The Dixie Butterhounds

The Dixie Butterhounds are an old-time string band whose members include:

Paul Boyd - fiddle, banjo
George Touchstone - fiddle, banjo mandolin, slide guitar
Jon Gersh - banjo, guitar
Mark Wholley - guitar, fiddle, mandolin

Kathy Fletcher often joins us, playing fiddle and guitar, and contributing lead and harmony vocals.

Before Mark joined us full time, we had several people play guitar with us, including Bob Aumueller and Larry Unger.

Alan Bradbury, Larry Unger, Eric Levenson, Deb Tankard, Dana Sue Leichter and Dave Stryker have played bass with us.

Jon and Kathy, with some help from the rest of us and other friends, also perform as Planet Banjo.

Our Music

We play old time string band music. It consists mainly of southern Appalachian fiddle tunes and songs, though we also branch out into rags and bluesy numbers as well. We play for square or contra dances as well as for performances.

Schedule

We normally play the opening set at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave in Cambridge, on the fourth Tuesday of the month, but we're not doing the May 26th show.

We will be back at the Cantab on June 23rd.

George & Jon will be on the staff at the Pinewoods American Dance & Music Week, August 1-8. We'll be teaching fiddle and banjo, playing for Kathy Anderson's calling class and for the evening dances, and leading a "Singing Tune Swap".

We have played recently at the MIT Folk Dance Club, the Cantab, the NEFFA Festival, Johnny D’s, Club Passim, the Country Dance New York American Contra Dance series, the CDS-Boston Second Saturdays Series, NEFFA's Thursday Night Contra series, the Montpelier First Night, Mahoney's Garden Center, Framingham State College, the Big E, the Rochester, VT SummerNight Festival, the Photographic Resource Center, Spencertown Academy, the Wakefield Town Common Concert Series, the Down East Country Dance Festival, Dance Flurry, the Full Moon Cafe, the "Words on a String" Festival in Quebec, the Montague Old Home Day, the Boston Bluegrass Union Springfest, and the Linden Tree Coffee House.

Pictures

Johnny D’s, December 23, 1997
Linden Tree Coffee House, October 24, 1998
A Cambridge Block Party, June 5, 1999
Montague Old Home Day, August 21, 1999
"Words on a String" Festival in Quebec, July 15, 2000 with the Kitchen Sync Cloggers
Johnny D's, December 19, 2000 with the Kitchen Sync Cloggers
First Night, Montpelier, Vt, December 31, 2000 with the Kitchen Sync Cloggers
Johnny D's, December 18, 2001 with the Kitchen Sync Cloggers
Photographic Resource Center, January 17th, 2002
Mahoney’s, October 6th, 2002
New England Real Ale Expo, May 2nd, 2003
The Big E, September 20, 2003 with the Kitchen Sync Cloggers

Sound Clips

Johnny D’s, December 19, 2000
    Rye Straw - 448k
    Spring Creek Gals - 320k
    I’ve Been All Around This World - Lead: Mark, Harmony: Kathy - 384k
    Milwaukee Blues - Lead: George, Harmony: Mark - 640k
    Liza Jane - We all play banjo: Paul and Larry: 5 string, Jon: Piccolo Banjo, Mark: Banjo Guitar, George: Banjo Mandolin - 480k
    Old Plank Road Lead: Jon, Harmony: Mark - 480k

Contact

For booking information, contact Jon Gersh at (781) 641-1618.
If you have hired us for a performance or dance, here is a page of Promotion and Production information.

Page last updated May 20, 2009.
Space for the Dixie Butterhounds web page is provided by George Touchstone and Sacramento Software Works.
Click here for George's Music Page or Gallery