Atwater-Donnelly Band

Winners of the 2007 Motif Magazine "Best Folk Act" award, the Atwater-Donnelly Band includes Aubrey, Elwood, Cathy Clasper-Torch (fiddle, cello, and vocals) and Kevin Doyle (percussion, Irish step and tap dance).

As of 2009, with the release of Atwater~Donnelly's recording, The Weaver's Bonny , the members of Jerimoth Hill, Aubrey and Elwood's gospel band have joined this troupe, with John Cerrigione on bass and vocals, Heidi Cerrigione on autoharp, hammered dulcimer and vocals, and Uriah Donnelly on piano and vocals.

Atwater-Donnelly Trio

Atwater-Donnelly Trio

ATWATER-DONNELLY BAND
Cathy Clasper-Torch, Elwood Donnelly, Aubrey Atwater & Kevin Doyle

About Cathy
Cathy Clasper-Torch has played and performed on piano, violin, viola, and er-hu (Chinese violin) since childhood. A resident of Rhode Island, she teaches piano and violin, and performs/records with several bands and musicians in the area. With a background in classical violin and jazz piano, Cathy adeptly weaves a love of harmonies and improvisation into the music.

Cathy is in great demand in the Southern New England folk circuit for her easy stage presence, virtuosity, and improvisational skills. Over the last few years Cathy has absorbed much of the Atwater-Donnelly repertoire and is now a staple in Atwater-Donnelly regional concerts, contributing a deeply rich third dimension and mastery, knowing just where to add an exquisite cello line, an exuberant burst of old-time fiddle, and a third and utterly unique voice.

The Atwater-Donnelly Trio is not to be missed! Check the performance calendar for trio concerts.

About Kevin
Doyle's seemingly effortless athleticism is a joy to behold...
   — Boston Irish Reporter

... magically conveying youthfulness...
— The Boston Herald

...{a} powerhouse stepdancer... 'What a great guy he is,' {Brian} O'Donovan {producer of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn} says of Doyle... '…here is a guy who is as fit as a fiddle, literally. He's just unbelievable. He's got an extraordinarily professional approach to the dance, and boy, can he dance!'
   — The Providence Journal

... watching him perform with a spring in his step whether it was Irish step dancing or tap dancing, either style convincing you he was 'born to dance.'
   — Irish Voice, New York

Kevin Doyle is a delightful, compelling performer of old style traditional Irish step dance and American tap dance. A lifelong dancer, Kevin was a U.S. Champion Irish step dancer in his early competitive years, and has been entertaining audiences ever since with his traditional style of "close to the ground" rhythms and intricate foot work.

Kevin was born in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence, RI, the son of Margaret Doyle, a step-dancer from County Rosscommon, Ireland. Kevin started dancing at the age of eight, along with his sister Maureen, and later obtained an American tap dance degree from the well known Theresa Landry School of Dance in Pawtucket, RI. During those years, he performed throughout New England with the USO shows, and for six consecutive summers entertained audiences at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Since 1996, Kevin has been the dancer and more recently, percussionist, for the Celtic band Pendragon. Kevin often blends his American tap with traditional Irish steps, which makes his style of dance unique.

Kevin is part of a remarkable documentary, "Secrets of the Sole," released in 2008 by dancer, choreographer, and director Kieran Jordan (www.kieranjordan.com). In 2004 and 2008, Kevin starred in the Boston-based A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, produced by WGBH's Brian O'Donovan, which appeared in theaters in Boston, Worcester, and Providence. A highlight of Kevin's career was dancing in front of 3200 cheering fans at the Providence Performing Arts Center in December 2008.

About Heidi & John
An acoustic duo from Ellington, CT, John & Heidi Cerrigione ('ser-a-go-nee) offer a simple brand of old-time acoustic music.

Instrumentation typically includes autoharp, hammered and mountain dulcimer, banjo, guitar and acoustic bass. Their tunes are drawn from many traditional sources, including fiddle and dance music of early America, the British Isles and Switzerland. Jigs, reels, hornpipes and waltzes all find a place in the lineup.

They have performed and taught workshops at various festivals across the country, including the Augusta Heritage Program, Mt. Laurel Autoharp Gathering, and the Nutmeg Dulcimer Festival.

In 2003 John & Heidi released their first duet recording titled "Wood Stoves and Bread Loaves." Like "warm clothes and bread loaves and a fire in the wood stove," these songs and tunes are some of their favorites. Each one "brings back a face or a place that they've been;" they do "love the old songs the best."

Their second duet recording, titled "Winter's Turning," was released in 2006. It's a collection of family favorites along with others they've wanted to share ... a relaxing selection of instrumentals and vocal songs.

"Joy To the World", their 3rd duo project was released in 2009, and is an instrumental Christmas CD containing 16 melodies played on a variety of acoustic instruments.

About Uriah
Uriah Donnelly, the youngest son of musicians Elwood Donnelly and Aubrey Atwater, began playing music at age 11 under the tutelage of his parents. First the guitar, then voice and piano. After high school and some years of wandering and wondering, Uriah returned to Rhode Island and earned a B.A in English Literature from Rhode Island College in 2002. While attending RIC, Uriah formed a band with three friends from his former hometown of Scituate, RI. The Problem, as the band was named, stayed together for four years playing their brand of melodic, psychedelic Rock n' Roll in small venues across RI and Southern Massachusetts.

In 2002, when The Problem split up, Uriah latched onto another Rhode Island based rock group, The Noodles. This seven- piece band showcased a laid back, often chaotic brand of artistic, performance Rock that mixed political outrage with humor and unmatched originality. In the summer of 2004, The Noodles released an EP titled, "al dente." A few months later, The Noodles disbanded, citing artistic differences.

Then in 2005, Uriah formed another band with two former members of The Problem, along with two other musicians. This group, called Signal to Noise, showed great potential; but unfortunately parted ways after only a year and a half.

Uriah is now playing piano and guitar with Jerimoth Hill, Aubrey and Elwood's all old-time gospel band who released an award-winning recording, "The Halfway Ground", in January 2007.

In May of 2007, Uriah graduated from Rhode Island College with a Masters degree in Digital Media Production. As his graduate thesis, he chose to film a documentary on Atwater-Donnelly. The film became quite popular among A~D fans and was aired on RI-PBS in August of 2007. With many supportive responses and one nosy, unsolicited panning, "Going Up Home: the passion of Atwater-Donnelly" has made its mark in the world of folk music documentaries.

Uriah teaches film at the Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket, RI and is an Adjunct Professor in the film department at Rhode Island College.

Watch Uriah's short film, "The Eternal Silence of Faces," on YouTube.
Click Here

For information on booking,
please contact Aubrey Atwater at (401) 392-1909
or use the Contact Us form on this web site.