April Verch Band (CAN) due back in May 2017

Singer, songwriter, fiddler, and stepdancer April Verch and her band send their latest e-newsletter, with greetings for the holiday season and thanks to all who have supported them in any way.

On 17 Feb. Slab Town Records will release The April Verch anthology, an 18-track collection celebrating April's life’s work to date with a mix of regional Canadian, American old-time, bluegrass, country, and Americana tracks, including - as well as tracks from her 1998-2015 recordings - two original songs, never before released. Guest artists include Mac Wiseman, Bobby Hicks, Sam Bush, Dirk Powell, and Travis Book of the Infamous Stringdusters. The Anthology can be pre-ordered up to 22 December 2016.

Specially good news for all who have seen and heard April and the band on previous tours in Ireland: their online schedule shows that in May 2017 they'll be on this side of the Atlantic, beginning with two shows in Switzerland and Germany, and from 10 to 14 May they will be touring Ireland for Moving on Music; details are still TBC, but a performance on 17 May 2017 at The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, is also listed. After that, they will be playing in Bilbao, Spain, and finishing their time in Europe at the Spring Bluegrass Festival in Willisau, Switzerland, where Balsam Range (USA) will also be playing (see the BIB for 22 Nov.).