace Backgrounds from MySpace Editor . MyWackoSpace MySpace Graphics MySpace Icons Hide Music Player MySpace LayoutsFormed out of encounters at the FolkMADness Dance Camp, Socorro NM, in May 2004, HANDS FIVE first started performing that Fall, with our original fiddler, Ryan Leary, a 17 yr old wonder from Santa Fe Prep. We had formed expressly to play Contra Dances, and our first dance was at Santa Fe in December '04, followed by one in Albuquerque in January '05. The Contra scene in New Mexico is awash with bands, believe it or not, so we had to depend on concerts, weddings etc for a while, before getting more dances.Ryan graduated from High School in '05 and moved to Walla Walla WA to attend Whitman College, just before we were to compete at the Santa Fe Bluegrass and Traditional Music Festival, the NM State competition. When veteran Oldtime/Celtic fiddler Bruce Thomson offered to audition for H5, we said "Audition??? You're IN!". We took our new fiddler to Santa Fe, and won 1st Place Oldtime Band!January '06 found us in Durango CO for our first out of state gigs, a house concert and contra dance. Ryan, back for winter break, joined us and we were "Hands Five + One". We did a Demo CD from the House Concert, which we never sold, because of copyright issues, but a number were given away! We still look forward to making a "Real CD" in studio, with proper licencing and production.HANDS FIVE has continued to play dances in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Durango, have played numerous concerts and other gigs, including opening for the Celtic Band SAOIRSE at their "CD Release Event" in May '07. We have played workshops and mealtime concerts at the FolkMADness Dance Camps in '05, '06, and '07, and we were the featured band for the Harvest "Boo Camp" Dance Camp at Jemez Springs NM in October '06. We have also accepted a job playing as the 2nd band at "Stellar Days & Nights Dance Camp" in Buena Vista, Colorado in February '08, our first out-of-state dance camp.We play a variety of music for our dances & concerts. Listed as an "Oldtime band", we also play Celtic tunes, Quebecois, "Newtime" (new tunes & songs in the Oldtime format), and even some Hispano-American pieces. We look forward to expanding our repetoire, and our geographical range in the future Here we are at the ALBUQUERQUE FOLK FESTIVAL '07 with Carp Camp friend Dave Firestine (ROUND THE HOUSE) sitting in on mando! CRAZY CONTRA WORKSHOP FolkMADNESS Dance Camp Memorial Day Weekend '06 NM Tech, Socorro New Mexico Wendy Graham, Caller

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 23/06/2007
Band Website: www.folkmads.org/hands_five.html
Band Members: Bruce Thomson: Fiddle, Vocals//Peter Esherick: Hammered Dulcimer, Mandolin, Bass, Vocals, Banjo (HELP!!)//John Brinduse: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals//Erika Gerety: Bass, Mandolin, Lead Vocals//Gary Blank: Percussion, Vocals
Influences: Rodney Miller and "Airdance", "Hotpoint String Band", Albuquerque "Megaband", Ken Kolodner,"Yankee Ingenuity", "Carp Camp" (Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield KS), "Three Bean Salad", Rick Thum.
Sounds Like: Foot Stompin' DANCING Music!!!! Durango CO Concert & Contra Dance, 1/5/08/b.HANDS FIVE and the Albuquerque Irish Set Dancers, SAOIRSE CD Release Event, 5/12/07, Lobo Theater, Albuquerque NM

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Record Label: none, as yet

My Blog

Sound

I got an e-mail from Erika (Bass) (wife), that the sound wasn't too good, although she liked the rest of the site.  Please understand that these are definitely NOT professional recordings.  ...
Posted by on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:22:00 GMT

Welcome to HANDS FIVE's MySpace Reality!

Well folks, HANDS FIVE may not have it's own website (although I hear tell there is a URL out there somewhere with our name on it) but we now have a fully functioning MySpace site!  We will use t...
Posted by on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:58:00 GMT