About Me
I play fiddle and tenor banjo (and sometimes other strings) with The Jig is Up! at festivals, weddings, dances, and private parties. I’ve started the Houston School of Irish Music with flutist Larry Mallette for children who would like to learn Irish music in group lessons. I’m accepting private students, both adults and children, for individual instruction in fiddle or beginner classical violin. I am a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
I started on violin with the Suzuki method on entering kindergarten. Four years later I began after-school lessons with Lori Fay (at the time of the Houston Ballet, currently of University of Arkansas) studying classical music. Shortly thereafter I branched out into folk music. I spent a time playing Appalachian, bluegrass, old time, and other American fiddle music and eventually found a second music teacher in Mary Ann Willis. Mary Ann exposed me to various Eastern European folk music styles.
Having both a violin teacher and a fiddle teacher during those developmental years provided a rich environment for learning the art of music from different, and often conflicting, perspectives. Simultaneously learning the discipline and precision of classical violin and the expressiveness and diversity of fiddle allowed me to develop a versatility that I still cherish.
My cosmopolitan approach to music was further developed at that point by experimenting with other strings. In addition to the orchestra at Lamar High School, I played prima balalaika for a season with the Houston Balalaika Society Orchestra. Learning mandolin chords helped me understand violin harmonies better. Electric violin used with guitar effects and MIDI gave me perspective on timbre. Guitar got me listening to the structure of the chords and rhythm more attentively. I became equally comfortable performing Christmas carols at a packed Rice University concert hall, laying down backup tracks in a recording studio or grinding out Texas swing in the smokiest dive in town. Whatever the genre and venue, I love the music, and the way it brings people together.
I began playing Irish music when another of Mary Ann’s students, Lloyd Gibson, invited me down to the local Irish session. Lloyd was very enthusiastic about Irish music and helped me learn my first few basic tunes. Being eleven or twelve at the time, my very patient parents came with me to the local pub where the session was held week after week. By the time I was fifteen or so I was recording and playing at festivals.
