See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

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

• The Montague Grange is no longer active as a Grange, but the Grange Hall, now know as the Montague Common Hall, is still an active community hub now lovingly maintained by the Friends of the Montague Common Hall, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They host social dances and music in the space along with many other events. The organization is currently fundraising for future improvements to the building.
• The Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield, MA celebrated 150 years in 2023! The Grange membership, which still includes many dancers and musicians connected to the contra dance community, has worked to broaden the mission of the Grange to encompass many facets of community enrichment (including dance!)
• The Capitol City Grange in Montpelier, VT is also still active as a Grange and still hosts regular contra dances on first, third, and fifth Saturdays of each month, along with many other community events and activities.

• David's obituary, June 1, 2021
• Before David's passing in 2021 The Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation happened over zoom and the recording is still available.
• With help from many, many contributors, Sue Songer has assembled a wonderful book about David called "David Kaynor: Living Music and Dance," which also includes many of his musical compositions as well as writings about dance and dance calling.
• Midnight in Montague - Betsy Branch and David recorded a wonderful album INSIDE the Montague Grange Hall called "Midnight in Montague." Betsy is working on getting the album up on Bandcamp and also having it reprinted for purchase on CD. Stay tuned here for more info.

We extend a special thanks to Vermont Folklife, a statewide cultural research and education nonprofit that loaned Mary the equipment to make this recording with David and then placed a copy of the recording in their Archive so the file wouldn't become lost in the ether of Mary's personal, digital files. (Fun fact: Mary now serves as the Director of Education and Media at Vermont Folklife!)

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

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

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Diane calls the dance Roll Around by Cary Ravitz with music by Steamshovel with the Chattahoochee Country Dancers in Atlanta in 2014
• Diane calls the dance Silver Anniversary by Jim Kitch with music by Steamshovel with the Chattahoochee Country Dancers in Atlanta in 2014

Other links:

• Diane's website!
• Dance Safety guidelines from Asheville's Old Farmer's Ball
• Diane shows up in this great local news segment on contra dancing in North Carolina

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

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

Show Notes

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Clip of George calling the dance Worth the Wait by Dana Parkinson at the Glen Echo Contra Dance in 2012 with music by Swallowtail
• Clip of George calling the dance Salute to Larry Jennings by Ted Sannella and Russell Owen at the Greenfield, MA contra dance in 2011 with music by Wild Asparagus

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Maia Calls the dance Playground Stomp by Julian Bee with music by Not Enough Fiddles at NEFFA 2017 in Mansfield, MA
• Maia Calls A Dance for Dan by Bill Olson with music by Callithump (David Knight (fiddle), Andrew Marcus (accordion), Paul Oorts (guitar)) at the Silver Spring, MD monthly contra dance in March, 2015.

Other links:

• Check out Maia's excellent website! Including:
  • Dance blog!
  • Dance compositions
  • She's even written a few dance tunes!

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

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

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Rick calls his own dance, Rick's Triplet #1 at the 2011 Chattahoochee Country Dancers Au Contraire November Dance Festival in Atlanta, GA to the music of Crowfoot (Adam Broome, Jaige Trudel, and Nicholas Williams)
• Rick calls the dance Tica Tica Timing by Dean Snipes at the 2015 Flurry Festival with music by the Great Bear Band, (Andrew VanNorstrand, Noah VanNorstrand, Kim Yerton, Rebecca Bosworth-Clemens, and Dana Billings)

Other links:

• Once you've listened to Rick on this podcast, go check him out on his own podcast! Rick hosts and produces the Northwest Philly Neighbors podcast where he interviews, you guessed it! His neighbors!
• Explore dances written by Rick here and find lots more goodies on his website.
• Learn about the By-Ear Open Band
• And for all you dance card enthusiasts, thanks to Rick for sharing the fruits of his epic internet search for heavier weight index cards!
• Lastly - how cool is the World of Tessellation Art that Rick made!?

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

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

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Cis calling the dance Reel to Reel by Cary Ravitz with music by Barefoot (Ed Howe and Jamie Oshima) at the 2015 - Atlanta Dance Weekend with the Chattahoochee Country Dancers
• Cis calling a square dance with music by The Figments (Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Owen Morrison, and Anna Patton) at the 2023 Epicenter Contra Dance Weekend in Mill Valley, California.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

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

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• David calling a variation on the dance "California Twirlin" by Janet Levatin at to the music of Nova at the Ottawa Contra dance on April 28, 2016.
• David calling the singing square dance "Deep in the Heart of Texas" to the music of the Stringrays at the 2013 Dance in the Desert weekend near Tuscon, AZ.

More from David

• David's work as a documentarian is prolific! Be sure to check out these links mentioned in the interview:
  • The Square Dance History Project
  • A Hand for the Band
  • Find MUCH more on his personal website
• David has also presented for groups all over the country, both in person and online. Check out these recordings:
  • Country dance in Modern Times: Squares, ECD, and Contras in Post-WWII America
  • Contra Dance in Modern Times: 75 years of change in post-WWII America
  • Contra Chestnuts: A New Look at Old Dances
  • Square Dance: An American Medley (for the Country Dance and Song Society)
    • Session 1 – historic roots
    • Session 2 – Northern and Southern
    • Session 3 – Western and modern

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

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

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Penn calling the dance Hillsboro Jig by Bill Thomas to the music of Applejack on May 3, 2014, in Peterborough, NH, at the "Kwackfest" dance to celebrate the life of Bob McQuillen.