Mercenary Ninja Fiddler

I play an amalgamation of trad Irish (I lived in Ireland for a year at age 15), contest fiddling (I was CA State Ladies' Champion 4 times in the 1980s), country music (I've lived in Texas for around 25 years), folk (my first experience with music was 1960s-70s folk music: Bob Dylan, John Denver, etc plus violin in northern California public school in the 1970s). But, having grown up listening to Classic Rock of the 70s and 80s, there was a HUGE influence from great rock & roll!! So Celtic Rock made a lot of sense.

I currently perform sporadically with JIGGERNAUT (Celtic Rock), and fairly regularly with George Strait Tribute Band UNWOUND, as well as Garth Brooks Tribute Band SHAMELESS, and when I can, I love playing with ABBEY BROWN AND THE SOUND, who does Chick Singer/Songwriter material like Linda Ronstadt, Lucinda Williams, Dixie Chicks, 

In chronological order: 

1. Divil's Dream (trad irish, Chico CA, early 1980s) 
2. Pegasus Project (Folk/Americana, w/Jenni Mansfield & Rupert Crabb, Dallas, TX, 1990-92)
3. Moveable Feast (w/Jenni, Paul Wilson and Michelle Feldman, 1993-4?)
4. The Killdares (Celtic Rock, Dallas, TX 1996-2001)
5. Nine-8ths Irish (Trad Irish/Greengrass, Sacramento, CA 2005-2011)
6. Coolin (TX extension of N8i with Chris and John Burleson, 2012-2017 or so)
7. Needfire (Celtic Rock, Dallas, TX, 2012-2013)
8. Jiggernaut (Celtic Rock, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, 2013-current)
9. The Bodarks (songwriter/hootenanny, DFW, subbing for Shelly from time to time)
10. Quibble Brothers (bluegrass, DFW, sporadically 2014-current)
11. King George (DFW, 2014-2018)
12. LDJ Band (TX Country, 2016-2017)
13. Celtic Cowboys (w Steve Harrison, Fort Worth, TX, 2015-2021)
14. String Theory (Trad Irish, McKinney, TX, 2017-2020)
15. Various George Strait Tribute bands - including Strait Shot, George Strait Experience (with Jay Parr), Britt Hammond
16. Abbey Brown and The Sound (folk/rock/singer/songwriter, Arlington, TX, 2018-current)
17. Unwound - George Strait Tribute - (DFW TX, 2022-current)
18. Shameless - Garth Brooks Tribute (DFW, 2021-current)

I was very fortunate as a kid - my father was an English professor (CSU Chico) and was offered an exchange opportunity with another teacher from an Irish college. Along with me, my older brother John, my younger sister Dawn, and my step-mom Barbara, we spent an amazing year living in Howth, Co. Dublin, Ireland. We exchanged lives with Michael Clarke's family: we lived in their house, drove their car, met their neighbors, drank in their pub, and they spent the year for I'm sure what was an unforgettable time in Chico, California.  That exerpience is why I became obsessed with traditional Irish music. I've been trying to play it ever since, and have gotten pretty good at it, but have not had the opportunity to make it back to Ireland since that year  (1979-1980.)

I do, indeed, teach fiddle, when asked. However, I am not trained as a teacher, so I don't do it full time. I actually have a 'Day Job' working on a print shop. However, I am always willing to give lessons. Send me an email or contact me on Facebook!!