As a long-time The Mammals fan, I just had to go see Mike and Ruthy performing with Ruth's dad - Jay Ungar and Molly Mason last night at the Chocolate Church Performing Arts Center in Bath. Ruth and Mike are part of The Mammals with my husband's friend Tao Rodriguez Seeger - Pete Seeger's grandson. We've been fans for a long time and always go to see them when they perform in Maine. Last night was quite different - a lot less rock'n'roll and a lot more absolutely phenomenal fiddling. Jay's "Ashokan Farewell", "Lovers' Waltz" and "Wizzard's Walk" were absolutely flawless. They performed a new piece Jay and Molly created for a new Ken Burns' film coming out in 2009 (of The War fame most recently).

The music was fantastic but my favorite part was Will - Mike and Ruth's son who came on stage after intermission and spent the second half of the show hanging out on his mom's back while she took turns playing some amazing fiddle, ukelele, upright base and sang some beautiful harmonies. Will piped in a couple of times, mostly during the instrumentals - I guess he likes his solo. All in all - a great time! It's fantastic to see three generations on stage. Hard not to wonder whether Will might pick up a fiddle himself one day.