About the band
The members of Perfect 5th are:
- Kristin Coyle on violin and viola
- John Bloom on guitars, mandolin, and percussion
- Cheryl Cleary on whistle, flute, and percussion
- Keith Holmes on piano and clarinet
- Gail Huggett on hammered dulcimer and piano
Perfect 5th (note the preferred spelling) was formed in the fall of 2004 to play at the contradances in Houston. Since then we have played to enthusiastic dancers and rave reviews at every contradance series in Texas.
Our repertoire is firmly based on traditional jigs and reels from the United States and the British Isles, but we often incorporate new tunes and other musical styles into our medleys. Because of the variety of instruments we play, we can and do vary our sound to fit the tunes. For one medley we might be an old time string band, for another an Irish band, for another a small Civil War orchestra, and for another a ragtime band.
We have a reputation as an exciting band that is very easy-to-dance-to. Come hear dance to us and find out for yourself why our fans are so enthusiastic!
As to the name: no, we don't think that we're perfect — although we think we're pretty good! — and our name doesn't have anything to do with ethanol.* We chose the name because there are five of us and "perfect fifth" is a musical term, so it's a play on words. Read more about the musical term here on Wikipedia.
*Joke: Three notes — G, Bb, and D — walk into a bar. The bartendar says "We don't serve minors here!" So the Bb leaves and the G and D have a fifth between them.
We are available for weddings and other private parties, Civil War and other period dances, and of course, contradances!
You played an awesome set of tunes at the Austin 3rd Saturday dance this month. I heard many dancers say that they thought the music was great and I could see in the way people were dancing that the tunes fit the dances well and were played at the right tempo for dancing. You include a nice variety of tunes and your sound is rich with the timbre of many instruments. We are really lucky to have you playing for dances in Austin. Thank you for making the trip and please come again soon. — an Austin dancer