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Bruce Molsky
Fiddle, Guitar, Banjo, Songs
Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of Appalachia's timeless folk music traditions. That must feel odd for a former engineer from the Bronx, who didn't begin a music career until he was forty. But folded into those strange facts is the secret to his unique genius.In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, and Mozaik, with Hungarian Nikola Parov, and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He was on Nickel Creek's farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden's great Ale Moller.
"Playing in these kinds of groups is an important part of what I do," Molsky says. "Regionalism was one of the hallmarks of traditional music in the old days; now we're in the Information Age, and I don't think that's what folk music does anymore. But the more cultures I discover, the more I realize that folk music performs the same function for everybody; and therefore is the same thing everywhere - just spoken with different accents."
Great fiddlers ask him to teach at their fiddle camps, including Alasdair Fraser, Jay Ungar, and Mark O'Connor, who says Molsky has "a mystical awareness of how to bring out the new in something that is old."
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Kevin Burke
Fiddle
Kevin Burke is widely recognized as one of the world's great Irish fiddlers. While very well know for his solo work and his work with Cal Scot, his membership in many great Irish bands adds to his long resume. His band list includes the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Open House, and The Celtic Fiddle Festival. Kevin currently tours internationally, teaches fiddle and has authored instructional fiddle videos. -
Cal Scott
Guitar
Cal Scott composes music for film and television. A master of many styles, his specialty is scoring to picture: creating the right music to tell the story. In addition to his dramatic orchestrations, he has developed a feel for folk music of many cultures, helping a film establish a sense of place and time. He has scored over forty documentaries and specials for PBS, fifteen films in permanent installations in national parks and museums, and commercials for Kelloggs, Apple, and Sony among others. He has provided complete sound design and music for ten animated theater trailers and supervised the surround 5.1 theater mix. These trailers play all over North and South America. He writes and performs with The Trail Band, an 8 piece folk ensemble, and has co-produced a number of CDs for himself, The Trail Band, and other artists. He also performs and records with world renown Irish fiddler, Kevin Burke. Their 2007 CD, Across the Black River, was called “...one of the top twelve world music releases of the year,” by the New York Times. - Cillian Vallely
Uilleann pipes and Whistle
Cillian took up his father’s instrument and polished his skills with tutelage from the late Armagh piper Mark Donnelly. His mastery of chanter, drones and regulators, and of all the accents and moods of the traditional piping idiom, place him in the first rank of today’s Irish pipers. Cillian now tours with the group Lúnasa, and has also performed extensively in America with groups such as New York’s Whirligig and Paddy O’Brien’s Chulrua, and has appeared with fiddler Seamus Connolly, Riverdance on Broadway and Tim O’Brien’s The Crossing. -
Pat O'Connor
Fiddle
PAT O'CONNOR comes from the heart of County Clare, Ennis and has been playing music all his life. As a child he was in the school band and played piano-accordion. He played harmonica, banjo, mandolin and bouzouki before finally settling on the fiddle when he was 30. Pat has been greatly influenced by the older musicians such as Paddy Canny, Martin Rochford, PJ Hayes and Francie Donnellan who lived in East Clare area. He has also listened to Joe Cooley, Paddy Fahy, Joe Ryan and a lot of pipe music. He has released two solo albums, The Green Mountain(2000) and The Humours of Derrybeha(2004), futuring his unhurried brand of fiddle playing. To hear Pat play is to experience the intangible and elusive "lonesome touch" of County Clare fiddling. Pat has lived in Feakle, East Clare since1993. He also does fiddle repairs and works in Custy's Music Shop in Ennis. -
Eoghan O'Sullivan
Button Accordion
EOGHAN O'SULLIVAN grew up in a musical family in Mitchelstown, County Cork. He was taught to play press and draw style accordion by his father. He played whistle, flute, accordion, fiddle and harmonica in his childhood years. His earliest influences were the older musicians; mostly fiddle players living in the Mitchelstown area. Initially it was the flute which attracted him most, but during the eighties the accordion became his dominant instrument. In his later teens, he became intoxicated by the accordion styles of the great press and draw players, notably Joe Cooley, Jackie Daly and Tony McMahon. He changed his whole technique in order to achieve a punchier and more consistent rhythm. The flute playing traditions of Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon occupied another sizable compartment of his brain this time. He has recorded two albums with Gerry Harrington, Sceal Eile(1993) and The Smoky Chimney(1996). Eoghan lives and teaches music in Mitchelstown.
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Julia Plumb
Fiddle and Banjo
Julia lives in Nobleboro, Maine and first studied fiddle with Kaity Newell. She went on to major in music at Bates College, studying fiddle there with Greg Boardman. Equally at home on the stage and on the dance floor, Julia loves the interplay between traditional music and dance forms and has studied traditional music and dance in Québec, Ireland, Brittany, and the southern Appalachians. Julia plays with Baron Collins-Hill in their duo Velocipede and with the band Playgroup. Julia will be teaching both weeks. -
Emmanuelle LeBlanc
Bodhran, Piano, Whistles, Dance, Voice.
A descendant of one of the first colonial families on her father’s side, Emmanuelle gets her Irish roots from her mother’s side. She grew up with her twin sister Pastelle in the Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island. She was raised with a passion as much for dance as for music. The magic of the stage fascinated her. “On stage, we feel energy that comes from the public – and this makes us want to give even more.” She wants her next musical projects to be traditional, while also being enriched by new influences, by music and composers from here... It is through her work as an artist that allows Emmanuelle to take her strength from the contact and interaction with the public. Through this, she is able to communicate her heritage. -
Pastelle LeBlanc
Accordion, Piano, Dance and Voice.
Noticed at a very young age by a local dance professor who wanted to form a group dedicated to preserving Acadian dancing, Pastelle learned and mastered several styles of stepdancing. She’s taught and created many dance choreographies. A multi-instrumentalist, she favors the accordion. It’s a passion that comes directly from her grandfather who influenced her through his Acadian melodies. “It’s a family tradition. It’s a sound that breathes, that sings, with its rich sonorities... it’s an instrument that sails and swings!” On stage, Pastelle emits this purity... conscious of the necessity to preserve, to share. “This style is precious. It familiarizes us with the songs of yesteryear. Then the music takes us along in the style, too, and brings its own influences. It’s about playing the pieces as we feel them today...” Proud to be Acadian and to know her culture, her compositions are a way for her to continue to develop style and to create new pieces. She hopes they will grow themselves into being considered among the ranks of traditional Acadian music. -
Pascal Miousse
Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, Voice.
Pascal is native to the Magdelen Islands, which are part of the province of Quebec. From the ages of four to 10, Pascal took classical violin lessons before starting to play the guitar with his father. From the age of 14 onward, he learned the bass, and played in bars, dance halls and festivals as part of a traditional folk group. At the age of 20, he went on a 10-year tour of eastern Canada with his group. After this involvement in rock, soul and folk, he met Vishten in 2002 at the FrancoFête in Moncton. He quickly took his place in the group, all while showing a large degree of energy and generosity. “On stage, I am grounded.” He feels the roots and takes part fully in this osmosis that takes place during a musical moment – in the freedom of a fiddle – in the improvisation on an “instrument that touches the soul... that touches something inside.” He shares these moments with those who feel the passion he experiences on stage. -
Ryan McGiver
Guitar
New York state singer and guitarist, Ryan McGiver, is known on both sides of the Atlantic for his unique blend of Irish and American open string guitar and breathy, eerie vocals . Over the past decade he has performed, with a variety of musicians and genres throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. In addition to performing internationally, Ryan has taught guitar workshops domestically at Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia. He has recorded and shared the stage with an eclectic blend of folk and rock musicians, including Jolie Holland, Doug Wieselman, Cillian Vallely, Jason Sypher and Shahzad Ismaily to name a few. When not working as a stonemason or playing his own music, Ryan tours with Grammy-award winning singer Susan McKeown. His debut solo album entitled 'Troubled in Mind', released in winter 2012, is receiving international acclaim. -
Richard Forest
Fiddle
Richard Forest was inspired by fiddlers in his own family from the Lanaudiere region North of Montreal but only took up the fiddle when his sister brought home a $50 fiddle for herself. Having already left home, there wasn’t money for lessons so he taught himself, scratching many records in the process but also bringing back to life many all but forgotten tunes. He is still recognized for his extensive repertoire of traditional tunes but adds to that a popularity from having added a few of his own. He is the composer of Valse de Bois, Reel de Mattawa, and reel de Montebello, all tunes which remain popular in jams where tunes stay on the hit list for decades if not centuries. Richard is also recognized for the energizing swing of his bowing style and performs and has recorded with various Québec artists and groups including Les éclusiers, Tradi-Son, Bardi Barda, Domino, Le Grande Chaine, Rapetipetam, and Reveillons! He has performed at folk festivals across North America and has also taught the music of Québec at fiddle and dance camps. His style and repertoire make him ever popular in Québec and everywhere this energizing, uplifting and restorative music is played.