Contra Pulse – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Contra Pulse

Contra Pulse

Julie Vallimont

Arts
Music
Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/17d. Total Eps: 45

Simplecast
Contra Pulse interviews musicians about the past, present, and future of contra dance music.
Site
RSS
Apple

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

  • 🇨🇦 Canada - performingArts

    02/12/2024
    #64

Spotify

    No recent rankings available



RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all
RSS feed quality
To improve

Score global : 63%


Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Episodes published by month in

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

Contra Pulse Panel - Mentors and Inspirations

Episode 43

mardi 12 avril 2022Duration 01:30:00

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or click here to download it directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

Episode 42 - Bill Tomczak

Episode 42

mardi 22 mars 2022Duration 02:58:15

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are The Wail, the 1927 foxtrot by Carleton Coon/Joe Sanders (1927 foxtrot), performed by BLT on the 1987 cassette tape Music from Here and There, Now and Then, with Kate Barnes on piano, Mary Lea on violin, and Bill Tomczak on clarinet; Alabama Jubilee, performed live at the Guiding Star Grange by Ralph Sweet’s All-Starts (Ralph Sweet as the Caller, Lee Blackwell on drums, David Cantieni on alto sax, Stuart Kenney on acoustic bass, Dave Langford on fiddle, Ann Percival on guitar and backing vocals, Pete Sutherland on piano and backing vocals, Bill Tomczak on Tenor Sax and the Arranger) from the 2004 CD Shindig in the Barn; Red Haired Boy performed live at the 2001 Asheville Summer Soireé by The Latter Day Lizards, with Dave Langford on violin and fiddle strum, Bill Tomczak on clarinet, Kate Barnes on piano, harmonica, and Carol Hamm on acoustic bass.Log Cabin by The Latter Day Lizards from the 2007 CD Rainy Night in Montague with Dave Langford on fiddle, Bill Tomczak on tenor sax, Kate Barnes on piano, Stuart Kenney on acoustic bass; And Bethena the 1905 concert waltz by Scott Joplin, from BLT’s 1998 CD Gypsy Wine with Kate Barnes on piano, Mary Lea on violin, and Bill Tomczak on clarinet.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or click here to download it directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Bill Tomczak in action:

Odds and ends mentioned in this interview:

Episode 34 - Amy Larkin

Episode 34

mardi 28 septembre 2021Duration 01:50:14

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are The Brumley Brae/Skippin' Cat, Hangman's Reel, The High Part Of The Road/All The Rage, and Four Potatoes/Catharsis - George Booker, all from Uncle Gizmo’s self-titled album, Uncle Gizmo!

Special thanks to Max Newman unearthing his vintage recording of the Uncle Gizmo album.

Check out our upcoming live event! Mentors and Inspirations – a panel discussion with Becky Tracy, Pete Sutherland, Rodney Miller, and Kate Barnes. On Monday October 18th at 7:30 Eastern.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Amy Larkin in action:

  • This is a video of her playing with Heyday (Amy on fiddle, Shirley White on fiddle, Jonathan Larkin on accordion, George White on guitar) at the Concord Scout House in 2012
  • Here she is playing twin fiddles with Eric Boodman, backed up by her frequent collaborator, guitarist Benjamin Foss, at the Sandywoods Contra Dance
  • But twin fiddles is nothing compared to this gig with Charlie Pilzer’s superband “Not Enough Fiddles,” seen here playing at NEFFA in 2015
  • She also plays Cajun and zydeco music with her husband, Jonathan Larkin and their bandmate Aaron Mayo in the Allons-y Band

Some other people mentioned in this interview:

Did you know that some of the people Amy mentions in this interview have also appeared on Contra Pulse!

  • As mentioned above, Amy was part of Charlie Pilzer’s conglomeration - “Not Enough Fiddles.” Julie interviewed Charlie in Episodes 2 and 3 of this podcast.
  • Two of Amy’s band mates in Uncle Gizmo, Larry Unger and Sam Bartlett, have also been Contra Pulse guests.
  • She also mentions one of her primary musical influences, Rodney Miller, who spoke with Julie in Episode 24 of this show.

Finally, as promised in the interview Amy shared her tune list with us! You can check it out here.

Episode 33 - Sam Bartlett

Episode 33

mardi 7 septembre 2021Duration 02:18:07

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Green Table, Iris O’Norman and Rumblestrip from Sam’s 2004 album Evil Diane and Dance-a-Rama and Mick Good’s Waltz from his 2016 album Dance-a-Rama.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Sam Bartlett in action:

Some other people and topics mentioned in this interview:

  • Pete Sutherland not only called the first contra dance Sam ever attended, but he got out on the floor to lead him through the dance when he lost his way. Did you know Pete has been interviewed on this podcast in a double episode (ep 19 and ep 20)!
  • Here’s a great video from back in the day when Sam and Abby and a bunch of musicians and dancers performed with the dance company called “Rhythm in Shoes”

Episode 32 - Larry Unger

Episode 32

mardi 17 août 2021Duration 01:43:02

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Lowdown Hoedown/Beth Cohen’s/Kolomeike from Notorious’ their 2006 eponymous album, Door County #2/Sweetbriar from the Reckless Rambler’s album Lowdown Hoedown published by Great Meadows Music, Two Rivers from Uncle Gizmo’s eponymous album, and Blues at Daybreak from the 2010 Notorious album The Road To Damascus.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or go straight to the transcript.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

Be sure to check out Larry’s many recordings here on his website!

 

See and hear Larry Unger in action:

Here’s some video from this interview of Larry demonstrating his guitar technique

Larry has played for countless dances! Here are a few videos:

You can hear tunes written by Larry in so many places:

How many instruments does he even play!?

Many dances have been written to Larry’s tunes:

Episode 31 - Karina Wilson

Episode 31

mardi 27 juillet 2021Duration 02:11:39

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Late for the Dance/Red Prairie Dawn performed live by the Karina Wilson Trio, Bright New Morning, a singlewritten and performed by Karina with Bard Edrighton on banjo and guitar, recorded at Torreon studios in Santa Fe, NM, Smithy Hill from the Reverie album Violet, and Celeste, also from Violet, featuring Terry Wergeland and Marni Rachmiel.

 

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

 

See and hear Karina Wilson in action:

Episode 30 - Jeff Spero

Episode 30

mardi 6 juillet 2021Duration 02:01:41

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Julia Delaney/Farewell to Chernobyl from the Syncopaths’ first album Rough Around the Edges, Waves and Smiles performed by Audrey Knuth and Jeff, the Fifth Gear set from the second Syncopath album Five Gears, and Waltz for Ann Marie from Michael Mendelson’s album A Fiddler’s Notebook.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

 

See and hear Jeff Spero in action:

Some other people and topics mentioned in this interview:

Episode 29 - Doug Protsik

Episode 29

mardi 15 juin 2021Duration 02:40:21

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Blanchard's Hornpipe/Good For The Tongue from the Old Gray Goose album Maine Country Dance Tunes and Songs, She Said She Couldn't Dance from the Old Gray Goose album Opera House Medley, Feisty Barny self-recorded by Doug Protsik, Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad Polka also from Opera House Medley and Popcorn Schottische from Maine Country Dance Tunes and Songs.

 

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Doug Protsik in action:

Some other people and topics mentioned in this interview:

In the interview Doug cites numerous influences on his playing and musical style:

Episode 28 - Sylvia Miskoe

Episode 28

mercredi 26 mai 2021Duration 01:49:35

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Cotillion des baies-des-rochers from the album Canterbury Dance Orchestra’s album Welcome Here Again, Rock Valley Jig from the album Fiddle Tunes with Omar Marcoux, album and a track from The Strasthspeay and Reel Society of New Hampshire: Stirling Fiddlers Welcome To The Strathspey And Reel Society Of New Hampshire.

 

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

 

See and hear Sylvia Miskoe in action:

Some other people and topics mentioned in this interview:

Episode 27 - Betsy Branch

Episode 27

mardi 4 mai 2021Duration 02:09:29

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are a set of three tunes from the Portland Playalong Selection with Sue Songer and Clyde Curley (a companion CD to the renown tune book): Jeff City / John Sharp's Hornpipe / Ducks on the Pond, Sunday River Waltz from Betsy’s album with David Kaynor - Midnight in Montague, Picassiette from her album with pianist Mark Douglass -Iles de la MadeleineKitchen Jig/Over the Causewayfrom Midnight in Montague, and Offerat Ecclesia, a piece from a Portland Revels recording called Down Through the Winters featuring Betsy and Shulamit Kleinerman on vielle. 

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Betsy Branch in action:

Some other people and topics mentioned in this interview:


Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Discover shows related to Contra Pulse, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
Basic Folk
Brainstorm
Enjoy Your Piping! With Gary West
The Big Rab Show Podcast
Droning On
Fiddle Studio
Get Up in the Cool
Irish & Celtic Music Podcast
From the Mic
FOLK SONGS & STORIES
© My Podcast Data