John Doan’s Living Room Concert Saturday July 6, 2013
For those of you within driving distance of Salem, Oregon or who are visiting the area I will be giving an intimate house concert (8pm) in my own living room July 6th with a potluck (6:30pm)…
John Doan Shares Music and Stories at Lend an Ear, Come and Hear 2013
Join John Doan and writers from the Pacific Northwest at the annual “Lend an Ear, Come and Hear” poetry and prose reading event. John will be playing harp guitar and sharing stories with the family-friendly…
John Doan Tour in France Part Two: Paris – Le Mans – Fast Cars and Harp Guitars
After Paris we drove to Le Mans, a city known for car racing, ancient buildings and doors, obscure building regulations, and now for hosting the first International Festival for the Harp Guitar.
I was honored to be among such great international players.
John Doan Tour in France Part One: Paris – From Bidet Guitar to Harp Guitar
I recently went with my wife Deirdra on a six-week concert tour in Europe. We began with a transcontinental fight to Paris numbing the boredom with nine hours of non-stop movies.
Deirdra can’t wait to try out her new camera. I believe she spent more time with her camera than with me on the trip!
As Gorilla travellers we like to travel in style, or at least in comfort, so we bring with us on the plane an inflatable back rest called “First Class Sleeper.” It makes your economy seat feel like first class (as long as you don’t mind looking like you are going river rafting upon arrival).
Once in Paris we headed to the Eiffel Tower (Deirdra appears to be balancing it on her nose).
John Doan Concert at the Chapel Arts Center, Bath, England
Press Release
(Bath, UK). — Emmy nominee and master harp guitarist John Doan with family roots to Bath and Burton, will perform at the Chapel Arts Centre, St James’s Memorial Hall as part of his European Tour 2013. Chapel Arts Centre is located at Lower Borough Walls, Bath, BA1 1QR. The show is scheduled for 8pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Tickets are advance: £8.00, Door: £10.00. For more information, call the Chapel Arts Centre at 01225 461700.
A “Celtic Pilgrimage with John Doan” features music from John’s award winning recording “Eire – Isle of the Saints” (Winner of “Best Celtic Album of the Year”) and Wayfarer (also nominated for the same title).
Concert Description
Master harp guitarist and storyteller John Doan is a Bard for the 21st Century bringing back soulful and provocative musical sketches from a pilgrimage to the most sacred sites of the British Isles. “Thin Places,” as they were once called, were believed to be where the space between heaven and earth, and past and future, were thinly divided. John shares what he found there inspired by breathtaking landscapes, historic ruins, and dynamic stories underlying the faith and vision of a people who shaped the world we have come to call our own. He now leads his audiences back down ancient paths to locations made famous by St. Patrick and the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland” along winding roads to secluded sanctuaries and by boat to remote island retreats. Adventurous, thoughtful, and renewing, this is a journey memorable for its achingly beautiful moments and encouraging spirit.
European Tour 2013
John Doan will be taking Europe by storm again this year, delighting audiences with his magical harp guitar and delightful stories.
The tour this year includes a Harp Guitar Workshop on May 26, 2013, in Scotland as part of the Edinburgh Guitar and Music Festival. John will be offering additional workshops, seminars, and special performances along with his concert tour.
The tour includes Scotland, Britain, and the Netherlands this year in addition to other European countries.
Harp Guitar Workshop, May 26, 2013, Scotland
John Doan will be presenting a one hour seminar on the Harp Guitar, exploring the various styles and techniques associated with this historical string instrument at the Edinburgh Guitar and Music Festival. This is a…
Sixth Annual Harp Guitar Retreat July 5th-7th – Experience the Magic
Fireworks will be flying for The Sixth Annual Harp Guitar Retreat to be held at the home of John and Deirdra Doan atop Prospect Ridge overlooking the verdant Willamette Valley of Oregon.
It is an intimate stress-free environment with all levels of playing/performing encouraged and accepted for an educational seminar limited to five to seven participants.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive by the early evening of July 4th to get settled and then to be taken down to the Victorian town of Independence, Oregon to take part in “Western Days” an old fashioned 4th of July fireworks celebration over the reflective waters of the Willamette River.
John has a unique teaching style where students never know what he is going to do or say but the results always seem to inspire and transform the player.
Victorian Christmas Tour 2012
This year celebrates the 26th annual tour of John Doan’s Victorian Christmas Concert. This year’s tour includes Oregon, California, and Arizona. Tickets sell out fast, so get yours now.
The festive concert is a live version of Doan’s Emmy-nominated Public Broadcasting television special, which re-enacts what it might have been like to celebrate Christmas a century ago. “The show explores how Victorians invented many Christmas traditions we remember and quite a few we have forgotten,” said the Willamette music professor. “The 20-string harp guitar, classical banjo and ukelin are just a few of the original instruments that will be featured. The aim is to recapture the feeling of a time before radio and TV when our ancestors provided most of their own musical entertainment at home, especially during the holidays.”
Doan plays more than a dozen turn-of-the-century instruments once popular in American parlors, on vaudeville stages and in mandolin orchestras. He explains their history in a entertaining and often zany fashion, shows slides of old catalogues and archival photographs, and leads the audience in singing (or whistling) many of our most beloved carols. John will include several arrangements from his CD, “Wrapped in White: Visions of Christmas Past.”