I grew up on a small farm in Celo, a small community in western North Carolina. Started fiddling when my mom traded our goats' milk for lessons from Bruce Greene, one of the greatest living old-time fiddlers. Becky Morrissey and Paul Statsky provided more formal instruction.
After a four-wheeler accident and a few years away from music, I got into Irish fiddling in college, learning from my mother's cassettes, friends and extended trips to Ireland including a year abroad in Dublin. Living in Carrboro, NC, for a few years I toured with the Irish/Cape Breton band Cucanandy. Some of my favorite places we played were the Cherry Tree, Caffe Lena, the Kennedy Center, and the Lunenberg and the Celtic Colours music festivals in Nova Scotia. At home, guitarist Rob Sharer and I hosted some traditional Irish music sessions, which were always best when friends like Grainne Murphy, Dan Leonard, and Pat and Cathy Sky showed up. I also played with the Americana bands Grasshopper Highway, Jonathan Byrd, and Hooverville, all still good friends.
Currently I play mostly with The Weal and Woe (vintage and original country) and Gangstagrass. A Gangstagrass track is the theme song of the show "Justified" on FX and was nominated for an Emmy in 2010(shout-outs from Mother Jones, the WSJ and TVGuide). A blazing full album, "Lightning on the Strings, Thunder on the Mic," produced by Rench and featuring T.O.N.E-z, Matt Check, Todd Livingston, Jen Larson, myself and others, is bringing hillbillies and gangstas together across the nation. In February 2011 Gangstagrass was NYC Artist of the Month at The Deli magazine.
When I'm not hurting myself skateboarding, lawyering, or parenting, I also play now and then with other characters from the NYC bluegrass, oldtime and traditional Irish music scenes: The Pride of the Subway Ceili Band, The Brooklyn Playboys, The Cobble Hillbillies, Rench, Brad Einhorn and Kings Co. Strings, Jen Larson, Kyle Sanna, Izzy Zaidman, The Wissler Family, Don Meade, Fionn O'Lochlainn, Dana Lyn, Tes Slominski, Rhys Jones, Jason Sypher, and Nathaniel Rowan. Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, the droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote, and bathed every veyne in swich licour, of which vertu engendred is the flour...