Bruce Carveth plays the English cortina – a small version of the accordion.
“It’s an oddly-shaped, six-sided instrument with a bellows on it and a whole bunch of buttons. It’s very portable and fun to play.“
His pal, Pete Marshall, favors the mandolin, and together they’ve planned a series of summer concerts in Charlottesville.
They hope to attract fans of traditional Irish and English music and are luring newcomers with the promise of a free Webley Twizzle. That, it turns out, is a tune that usually accompanies traditional folk or “Morris” dancers in the English midlands as they hop, skip and twirl – or, to use the old English term, twizzle.
“The tune itself, I think, is a pretty good tune. The name, of course, is the best part of it,: Carveth says. "And its impact on people is also great because it reduces stress and makes people smile, and what more could you want.”
He adds a caveat – the twizzle may increase your sense of mirth and impetus to frolic – so if you’re not ready to feel good, you should probably skip their pop up performances.
The duo will appear Thursdays, at noon June 2 in Monument Park (W. Main at JPA) and June 9 at University Baptist Church. They'll play Thursday June 30 at 5 p.m. at the Dairy Market and Thursday July 21 at noon at UVA Credit Union (University Ave.). A final show is planned for noon, August 12 on the Downtown Mall's Omni end.
