Boulder Junction Baseball Park – Boulder Junction, WI
Gates Open at 1:30pm
Rustic Rhythm Entertainment Lineup
Different Drums of Ireland Headlines Music Festival
Northwoods residents can’t get enough of Irish rhythms. For two years running, Different Drums of Ireland has put on spectacular shows for residents and visitors. On Saturday, August 28th, the group returns to the Northwoods, headlining the first-ever “Rustic Rhythm—A Northwoods Music Jam,” at
the Boulder Junction Baseball Park.
Formed in 1991, Different Drums of Ireland brings the indigenous drums of Ireland, the Lambeg and the Bodhran, together for the first time ever in a celebratory performance. Symbols of the factions in the conflict over Northern Ireland, the massive Lambeg and smaller Bodhran create harmony in the talented hands of Different Drums’ performers. The group has performed around the world, including for U.S. and Irish Presidents. But few areas can claim to have influenced Different Drums of Ireland like Boulder Junction has. After visiting for the first time, the band was inspired by Boulder’s natural beauty to write songs about the area.
Echoing the unifying message of Different Drums, Boulder Junction’s Rustic Rhythm Music Jam joins three very different sounds together.
U.P. North Connection, known throughout the Northwoods for their stirring Bluegrass tunes, begins the entertainment at 2:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., Blue Winds Dancing will showcase the traditional Native American music and dance of the Ojibwe people.
Blue Winds Dancing, former performers of the Waswagoning Dance Theatre in Lac Du Flambeau, will educate our visitors as well as entertain. Their intent is to explain the reason behind some of their very traditional songs, their orientation, the historical use, and the connection with the ornate dresses worn while exhibiting the dance.
The rousing rhythms of Different Drums of Ireland will close the day’s entertainment.
Also on hand will be an arts and crafts fair featuring handmade cultural and historical items, as well as plenty of food and beverage.
Tickets can be purchased before the event at the Chamber Office, the Homestead and McGann’s Café. Pre-show tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for youths 6-16 years old, and free for kids five and under. Ticket price increases $5 the day of the show.
Gates at the Boulder Junction Baseball Park will open at 1:30 p.m.
More About Different Drums of Ireland
Long before he founded Different Drums, Irish musician Roy Arbuckle was living with the conflict in Ireland between Protestant Unionists and Nationalist Catholics. In 1991 Arbuckle was asked to do something in his community that would use arts as a vehicle to bring people together.
Arbuckle had recently spent a week with the Kodo drummers from Japan, which inspired him to look to the drums of his own country. There, he found unique symbols in traditional musical instruments.
The Lambeg, a big bass drum constructed and played in a way unique to Ulster, is representative of the Protestant and Unionist people. At over three feet in diameter and clocking 125db, it’s reckoned to be the loudest drum in the world. The Bodhran, described as a “wee” drum usually made of goatskin, is an instrument seen as a symbol of Nationalism and the Catholic people. Frame drums of this type are found in cultures all around the world. Arbuckle formed “Different Drums of Ireland” in 1991, bringing together the Lambeg and Bodhran, which had not been heard together because each represented opposite factions in the battle for Northern Ireland. Arbuckle’s vision was shaped in part by M. Scott Peck’s “The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace,” from which he drew the “essential human need to be in community with other living things,” a vision Different Drums of Ireland still embodies. The group owes its name to Henry David Thoreau; it alludes to people marching to the beat of a different drum.
Today, Different Drums of Ireland uses the African Djembe drum to provide the rhythmic engine of the band. In addition, listeners hear a high-tension snare and various other percussion instruments from around the world. The melodic aspects of the band are provided by voices, a guitar and a range of traditional Irish instruments with particular emphasis on the Uilleann pipes and the whistle.
Different Drums of Ireland Lineup: Roy Arbuckle (Derry/Londonderry) Vocals, Guitar, Bodhran, Lambeg
Stephen Matier (Belfast) Bodhran, Lambeg, Darbuka, Bones, Vocal, Percussion
Dolores O'Hare (Mayobridge Co Down) - Uilleann pipes, Whistles, Fife, Fiddle, Box,
Accordion, bodhran, Long drum, voice
Paul Marshall (Bangor Co Down) - Djembe, Pipe and set snares, Drumset, NA Flute,
Bronze Horn, Vocals, Percussion
Richard Campbell (New Buildings Co L'Derry) - Marching Snare, Lambeg, Longdrum, Kilt
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Northwoods residents can’t get enough of Irish rhythms. For two years running, Different Drums of Ireland has put on spectacular shows for residents and visitors. On Saturday, August 28th, the group returns to the Northwoods, headlining the first-ever “Rustic Rhythm—A Northwoods Music Jam,” at
the Boulder Junction Baseball Park. 
U.P. North Connection, known throughout the Northwoods for their stirring Bluegrass tunes, begins the entertainment at 2:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., Blue Winds Dancing will showcase the traditional Native American music and dance of the Ojibwe people. 
Blue Winds Dancing, former performers of the Waswagoning Dance Theatre in Lac Du Flambeau, will educate our visitors as well as entertain. Their intent is to explain the reason behind some of their very traditional songs, their orientation, the historical use, and the connection with the ornate dresses worn while exhibiting the dance. 
Long before he founded Different Drums, Irish musician Roy Arbuckle was living with the conflict in Ireland between Protestant Unionists and Nationalist Catholics. In 1991 Arbuckle was asked to do something in his community that would use arts as a vehicle to bring people together. 
Today, Different Drums of Ireland uses the African Djembe drum to provide the rhythmic engine of the band. In addition, listeners hear a high-tension snare and various other percussion instruments from around the world. The melodic aspects of the band are provided by voices, a guitar and a range of traditional Irish instruments with particular emphasis on the Uilleann pipes and the whistle. 