South Bay House Concerts - SF2SJ music connect

Through nearly 20 years of bringing their special blend of Gypsy jazz and revisited cover songs to audiences around the world, Christine Tassan et les Imposteures have made a name for themselves on the international music scene.

Pioneers in a domain usually reserved for men and precursors of the gypsy wave that swept across Québec, this quartet led by guitarist Christine Tassan continues to reinvent this timeless music while integrating new ideas and influences with originality. From standards to original compositions, the Imposteures’ musical arrangements innovate, rejuvenate and leave room for unbridled creativity from four talented and accomplished musicians.

5:00 PM Fingerstyle guitar and Fiddle Workshops
6:15 PM Potluck dinner for workshop attendees
7:30 PM Concert Doors open at 7:00

Pay at door: Concert $25.00 - Workshop $25.00 Both concert and workshop-$40.00

Please email for reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

​Workshops
Fingerstyle Guitar - Tracing musical DNA from Doc Watson, Merle Travis, John Hurt, and Davey Graham, this workshop will have your fingers doing the walking. Great for picking, and for accompanying singing.

Fiddle ​ - April will teach an original tune called “Robin on the Wagon Wheel” (which is featured on Newberry & Verch’s new album.) It’s in the key of A and April plays it in cross A / sawmill, but if you would rather not cross tune, that’s an option as well - it works both ways! This is a great tune to learn and introduce to your local jam circle. It’s memorable and easy to catch, and April will spend some time talking about variations, drones and bowings to make it extra groovy.

About the performers
Growing up, Joe Newberry and April Verch absorbed traditions of home and hearth - in his Missouri Ozarks and her Ottawa Valley of Canada. Although they are on the road much of the year, the two are fond of saying that they are rarely homesick, because their music means they always have a bit of home with them wherever they go.
Newberry comes from a family of singers and dancers. He took up the guitar and banjo as a boy and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers. Verch grew up listening to her Dad’s country band play for dances in the Ottawa Valley. She started step dancing at age three and fiddling at age six.
In a Newberry & Verch show, delighted audiences see first-hand the roots of their music, their love of performing, and their strong musical connection. Original songs join timeless classics. Stories warm the heart, and give audiences a chance to understand where the music comes from. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun.
Known around the world for his clawhammer banjo playing, Newberry is also a powerful guitarist, singer and songwriter. The Gibson Brothers’ version of his song “Singing As We Rise,” won an IBMA “Gospel Recorded Performance” Award. With Eric Gibson, he shared an IBMA “Song of the Year” Award for “They Called It Music.” A longtime guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions 2016 tour of the U.K., and at the Transatlantic Session's debut at Merlefest in 2017. Also a sought-after instructor, he plays and teaches at festivals and workshops in North America and abroad.
Before launching her professional career, Verch was the first woman to win both the Canadian Grand Masters and Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. Since 2000, she has toured the world with the April Verch Band, and also in a duo with her husband, Cody Walters, performing in 19 different countries. She has recorded 18 albums, receiving JUNO, Canadian Folk Music and Independent Music nominations and awards for several of those releases. She has also released an instructional stepdance DVD, a book of original fiddle tunes, and a Canadian Fiddle tune teaching method for Mel Bay. Verch was one of 6 fiddlers who represented the Canadian fiddle tradition to the world at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, as part of a segment called “Fiddle Nation” featured in the Opening Ceremonies.
Ever since Newberry & Verch met and discovered a musical spark that few can match, they have toured across North America, Europe, and the U.K., including Nova Scotia’s signature festival Celtic Colours International Festival, the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York state, and Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland. Their recording projects, “Going Home” (2017), and “On This Christmas Day” (2021), were released to wide acclaim, and the duo has a new project ready for release, “Blessing On The Wing” (March 20, 2026). Like their previous releases, the music comes from their respective homes, but also showcases new songs and tunes that add to those traditions.
Whether it is the power of two voices lifted in harmony, or the sound of traditional tunes calling people to get up and move, these two masters of tradition put on an unforgettable show. And, when their feet kick up the dust in perfect rhythm and those two voices become one, Newberry & Verch help remind folks why this music existed in the first place