Musical influences, experiences, trivia, help

• Left Handed Music Making, as published in several music education journals.
• How I became an old time musician.
• The Celtic Traveler, Oct 7, 2001
• Scottish and Cape Breton classes at Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, 2001
• More on playing violin left handed, and a link to my book on playing left handed.
• A Night at the Ceili
• Origin of Jenny Lind Polka (reel)
• Is Cajun Music Jazz?
• Ryan Thomson's List of Common Irish Session Tunes.
• Violin and Fiddle Bow Rehairing.
• 1970's Contra Dance Scene in Southern California .
• Fiddle techniques , for learning and playing, answers to questions. FAQ
• The hazards of a musician's life on the road.
• The difference between "Songs," and "Fiddle Tunes."
• On piano accompaniment to fiddle tunes.
• On selling violins through the internet.
• On memorization.
• How much is my old violin worth?
• Scottish fiddlers keep up the village traditions.
• Fitting a shoulder rest to a violin.

Focal Dystonia and other musician's disabilities

• My article on playing violin left handed as published in Strings Magazine, August 2001.
• My early experiences with Focal Dystonia as a cause of musician's disability.
• Learning to fiddle with a disability.
• Piano player with dystonia learns the violin!
• Possible solution to flute player's dilemma with dystonia

Reviews of fiddling and folk music events

As a tune collector/performer/teacher, I travel to many festivals and music and dance camps. I write reviews of events I've attended and post them here. Some of these reviews have been or will be published in other printed folk or fiddling publications. There are many events for which I have not yet written reviews, and I will gradually add them to this page as they are finished.

• 14 th Irish Festival at the Irish Cultural Center of New England, 2004
• Black Creek Fiddler's Reunion, Altamont, New York, 2002
• North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance annual meeting, 2002
• Fiddleheads String Band Camp, New Hampshire, 2001
• Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Colorado, 2001
• Festival of American Fiddle Tunes 2001
• Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp, Northern Week, 2001
• Augusta Heritage Center Irish and French Canadian weeks, 2001
• Stonehill College Irish Festival, 2000
• Augusta Heritage Center Irish Week, 1999.
• Augusta Heritage Center Irish Week, 1998.
• SAMW Summer Acoustic Music Week, 1997.
• Wheatland Folk Festival, Remus, Michigan, 1997.
• Northumbrian Piper's Convention. August, 1997.
• Dance Grand Rapids Irish Ceili, 1997.
• Folk Project Fall Festival, Northwest New Jersey, 1997.
• "Clifftop," The Eighth Annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival, 1997.
• Heritage Dance Festival, Plymouth Meeting (Philadelphia area), 1997.
• Festival of American Fiddle Tunes 1997, Port Townsend, Washington.
• Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Nelson, New Hampshire,1996
• Ashokan Fiddle and Dance, Ashokan, New York
• Augusta Heritage Center "Irish Week," Elkins, West Virginia, 1996.
• Balance and Swim, West Virginia
• California Traditional Music Society, (CTMS) Malibou, California
• Camp Harmony, Santa Cruz, California
• Eisteddfod International Folk Festival, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, 1996
• Festival of American Fiddle Tunes 1996, Port Townsend, Washington.
• Fox Hollow
• Lark in the Morning Music Celebration, Mendocino, California, 1996.
• New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)
• Northeastern Music and Dance Festival, Newtown, CT, 1996
• Old Songs Festival, New York
• Philadelphia Folk Festival
• Philadelphia Folk Song Society Fall Fling, Green Lane, Pennsylvania, 1996.
• Green Linnet Irish Music and Dance Weekend , 3rd annual, Monticello, NY, 1995.
• Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp, Tennessee, 1994.
• Ralph Page Weekend, Durham, New Hampshire
• Squeeze In, Washington, Massachusetts
• Great Bay Folklife Festival, Newmarket, New Hampshire, 1990-1991

Recording and Publication Reviews:

• Crystal Clear, solo violin by Cape Breton Fiddler Jerry Holland, P-0200-CD
• Fiddler's Bid Hamnataing
• Patty Furlong - Traditional Irish Music on Button Accordion
• J P Cormier Heart and Soul
• McKrells, This Past Year DR0100CD
• Kevin Burke in Concert (on Green Linnet)
• Concertina and Squeezebox - publication review.
• Claude Williams John Stewart - Jazz Violin and Guitar Duets (tape review).
• Charles Mann "Walk of Life," (Gumbo CD 002) contemporary cajun Tape/CD review.
• Cowboy Celtic, by David Wilkie and the McDades, cassette/CD review
• Dances frae the North Vols. 1 & 2, Scottish tape review.
• Note By Note, A Guide to Concert Production - publication review
• Zydeco, Blues and Boogie, (Gumbo CD 001) CD review.
• The Lundberg Brothers - Joined at the Ear, Neo-traditional dance music, AJL 81996, a review.
• Eileen Ivers, Crossing the Bridge, CD ASK 60746-S1
• Jacqueline Schwab - Mad Robin, Reflections on English Country Dances for Solo Piano, (Midsummer MR 223 CD)

Memorable musical experiences

• Crossing the Sierra range by backpack with mandolin and pennywhistle.
• A flood at the Glen Echo Ballroom contra dance!
• Ode to a Cattle Car, a 4th of July parade with the Boogaloo Swamis.
• My first "folk" gig, a trip up the long highway.
• Cherries Jubilee , or: a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.
• Calling a dance for the Ted Kennedy Jr. wedding, on Block Island.
• Opening for Ricky Skaggs at the Augusta Civic Center in Maine.
• Dodging the Seagrams Bull, A working musician's life on the road.
• The last concert at Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park.
• Pennies From Heaven, or: How to Make Money Playing the Accordion.
• A hard act to follow.
• Honk if you like our music !, a concert in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
• Life on the Road of a traveling band.
• Mozart and Poison Ivy. If they'll pay, we'll play!
• Its hard to keep a good fiddler down!
  
  Marching, marching, and more marching . For some reason or other, promoters often envision marching musicians as a way to liven up an event. Sometimes this is effective, sometimes not. Since I missed out having a high school marching band experience, I've listed some other types of interesting musical marches I've participated in:
  
• Boston First Night
• Kensington Town Fair
• Astra Party

Recommended web sites of interest:

This one is a winner. It's entitled "Pay the Piper, so you want to play an instrument?" It has a huge amount of useful information about choosing an instrument to play, relative costs, picking teachers, taking lessons, how to practice, finding other people to play with, and lots more.