Adult Summer Reading Program-Concert by Castlebay

Who is Castlebay?

Since 1986 Castlebay has been weaving together Maine’s nautical and British Isles legacies transporting their audience through time and across the Atlantic. Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee have loved and researched traditional music for most of their lives and blend history, legend and experience into their personable performances. Finely crafted ballads with evocative imagery and beautiful melodies depict Maine characters, history, and life close to the elemental beauty of the sea and shore. Rich and exuberant renditions of traditional and original songs are supported with Celtic harp, 12-string guitar, fiddle & woodwinds.

Julia Lane, singer, songwriter, and folklorist, has been playing the Celtic harp since 1989. Self-taught, she rapidly became a skilled and exciting player, winning the Senior Professional division at the New Hampshire Scottish Games Harp Competition in 1990 and 1991 and the International Irish Harp Competition at Stonehill College in 1992. Her vocals have been compared favorably to Judy Collins and Jean Redpath. Julia has done extensive research in folksong archives throughout New England.  Julia’s book, Bygone Ballads of Maine, vol I, Songs of the Sea, Ships & Sailors, was published in December, 2021 by Loomis House Press in Minneapolis.

Fred Gosbee, singer, songwriter, and storyteller, plays classic and 12-string guitar, violin, viola and Irish flute. He learned many traditional songs from his family, who worked as lumbermen in the forests of New Brunswick and Maine. His original songs have been sung and recorded by other artists. Fred has engineered most of Castlebay’s recordings and has also built Julia’s harps and many other instruments.