The most talented performer I've met in the past 10 years.”

Peadar MacMahon

photo credit carol t. baker

photo credit carol t. baker

I've had a great attraction to songs in the folk tradition since I was very young. My mother sang them to me as lullabies. Add to this a fascination with folk traditions the world over, and I find myself particularly keen on sustaining the traditions of my own heritage, as well as others of great beauty that deserve to be sustained.

There are traditions everywhere. The town of Atherstone in Warwickshire has played a town-wide game of football each year on Shrove Tuesday since the 12th century. In Bellingham, there has been a peace vigil outside the Federal Building every Friday since 1967. The tradition of Christian Mass is recorded from the 2nd century CE. In Niger, the Guérewol festival sees young men dress up as women each year to outshine each other in a courtship ritual. My mother drinks tea every morning.

Musically, traditions are just as widespread. There are musical traditions surrounding birthdays, baseball, buildings, barges, brides, bums, bilges, baths, and a variety of things that start with other letters, as well! Slowly, I'm working my way through them.

I play around Bellingham at a number of venues. Check my calendar for upcoming concerts!