Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Ah! No matter how many times...It is always such a kick to see your book in the window of a bookstore! Thank you, Salem's own very new, very welcome, very cool Bookstore..Wicked Good Books!

 PS the book is A history of spiritualism and the occult in Salem : the rise of witch city by yours truly!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Pix from Recent Performances




Pix from some recent gigs...Jim and Maggi at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, on May 4, performing for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival ("CelticSpringSongs"); our yearly concert, in April this year... at The Boston Conservatory ("A Celebration of American Music 5")...and Maggi on an author's panel at Mohegan Sun for The Big Book Club Festival!




Thursday, April 24, 2014

Come one, and come all! Here's our session at the Mass Poetry Fest!







Come one, and come all! Here's our session at the Mass Poetry Fest!
http://masspoetry2014.pathable.com/#meetings/189781

CelticPoets: A SpringSong Session
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, May 4 2014
Peabody Essex Museum, Morse Auditorium

Celtic Poets: A SpringSong Session with Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton Poetry with Music "Come all ye!" and take your place in the long and honorable bardic tradition of Celtic poetry and music. Bring your own favorite Celtic poetry to read aloud. You'll take the stage (or you can read from your place in the audience, if you prefer) between Celtic songs and musical numbers to be performed by the husband and wife team of Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton.

The Daltons' performance will also accompanied by an informative slideshow. We'll have some poetry on hand, but you are really encouraged to dig deeply to find your own favorites from the rich traditions, ancient or modern, of the Celtic soul.


ALL ages are invited to participate in the reading of poetry, and poetry may be drawn from any era, and any of the Celtic nations (Ireland, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Brittany, Scotland, and Wales)*. *There are also ancient Celtic connections to Britain, France, Belgium (the Gaulic tribes), and to Spain (Galicia).
track: Poetry with Music

Monday, April 7, 2014


 COMING UP ON APRIL 10, 2014

Faculty Recital: A Celebration of American Music 5 with Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton

 JOIN US!
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 8:00pm
Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, 8 The Fenway, Boston

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!


Take a sometimes haunting, sometimes amusing, musical journey through America's past with A Celebration of American Music 5, featuring a performance on voice, guitar, mandolin and banjo. Enjoy the Daltons' trademark varied palette of styles as they carve a broad path through the American past, from 18th-century ballads to 20th-century blues.

This year's concert features special segments commemorating the beginning of World War I, the legacies of Stephen Foster and Charles Ives, the arrival of the Beatles in America and much more.

Info and directions: http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/event/faculty-recital-celebration-american-music-5-jim-dalton-and-maggi-smith-dalton






http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/event/faculty-recital-celebration-american-music-5-jim-dalton-and-maggi-smith-dalton

Monday, February 24, 2014

You are invited to enjoy "A Bouquet of Celtic Spring-Songs" with Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton




Join us, folks! Spring is here! (almost)

"Come All Ye!" to welcome springtime with Celtic music, song, and story! You are invited to enjoy "A Bouquet of Celtic Spring-Songs"
 6 pm
March 2, 2014
at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, 18 Springdale Avenue, Dover, MA.

Our special, family-friendly musical/historical program will follow a dinner at the church, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Our program will feature storytelling and musical numbers drawn from several Celtic sources, styles and eras, and played on a variety of instruments. The Church is handicapped accessible. The program is free and open to the public, but a free-will offering is very welcome.

Directions and more info: http://www.saintdunstansma.org
 Email: office@saintdunstansma.org
Phone: 508-785-0879)

Monday, February 17, 2014

THIS WEEKEND! Feb. 22 I'm on an author's panel at the Big Book Getaway, sponsored by the Mark Twain House and Museum, and by the History Press

THIS WEEKEND! Feb. 22

I'm on an author's panel at the Big Book Getaway conference at Mohegan Sun....should be fun! Sharing the panel with
fellow authors Marybeth Reilly McGreen, Brunonia Barry, and the panel is moderated by RI Deputy Secretary of State (and author) Paul F. Caranci

 

Saturday, February 22 at 4:00 p.m.

 

Info:


http://www.thebigbookclub.org/toil-trouble-witches-occult/

You can register on the website! Please come!

Maggi Smith-Dalton, a historian and writer, writes about the history of spiritualism and the occult in Salem, Massachusetts. She describes occult aspects earlier in the region’s history, such as mesmerism, religious sects, and Mormonism, then Salem just before the Civil War through the end of the nineteenth century. She provides the historical and social context for the city, including its link to witchcraft, and tells of key individuals, such as Emanuel Swedenborg, Franz Anton Mesmer, Andrew Jackson Davis, Charles Wentworth Upham, Charles Henry Foster, Allen Putnam, Joseph Gilbert Waters, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and other psychics, healers, and clairvoyants. (Annotation ©2013 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)


Thursday, February 13, 2014

You are invited to enjoy "A Bouquet of Celtic Spring-Songs" with Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton 6 pm March 2, 2014, at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Dover, MA

 "Come All Ye!" to welcome springtime with Celtic music, song, and story! You are invited to enjoy "A Bouquet of Celtic Spring-Songs"   6 pm March 2, 2014, at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, 18 Springdale Avenue, Dover, MA. The special, family-friendly musical/historical program, presented by musicians and historians Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton, will follow a dinner at the church, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

The program by the Daltons will feature storytelling and musical numbers drawn from several Celtic sources, styles and eras, and played on a variety of instruments. The Church is handicapped accessible. The program is free and open to the public, but a free-will offering is very welcome.

Directions and more info: http://www.saintdunstansma.org  Email: office@saintdunstansma.org
Phone: 508-785-0879)

BHCC Community Education Spring 2014 Workshops with Maggi Smith-Dalton

BHCC Community Education Spring 2014 Workshops
with Maggi Smith-Dalton
Bunker Hill Community College (Charlestown Campus)
http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/ce/spring2014workshopseries/

Registration Open NOW!

Celtic Roots and Branches 
WCE-233 $15
Saturday, March 1, 2014

Celtic Music as the Wheel of the Year
WCE-231 $15
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Registration button on the website

Celtic Roots and Branches 
WCE-233 $15
Saturday, March 1, 2014

Understanding the influence of immigrant cultural contributions is vital to understanding the development of U.S. history. Throughout that history, the musical contributions of the Celtic people have been extremely important. This workshop will provide an overview of how Celtic music influenced U.S. history and culture, focusing mostly on the 18th and 19th centuries. We'll explore this story together through performed and recorded music, illustrated lecture, and conversation.

Celtic Music as the Wheel of the Year
WCE-231 $15
Saturday, March 15, 2014

In every culture, music has provided much more than entertainment to human life. The traditional music of the Celts celebrated the natural world, giving each community a sense of connection to each other and to the mysteries of life and death. Musical rituals gave structure and shape to everyday life, celebrated heroic events and people, commemorated important folk figures such as St. Patrick and St. David and strengthened a shared sense of values. This workshop will introduce participants to music of the Celts and how it functioned in the folklore and history of Celtic peoples through performed and recorded music, illustrated lecture, and conversation. Come celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day weekend with us.



Charlestown Campus
H-Building, Room H109
Phone: 617-228-2462
Fax: 617-228-2080

Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
 Wayne K. Johnson 
Director of Community Education
Email: wkjohnso@bhcc.mass.edu

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Friday, Jan 31, Sat, Feb. 1 Bards, Gazelles, Squirrels & Sonatas (II) A program of music performed by the composers (and friends)

    • A program of music performed by the composers (and friends)

      The Ninth Ear

      Jim Dalton
      Karl Henning
      Nancy Rexford
      Charles Turner

      Program:

      Unarmed Man (première) | Chas Turner

      Peter H. Bloom, piccolo
      Karl Henning, clarinet
      Chas Turner, contrabass

      Gifts of the Bard | Jim Dalton

      Jim Dalton, mandolin

      Après-mystère
      Zen on the Wing
      Swivels & Bops | Karl Henning

      Peter H. Bloom, piccolo & flute
      Karl Henning, clarinet

      Sweet Gazelle (première) | Turner

      Chas Turner, shakuhachi
      Jim Dalton, guitar

      Violin Sonata (two movements, première) | Nancy Rexford
      Rachael Wimmer, violin
      Nancy Rexford, piano

      [ intermission ]

      Clear Full Moon | Jim Dalton

      Maggi Smith-Dalton, voice
      Jim Dalton, guitar

      Spinning (première) | Turner

      Karl Henning, clarinet
      Jim Dalton, guitar

      Untempered Guitar | Dalton

      Jim Dalton, guitar

      Send Me an Angel (première)
      Dance With an Angel (première) | Turner

      Karl Henning, clarinet
      Chas Turner, contrabass

      Suma Beach (première) | Turner

      Naomi Gurt Lind, voice
      Chas Turner, shakuhachi

      Jazz for Nostalgic Squirrels (première) | Henning

      Peter H. Bloom, flute
      Karl Henning, clarinet
      Jim Dalton, guitar
      Chas Turner, contrabass

      =================

      Suggested $10 - $15 Voluntary Donation
      155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, Massachusetts 02144