Friday January 25 and Saturday January 26, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Any Old Time String Band
Freight and Salvage, Berkeley
Advance tickets recommended! Visit the Freight & Salvage website or phone the Freight at 510-548-1761.

Original members Kate Brislin, Suzy Thompson, Valerie Mindel, Sue Draheim and Genny Haley will revive their signature mix of rousing fiddle tunes and old-time songs, humorous novelty numbers, Cajun waltzes, haunting ballads, and hip-shaking classic blues songs for two nights at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage, on January 25 and 26, 2008. Besides revisiting the old favorites, the quintet is working up some new material for the occasion!

Any Old Time String Band was formed in late 1976 in San Francisco and almost immediately managed to land a steady gig at Paul's Saloon, the Bay Area’s hottest spot for bluegrass music. The band played to packed houses during the two years they held down the Saturday night spot at Paul's. Any Old Time toured up and down the West Coast, and shared the stage with Bill Monroe, Pete Seeger, Doc Watson, the New Lost City Ramblers, and many other folk icons. The band reached a national audience through their recordings and with their performance on Prairie Home Companion during its very early period (when Garrison Keillor still had a daily radio show in Minneapolis.)

Any OldTime’s two LPS have been reissued by Arhoolie on a single CD, "I Bid You Good Night." The band is also featured on the Grammy-winning Arhoolie box set, "The Journey of Chris Strachwitz."
During the past 30 years all five women have gone on to make their musical marks in a variety of ways. Kate Brislin is nationally known for her many albums with partner Jody Stecher, two of which were nominated for Grammies. She and Jody perform at festivals, concerts, and a recent “Prairie Home Companion” cruise. She toured during the early 1980s with Blue Flame String Band (with Suzy) and also performed and recorded with Laurie Lewis and Katie Moffat. Sue Draheim recently toured with British folk-rock legends John Renbourn and Jacquie McShee (of Pentangle). She has also done stints with various Celtic groups including the rock band Tempest and the acoustic trio Golden Bough. During the 1980s and ’90s, Sue concentrated on playing classical music, played in several regional symphonies and toured with Western Opera Theater. Genny Haley sings her 1920s blues with the New Orleans-style Zenith Jazz Band and raises llamas in the Sierra foothills. Valerie Mindel specializes in teaching country harmony singing, with classes and workshops at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Augusta Heritage Center and Village Harmony. She has worked with Henry Sapoznik’s New York-based Brooklyn Corn Dodgers and performs and teaches with daughter Emily Miller. She currently divides her time between Japan and Vermont. Suzy Rothfield Thompson recently released two solo albums in quick succession. She performs and records with the Aux Cajunals, the Bluegrass Intentions, Thompson String Ticklers and in a duo with husband Eric Thompson. In the early 1980s she was part of the Blue Flame String Band with Kate. From 1983 to 2001 Suzy led the California Cajun Orchestra (featuring the late Danny Poullard); the band released two CDs, both of which won national awards.

You can hear cuts from Any Old Time's two LPs here: Music: Any Old Time at the Arhoolie website