"We had a great time dancing to Ken's inspired calling. He has a vast collection of dances from all over with a wide range of difficulty. He taught the newcomers, and gave them confidence, while inspiring the experienced dancers. Ken has a smooth, relaxed style and is flexible and just plain fun to be around!" Gina Pace, and organizer and board member of the fabulous Fiddle and Bow dance organization near Winston-Salem, NC, founded by Gene Hubert. "Thanks for your enthusiastic calling at our dance in
Greenwood, VA. The Nashville Ceili Band
is a group of strong and seasoned musicians who provided a lot of serious fun
at our community dance.Hope our paths will cross again soon." Jim Morrison. jim@morsn.com. Jim is one of the Morrison Brothers, and is the sound guru at the Greenwood VA dance. . "Ken is a GREAT caller and a super nice guy”. Anne Hoos, of the Nashville Ceili Band, in the midst of our tour in 2014. I liked the way you got everyone dancing with a minimum of talking. You were really fast and efficient, delivering good dances with good humor. No BS, no ego. I look forward to working with you again.” Sam Bartlett, Cocks of the North, following a dance I called in Bloomington, In. Sam formerly played with Wild Asparagus, and often plays with Notorious, both groups with longstanding national and international fame. "The sound check had the usual confusion of wires and levels. We musicians could easily have dithered further and gotten the dance off to a low energy start. Suddenly Ken lept up onto the stage and hit the room like a bomb. He grabbed the mic, opened his mouth, and the energy level soared. From that moment everyone in the room knew THE DANCE HAD BEGUN. It is great fun to work with such a high energy caller." Brian Perkins, of Atlantic Crossing, after Ken called a dance in Indianapolis. “Just wanted to say again how much fun the Dead Sea Squirrels had playing with you at Glen Echo. I thought the evening was terrific." Cathy Mason, one of the fine musicians with New England's Dead Sea Squirrels, a great east coast band. "I had a great time at Memfest, and I really enjoyed your presence... We (three of the organizers) give you an A for the quality and variety of dances chosen. The teaching was articulate. We all agreed that your character and cooperativeness was very high and very magnetic. " Ron McDonald, following Memfest X, where I was the featured caller for three days of dancing. "Ken Gall is a super nice guy with lots to offer at the mic. His dance selections were varied at Memfest, as he and the Synchopaths took us all on a wonderful ride. Looking forward to the next time we meet on the dance floor!" Vicki Herndon, following Memfest X. "It was such a fun weekend! Thank you for coming to Memfest and all the fun dancing!!" Carol Tatum, following the Memfest weekend, March, 2012.
"We had a great time working with you as caller on our recent tour. The dances you picked had great energy and it was fun picking tunes from our repertoire to synch with them. The dancers responded to the combination of your dances and our tunes and that's what it is all about. We'd love to get together with you again sometime." Matt Livingston (from Charlottesville VA), of Dot Dot Dash, after we worked together several evenings as part of their midwest "tour de corn". “I had good experiences dancing to your calling (at Camp Cumberland). I thought you made good programming choices, and I got to see you change on the fly. Your stage personality was pleasant.” Seth Tepfer, a nationally known caller, following a week long callers workshop in Kentucky. "Last night I danced to Entwyned, with calling by Ken Gall, in Greensboro NC. I tell you not to miss them in Clemmons. Ken is a smooth easy to follow caller--even my step-daughter who had not danced in a while was able to follow a square dance. Very smooth and entertaining...such nice musicianship. Go see them!" Nick Boulet, a North Carolina caller, musician, and dancer. July 2013“The best moments of contra dance, for the band as well as the dancers, happen when the moves of the dance mesh with the music to create magical energy. Ken Gall helps to make this happen by careful advance planning with the musicians and employing creative choreographies with excellent flow. He's a pleasure to work with, and his warm personality helps make the evening fun for everyone.” Twy Bethard, the fiddler with Entwyned, a talented and popular group from Bloomington IN whom I’ve worked with extensively. "It was an awesome dance tonight at Big Scioty Contra Dance. The Coffee Zombies from Louisville played, with Ken Gall calling. Superb music and Ken called some VERY fun dances!"Audry Olson, after a dance in Columbus,Oh."Mad Goat had a *great* time
last night at Bethel Grove! I hope you did too. Thanks esp. for
calling some squares, allowing us to go wild on a couple of crooked
tunes. I know we're not "standard" contra material but I hope
it all worked for you." Peter Fraissenet, of the Mad Goats of Ithaca, NY, which includes members and descendents of the Horse Flys.
"You were probably a bit surprised at all the young folks and almost 100% beginners! But you demonstrated the flexibility that good callers need to have. You did a great job. Everybody seemed to enjoy the evening--including us. We'd be happy to work with you again." Woodie McKenzie, one of the musicians, after the dance in Dayton, VA with 70 new dancers. "Thanks for a fine job of calling for us on Saturday night. I heard many good comments and everybody was obviously enjoying themselves." Jerry Hickman, one of the dance organizers at Midland, Mi. following an advanced contra dance evening I called. "Alley Oop’s Special Day" was the 3rd dance
called. He walked us through and then said it was a brand new dance written by Ken Gall. General clapping
and cheers followed. The people I was with said, 'It’s going
to be a fun dance!' And it was. Lots to think about, but nothing was difficult".
Congrats, Ken! Nancy Gall-Clayton, after the dance was called by Dugan Murphy in Louisville KY. "It was a great night of dancing! I think everyone enjoyed it. I will definitely keep you in mind for future bookings." Kelle Sorrell, the scheduler for the Louisville Contra dancers, after Ken called the Saturday dance a few years ago. "I called (your dance) Bayou Delight" in West Virginia recently. It went very well. I had planned to call it at Glen Echo (but didn't have time, stuck in traffic). I do plan to use it frequently. It's a nice dance, fun but not too hard for new dancers." Ann Fallon, a caller from the Washington D.C. area. Several callers (including Nils Fredland) copied Bayou Delight when I called it at the Augusta Heritage Festival. "Ken GALL!! We have gotten so many compliments about what we know is true--Our wedding was a BLAST!!! Thank you SO SO SO SO much for bringing your sunshine and dances to our celebration. It was fantastic! We HIGHLY recommend hiring Ken Gall to make a good time GREAT!" Rachel Wuthrich, after I called at the reception following her marriage to Chuck Wuthrich III. "Looks like a fun dance!" Rick Mohr, after looking at my dance Joy to the Twirled. "I called Allie Oop on
Friday in Pinellas Park, FL and it went great! Such lovely transitions across
the set. Great dance. Thanks a whole bunch!" Dana Parkinson, a great young caller from Florida. Dana frequently calls major weekend dances. "I frequently call Ken's "As Good as it Gets" as the final dance of an evening." Trevor Dewitt. |