PORT LUDLOW — Everything Fitz aims to live up to its name.
The band, named for the Fitzgerald family of Canada’s Ottawa Valley, jams a lot into a show: Celtic-style fiddling, bluegrass, jazz, traditional songs and, of course, the step dancing the Fitzgerald siblings learned as kids.
This coming Thursday, Oct. 24, Everything Fitz will fit onto the compact stage at The Bay Club, 120 Spinnaker Place, for a Port Ludlow Arts Council series event. Tickets are $24 for the 7:30 p.m. show via www.PortLudlowArtsCouncil.com or by phoning The Bay Club at 360-437-2208.
Patrons are invited to come at 6:30 p.m. to choose their seats, have a beverage and see the Ludlow Artists’ League display of watercolors by the late Phyllis Hansen, a painter known for her animal portraits.
This configuration of Everything Fitz, on tour through the fall, features 24-year-old fiddler and dancer Julie Fitzgerald, her 20-year-old brother Tom and their sister Kerry, who just turned 23 last week.
Their mother Pam Fitzgerald plays keyboard while Nate Douglas, a singer and guitarist who has toured with Natalie MacMaster, and fiddler-percussionist James Law join in.
“They play everything from traditional favorites — like a beautiful rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ — to more contemporary songs,” said Bruce Hattendorf, who caught Everything Fitz last month in Port Angeles.
“The musicianship is first rate, but the showmanship and the dancing are what set this group apart,” he added.
Step dancing, said Julie Fitzgerald, is a mix of Irish and tap dancing, done solo or in a group.
“Your feet are constantly off the ground . . . your arms can go wherever they want,” she said.
It was the interaction among the dancers that swept Hattendorf off his feet.
The Fitzgeralds trade steps, try to outdo one another — and remind him of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the way they play off each other.
The Bay Club stage isn’t the biggest the family has performed on. They’re not fazed, though, having played and danced in tiny pubs as well as at grand festivals.
Julie and Tom, fiddle and dance competition veterans, have both won the title of Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion.
Everything Fitz’s show on Thursday is part of a season of Bay Club concerts: the Columbia Vocal Ensemble and Concord Chamber Choir on Dec. 8, jazz pianist Pam Drews Phillips on Feb. 7, the Alley Cats vocal quartet on March 7 and finally the Intersection piano trio April 6. All of the ticket information is at PortLudlowArtsCouncil.com.
