I play music in many different circles: for Irish Ceili dances,
cajun dances, contra dances, and in jam sessions anywhere I can
find them. Sometimes I'll make music with a particular person
and the musical experience is a special treat. For this project
I've recorded a series of duets with folks I enjoy making music
with, either at gigs, or just for the fun of it. I play fiddle,
flute, and accordian.
Several of the tunes in this album are original. Its a real kick
for me when someone else likes my tunes enough to want to learn
to play them. Here is a list of of my friends who appear on this
album, in alphabetical order:
Steve Brown - I've been jamming with Steve for around 20
years. We've played lots of styles of music together: in Saint
Patrick's Day Irish bands; Romanian and latin tunes; swing and
blues; etc., and for the past 11 years he has been the drummer
in my cajun band, the Crawdad Wranglers. He plays a number of
instruments well, but I'm particularly crazy about his bones playing.
On this album he accompanies me on an Irish flute tune - The Red
Haired Boy, a medley of French Canadian reels, and my original
tune, The Dangerous Jig. This tune was named after I began
coughing and choking violently one time while playing this tune
for friends, who were preparing to do CPR to rescue me, before
I recovered!
Fred Carne - I've been playing with Fred for several years
at Irish traditional music sessions in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
He plays several instruments but I've been particularly intrigued
by his Jaw Harp playing. He shows his stuff on my tune - Sole's
Reel, which I wrote in 1978 for my friend Ken Sole as a birthday
present.
Regina Delaney - Regina and I have played together at numerous
Irish gigs for the past 3 years. We've been the house band for
the past two years on Saint Patrick's day at the local Irish Pub,
and have enjoyed working on traditional Irish tunes together.
On this album we play Give Me Your Hand as a fiddle - harp
duet.
Dave Hallowell - I met Dave just recently at the Irish
pub session I've been leading for the past 3 years on Thursday
nights at Biddy Mulligan's, in Dover, New Hampshire. I liked his
playing from the first strum I heard him make on the guitar. He
likes my original tunes, and so has been coming over to my house
to play them. We did two of them together for this recording.
Shannon's Slip is for my niece Shannon. The tune title
is a bit of a play on words since the tune is in the form of an
Irish "slip jig", but really was named to commemorate
the unfortunate incident of her slipping and breaking her leg!
J.R. is my father's first two initials, and also a nick name that
some of his friends use for him, thus the title of JR's Jig.
Conor Makem - I met Conor at Biddy Mulligan's also, where
he has been a regular late night night jammer for several years.
We've often played together in the pub until well after midnight,
and he has worked up a great tenor banjo version of my tune -
The Funky Jig.
David Surette - I've been playing with David for 15 years
or so. We've done many contra dances and various gigs together.
He's a wonder at accompanying the old timey and french canadian
tunes on this album: Arkansas Traveler, Soldier's Joy, Kitchen
Gal, and The Growling Old Man and Woman.
Paul Mangion - I've been playing with Paul over 23 years
in various bands, and he has been my regular cajun percussionist
for 11 years in the Crawdad Wranglers. Besides contempory cajun
and zydeco, we also play a good number of traditional cajun two
steps on fiddle, including this tune - The Port Arthur Stomp
on which Paul plays Triangle. We often get requests for polkas,
so I wrote this accordian tune which I've dedicated to my nephew
Sean - Sean's Squeeze Box Tune. Paul plays Guiro on this
one.
Bob Paul - After I went to Tucson, Arizona to collect fiddle
tunes from a native american fiddle band, the Gu-achi Fiddlers,
Bob picked right up on one of my favorite tunes of theirs, Purple
Lilies. For the past ten years or so, Bob and I have been
playing the tune together, at music parties, jam sessions, and
whenever we meet.
Mary Paul - I've been jamming with Mary for years at various
musical gatherings, and I really appreciate her fine harp accompanyment
for Irish tunes. She Beg She Mor is one of my favorite
tunes to play on flute.
Don Wessels - Don and I share an intense passion for creative
music making, and have had some great jam sessions at my house.
For the past couple of years we've been playing Irish music whenever
we get together. On this album we play two of my original hornpipes:
The New Hampshire Hornpipe; and the Long Winding Road
to Elkins. Don's a bit humble, but he's really a virtuoso
on the chromatic harmonica. Don enthusiastically learned my first
hornpipe immediately after first hearing it. We then discovered
that we had both driven the same highway to Elkins (West Virginia),
and when I played the second hornpipe for Don, he dove right into
it, and we worked up a great fiddle/harmonica version of both
hornpipes in a medley.