Looking ahead to spring and summer, there’s a bunch of new dates on the calendar page. Our new duo (myself and Kate Lichtenstein) will perform at OrcasFest in Eastsound, WA on May 29 under the banner of our middle names: Matt Will & Katie Jean. We will also host jamming and camping at the Orcas Island Grange that weekend.
Out in Weiser, Idaho, check out the ‘Mandolin Toolkit’ workshop on June 24 as part of the annual Stickerville Sessions workshop series.
On July 23 at the Quilcene Lantern, the Sparklebrite Dance Band plays for the Jefferson Land Trust fundraiser led by Kate Lichtenstiein with Jonas Myers, Jack Dwyer and yours truly.
August 7th and 8th, you’ll find Matt Will & Katie Jean at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree. We’ll sing our original songs and also play in the square dance band. And the ‘Shades of Mandolin’ workshop is always particularly subdued.
On June 13 (Marrowstone Vineyards), July 19 (Lavender Festival), and August 18 (Sequim Music in the Park), I’ll be playing fiddle and mandolin with Cort Armstrong, Sean Devine and the Backwoods Hucksters right here on the Olympic Peninsula.
At Olympickin’ for the festival’s second year at the Quilcene Lantern on September 19, witness Georgia Strait Bluegrass — a powerhouse quartet composed of Sircely on mandolin, Kilianski on guitar, Strand on electric bass and Scroggins on the five-string banjo. The band will then play the square dance led by Kate Lichtenstein on fiddle.
Here’s to seeing you out and about this spring and summer!
Sircely & Lichtenstein debut show with Flat Bridge
Thu Dec. 18, 2025 Rainshadow Recording Concert at Fort Worden
Thanks to everyone who attended our first show at Rainshadow Recording in Fort Worden on Thursday, December 18 alongside our good friends Flat Bridge. Two seconds before the scheduled downbeat, the power went out (7:29:58pm) and the show became even more memorable. We played and sang right through the microphones to a packed house. Flat Bridge played a stellar set and then we all played together in a third set.
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As a member of Hot Club Sandwich since the beginning, I’ve been involved with the project to release archival tracks from 20 years ago, our 2003 album Digga Digga Do. Radio hosts please feel free to request physical CDs of any of our records and we’ll get them to you. The most recent Hot Club Sandwich recording, No Pressure, is now streaming on all the major services. Mandolin master David Grisman plays on half of the tracks. Our band continues to mourn the passing of Joseph Mascorella and Ray Wood in recent years, and we encourage everyone to hear them playing and singing on No Pressure.
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Here’s a song written during the pandemic and dedicated to front-line healthcare workers, “I Remember Your Name” is available on youtube thanks to the production and guitar work of Britt Arnesen from Montana. Here is the original post.
A few years ago, during the pandemic, I contributed five songs to a podcast and discussed them with the hosts of VT-based production entitled Transist: Amplify Peace. Published on July 4, 2021, the podcast included two freshly written (at the time) songs on the octave mandolin built by James Island. During the podcast, the hosts pause the set and they discuss each song.
