Picnic Day Impromptu

Riggity Jig is playing on the patio at Little Prague on Saturday, April 18, from 3 to 5 pm . . . an impromptu set celebrating UC Davis Picnic Day. After enjoying the parade, the dachshund races, or the edible cockroach exhibit, stop by Little Prague on G Street for a cold beer or one of Eva's fabulous desserts.

No rain forecast for Picnic Day this year!

P.S. That's RJ flautist/whistler Lee Riggs in the photo, squeezing his way to the Picnic Day Milk-Off championship a few years back. (Lee's the one with his EAR toward the camera.)

It's March and we're Irish again!

Riggity Jig enthusiasts have a busy week coming up, as has your favorite Celtic band (meaning "us"). March 14 (Saturday) will be a pre-St.-Pat's bash at Little Prague in Davis, and we'll be back again for a Little Prague dinner gig on Tuesday, March 17. Six to nine pm both nights. And to make sure we don't suffer from low-corned-beef syndrome or cabbage insufficiency, we'll also play for the Dixon chapter of the Knights of Columbus at 6 pm Sunday, March 15. By the end of that day, I'm sure we'll all feel that we've et tu much.
Be there or wish you were!

Thanks for Kind Words

Thanks to Tom McKeith for sending us a link that proves we have been mentioned elsewhere in the blogosphere! Take a look at Rookie Cookery for an upbeat and unbiased account of the goings on at Sunday night's Burns Supper at Little Prague. Even before-and-after photos of a feerst-time taster o' the haggis!

Thanks to Burns-o-philes

Thank you, everyone, for coming out the Sunday night's Robert Burns Supper at Little Prague in Davis. We had a full house for at least part of the night -- pretty good for a rainy Sunday -- and some folks sat up front and stayed right through til the end at 9 pm!

One of our fans may have felt a cool breeze on his or her neck on the way home last night, though: A lovely, brown, cable-knit scarf was found up near the front of the room near the band when we were cleaning up. Send us a note if it's yours, and we'll try to get it back to you.

And thanks again to Vaclav and Little Prague for having us, for supplying the substantial haggis, and for providing the band with such a delicious meal afterward. And those desserts!

Serious Burns Unit

Maybe it took 250 years to happen, but Rabbie Burns is gettin' his due this year in news media near and far. Take a look at these:

The Sacramento Bee, January 23, 2009

The New York Times, January 18, 2009

BBC News, January 16, 2009

The Sacramento Bee's print edition includes a list of Burns Night events, including our gig at Little Prague as well as a sit-down dinner for Dixon and Davis folks and a reading of the Bard's poetry in Sacramento. Get out there and grab a copy!

Quarter-Millennial Burns Supper Upcoming

We've nearly done it! The day is nearing when humankind will have survived 250 years past the birth of that bard of bards, that poetical scratcher of glass, our Auld Acquaintance from Ayrshire, Mister Rabbie Burns. And many have speculated -- (or, at least, this one has) -- that the very fact that we've made it this far is due in no small part to the beauty, truth, and wit we've gleaned over the years from Burns's own writings.

So please make plans to join us on Sunday evening, January 25, 2009, when Riggity Jig will with due solemnity mark the 250th anniversary of the Bard's birth with a traditional-ish Burns Supper at our usual haunt, Little Prague Bohemian Restaurant (rechristened for the occasion as "Wee Praggie") in Davis. Call ahead to reserve a table for dinner, or just stop by to toast the Bard with a traditional beverage and share in a sma' slice of Scotland's national dish or one of Wee Praggie's phenomenal desserts. We'll have recitations of the Bard's poems, possibly a piper, and of course Riggity Jig's music to cheer you on. Last year the band even had some requests from the audience -- but we shook our heads and said, no, we'll keep playing anyway.

Keep in mind that not many of us will be around to celebrate Burns's 500th anniversary, so make a point of doing the holiday up right this time! We'll see ye there!

The Two Bobbies

Now, who could be surprised to hear Bob Dylan say that the lyric that's inspired him most was penned 214 years ago by our own dear Rabbie Burns? You can read about it in The Guardian (thanks to Tom McKeith for the tip) and read the poem itself right here:

A Red, Red Rose

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June:

O my Luve's like the melodie,

That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang try.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare-the-weel, my only Luve!

And fare-thee-weel, a while!

And I will come again, my Luve,

Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!

So I guess we'll be adding a few tunes from this latter-day Rabbie to our set list for Burns Supper 2009! And you can join Mr. Dylan right now, and fill your own heart with the words of the Bard at www.robertburns.org/works/. Have yourself a glorious day!