Welcome to the Monday Night All-Stars
“Monday Night All-Stars” is the name given by the Louisville Country Dancers (LCD) to the volunteer string band which has provided live music at the Monday night contra dances for over 30 years. The Monday Night All Stars have welcomed all sorts of instruments and all levels of musical skills and experience in that time and continue to do so. The volunteer band serves two very important purposes. First and foremost, it provides live, and lively, dance music for the dancers to help create a rich experience for all. A second purpose is to provide an opportunity for local musicians to participate in an ensemble and to learn from playing alongside more experienced musicians.
Serving the Dancers
Providing great music for the dancers is the most important role for the Monday Night All Stars. To serve that purpose, we follow these practices:
The band will have a leader who communicates and coordinates with the caller. (Mark Cannon was in that role for some 30 years; Tom Cunningham is the current leader.)
The leader will select the tunes to be played for each contra dance, set the tempo for the tunes, signal when to switch to the second tune in a contra dance and signal when the tune shall end.
Microphones and direct connections to the sound equipment will be distributed to the more experienced musicians in the group.
The leader will coordinate with the sound system volunteers to ensure the best sound is available to the dancers and to the stage musicians via the monitors.
The leader will have the sole responsibility of ensuring the music serves the needs of the caller and the dancers.
Serving the Musicians
The Monday Night All Stars also serve the participating musicians by providing the opportunity for musicians to:
Learn how to play music for dances
Learn new tunes and new genres of tunes (reels, jigs, waltzes, etc.)
Learn to play in and contribute to an ensemble
Learn new skills and improve existing skills through playing with more experienced musicians
The Varied Roles of the Musical Instruments
The Monday Night All Stars have a long history featuring a wide variety of instruments and a wide range of musicians on stage. In addition to traditional stringed instruments, various keyboard instruments, various types of drums and wind instruments have been welcome as well. Experience has shown:
Fiddle, bass and guitar form the core of the group since they provide the melodic lead along with a solid rhythmic foundation crucial to the dance. There should be one primary bass instrument to avoid confusing or conflicting bass lines.
Other instruments (banjo, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, percussion, keyboards, etc.) play important, though secondary, roles.
The eclectic blend of instruments and musicians is the source of the energy and freshness of the Monday Night All Stars.
Learning the Music
Whether a new or experienced musician, a new member of the Monday Night All Stars will need to integrate into the group and to learn the music. There are several resources available to help you in this process:
A list of tunes frequently played at the dance is available.
A PDF document of traditional dance tunes in standard notation with chords created by Cary Ravitz of Lexington is available.
The Louisville Country Dancers have a playlist on YouTube with excerpts of many tunes from the Monday contra dances - Monday Night All Stars Open Band - YouTube (Special thanks to John French for capturing these recordings).
New tunes may be practiced during the warm-up period prior to the dance.
Periodic emails are sent to the group that may contain information about schedule changes and tabs and MP3s for new tunes that are to be added to the repertoire.
Cary Ravitz has compiled a public domain book of contra dance tunes which can be a good reference, however it does not include all the tunes of the Monday Night All Stars nor the versions of the tunes played by the Monday Night All Stars.
Musicians’ Responsibilities
As a member of the ensemble, you have responsibilities to the dancers and to your fellow musicians:
Arrive early and be ready to play.
Keep your instrument in tune.
Understand the role of your instrument in the ensemble and strive to blend with the playing of others.
Minimize playing your instrument between dances, especially when the caller is teaching the dance.
Help with cleanup of the stage and audio equipment at the end of the dance.
Gratuities from the Dancers and LCD
As a sign of appreciation of the live dance music, dancers drop tips into a tip bucket for the band. LCD also makes a donation to the band. We distribute these to band members who would like to receive tips at the end of the evening. Some musicians choose not to accept these. If you would like to be included, please communicate that with band leadership.
Advice for Dance Musicians from Deborah Denenfeld
The structure of the music is VERY important to the dancers. Emphasize the beginning of each phrase, even when improvising.
Tempo is also important. Stay with your leader (usually the fiddler, but in other cities might be the piano).
Know who your leader is and watch them. They will be the one to tell you how many more repetitions or if something happens and you need to abort.
Be humble. If you're relatively new stay away from the mics. Leave those for folks with a lot of experience playing for the dances. You may be a great musician, but playing for dancers is different.
You may be (we hope you are) really enjoying yourself, but remember that your true purpose is to provide joy to the dancers. Do that by following points mentioned above. Gradually, over time, experiment a little and see what else you can do for them.
Your leader is the one the caller is trying to communicate with. If the leader doesn't notice the caller trying to get their attention, see if you can silently convey that they should look at the caller.