The contra dance trio Wry Bred engages in joyful musical conversations with driving rhythms and exuberant harmonies and has been energizing dance floors, concert halls, and private events in the northeast with good music and good humor since 2009. They've developed a growing reputation and won the respect and admiration of dancers and music lovers throughout the area and beyond. Julie Sorcek on flute and saxophone, Mickey Koth on fiddle, and Robert Messore on guitar each bring years of experience as dancer and musician to sensitively support dancers and callers alike. Click here to read what people are saying about Wry Bred. Wry Bred has played for contra dances in Connecticut, New York state, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Click here for a list of representative dances and performances. Past band members include Case Sanderlin on guitar, Jono Finger on mandolin, Dan Hocott on bass, and Louis Audette on bass. A frequent guest musician is John Kalinowski (then we become O'Wryly) on accordion.
Julie Sorcek	Julie has been playing flute since she was ten years old, and has been off and running ever since. She added piccolo in college, and has had extensive experience playing with high school and college symphonic bands, and in the late '80s and early '90s with the Danbury Community Orchestra. She also plays saxophone and occasionally bodhran and recently began lessons on the fiddle. She is a founding member of Wry Bred. Among Julie's other bands are The Reel Thing, a western Connecticut-based group specializing in contra dances, authentic 18th-century colonial dances and concerts, traditional dance workshops for children and adults, and family or community barn dances, and the folk trio Chicks 'n Sync. Additionally, Julie has been a guest artist at contra dances with Jane Rothfield and her band Jane's Gang, and with Donna Hébert and her band Groovemama. She recently retired as the concert band director at Immaculate High School in Danbury, CT.
Mickey Koth	Mickey was a strictly classical player for the first 40 years of her life. Like Julie, Mickey began playing flute at age ten. As a music education major in college, she learned all the instruments, except double bass and tuba. Her favorites were the bassoon and trombone. Deciding that she didn't want to spend her career teaching clarinet embouchure to sullen 6th graders, she followed the time honored tradition to avoid facing the real world: she went to graduate school, in the process acquiring two masters degrees, one in music history and one in music librarianship. Flute was her main instrument through graduate school, but she also played (but never practiced) viola. (And you wonder why there are so many viola jokes?) Along the way, she also picked up recorder and viola da gamba, two Renaissance instruments, and played with various early music groups, including the Yale Collegium Musicum. At age 39, she started contra dancing and loved the music so much, she rented a violin for her 40th birthday and soon began studying with bluegrass fiddler and dobro player Stacy Phillips. Before the end of her first year playing, she had joined a pick-up band, which became the contra dance and concert band Wild Notes.
Robert Messore	Robert plays guitar to add the foundation to Wry Bred. He has passionately devoted himself to the guitar for 30+ years. Stylistically, Robert can go from traditional Irish tunes to jazz-inflected pieces to works inspired by funk and/or metal, all in one show (indeed—all in one contra dance medley!), and somehow make it work. Voted Best Instrumentalist in a New Haven Advocate readers' poll, Robert has been called the Heart of the New Haven Folk Scene for his vital and many-faceted contributions as solo performer, side man, recording artist, teacher, and concert presenter (working on several concert series and the Connecticut Folk Festival). He has performed at coffeehouses ("Taking over the world, one coffeehouse at a time"), colleges, and clubs from Boston to Burlington to Ithaca to Philadelphia. His four CDs of original music receive frequent airplay on public radio, and he has made numerous TV and live radio appearances. He also plays guitar and bass with soul/rock group, The Chrissy Gardner Band, and presents a weekly program called Toddler Tunes, which is the largest children’s sing-along in CT! (Read a lovely article about Robert in the The Daily Nutmeg!)
What people are saying about Wry Bred What a fabulous night of music here in Warren, RI! Wry Bred perfectly blends the usual array of instruments with the added flute and saxophone, creating beautiful and harmonious danceable music! — Elwood Donnelly What a great dance last night [5/31/14] in Branford. We had a very full house for Bob Isaacs and Wry Bred. Wry Bred ROCKED ..... — Bruce M. Thank you Wry Bred for playing for us last night and giving us such a good time. Fine music and good humor are an unbeatable combination. — Carol M. This band is So Much FUN!! Lively, upbeat, great musicians who really enjoy themselves and relate to their audience. A good time will be had by everyone. — MaryAnne D. This is a kind of country music we northerners can love—traditional folk that's wistful and nostalgic but also festive and spirited. — Daily Nutmeg Last night over 200 people (of all ages) attended the Barn Dance & Dinner "Fiddles, Farms & Food"! Legendary dance caller Bill Fischer & his merry group ... the "Contra Band" Wry Bred spiced up the winter evening at the Norfield Grange in Weston for some good, old-fashioned fun. — Norfield Grange We have one of our favorite callers and we'll dance to some great music with Wry Bred. Both the caller and band are in high demand around the state, and for good reason. — Marc S. Wry Bred will be providing some great dance tunes, with fiddle, guitar, saxophone, and flute. They have been energizing CT's dance floors for years. — Shindig in the Barn What a joy it was to call to Wry Bred in Branford last night [7/2/16] — Rich Sbardella When you play, I can't sit still! — Linda B., after a concert, July 2023 Comments on Facebook after Wry Bred's performance in April 2015 at The Outer Space: So Tiara and I went to The Outer Space last night for a bite and happened to see a folk trio called Wry Bred... These fifty-year olds who look like they were your school librarian back in '92 could really teach The Scene a few things... They're not competing over who is the best fiddle player, arguing about people selling tickets, or trying to charge people money to take photos... They were playing music they love to make for an audience who enjoyed it. I'll be back for more next Tuesday! — Jessie M. They were amazing!!! And so talented too! And this beer was so yummy. — Tiara B. Hey Rob looks nothing like my school librarian. But he is nothing short of amazing on guitar! — Diane G.

Representative Wry Bred gigs
Contra dances:
In Connecticut: Hartford Contra Dance, Wethersfield, CT Mystic Contra Dance, Mystic, CT New Haven Contra Dance, New Haven, CT Quiet Corner Contra Dance, Coventry, CT Round Hill Contra Dance, Stamford, CT Shindig at the Barn!, Enfield, CT Wallingford Contra Dance, Wallingford, CT	Further afield: Massachusetts: Amherst Contra Dance, Amherst, MA Worcester Contra Dance, Worcester, MA New Jersey: Swingin' Tern Contra Dance, East Hanover, NJ New York: Hudson Valley Contra Dance, Poughkeepsie, NY Ithaca Contra Dance, Ithaca, NY Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY Owego Contra Dance, Owego, NY Rochester Contra Dance, Rochester, NY Southern Tier Contra Dance, Cuba, NY Syracuse Contra Dance, Syracuse, NY Pennsylvania: Glenside Contra Dance, Glenside, PA Rhode Island: East Bay Contra Dance, Warren, RI	Southern tour, 2011: Contra dance, Jonesborough, TN Old Farmer's Ball Contra Dance, Asheville, NC Contra Dance, Winston-Salem, NC Contra Dance, Charlotte, NC Contra Dance, Durham, NC
Other dances and events:
Dances at Yale University and University of Connecticut Dance at the annual Friends of East Rock Park Oktoberfest, New Haven, CT Dance at the annual East Rock Festival, New Haven, CT Barn dances at New Haven area schools and parks Music for the annual St. Patrick's Day Irish Night, The Perry House, Stratford, CT Music at the annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride, New Haven, CT Music and/or dances for farmers' markets, fund raisers, private parties, and weddings Regular performances at The Outer Space, Hamden, CT Regular appearances at Best Video, Hamden, CT Special performances: June 2012, 2013, 2014: Dances at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival April 2014: One of three musical groups invited to play at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Branford Folk Music Society

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