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How long have you been playing?
I was singing before I could walk. I've grown up singing with all kinds of fantastic people including Ray Frank, Bob Reed, Lisa Aschmann, Dick Holdstock, Sadie Damascus, Steve Baughman, and many many other fantastic keepers of folk tradition. I've never not sung.
What was the first concert you ever went to?
I don't remember, I've been around singers and singing my whole life. Each one is a cherished experience of story and human-ness. I've often loved the ones best in which folks lose themselves into the song, when they go so deeply into themselves and the music, that the connection can't help but pour forth. The heartbreaking beauty, and the beauty which is the raw heartbreak are most significant for me.
What gear do you use?
I have a stony end 22 string Welsh lap-harp, and my voice. I also occasionally can be convinced to play on my Bodhran... though primarily I'm a vocalist rather than what I think of as a finger instrument-alist.
Who was your biggest musical influence growing up?
The San Francisco Folk Music club!
Are you in a band? Have you been in bands?
I'm in a dark accoustic group called Threefires, Ameliaisaverb which is a bit of a pick up band. I've previously been in Sheltering Sky, though the other two members of the Irish band have since married and moved out to the land of far far away. I play shows primarily as a solo artist, but have a few marvelous musicians who occasionally accompany me.
If you could jam with anyone, who would it be?
Clint McCune, he's got such fire, and rhythm, and heart.
John Doyle, cause he's ridiculously talented, and skilled,
Shay Black, because of the breadth of his repertoire and variability
Sharon Knight because tonally there's some really neat textures I've found,
June Tabor because I feel she's got a similar approach to the song as story,
Ray Frank because anything and everything he does is just magic.
Susan McKeown, because she brings so many other flavors and influences to Irish Music.
The guys from Crooked Still, because they're playful, and have a wonderful lightness to their sound that I think would be fun to play with.
Oh, man... pretty much anybody with a similar love of going deeply into that rip your heart out human ness kind of music.
John Doyle, cause he's ridiculously talented, and skilled,
Shay Black, because of the breadth of his repertoire and variability
Sharon Knight because tonally there's some really neat textures I've found,
June Tabor because I feel she's got a similar approach to the song as story,
Ray Frank because anything and everything he does is just magic.
Susan McKeown, because she brings so many other flavors and influences to Irish Music.
The guys from Crooked Still, because they're playful, and have a wonderful lightness to their sound that I think would be fun to play with.
Oh, man... pretty much anybody with a similar love of going deeply into that rip your heart out human ness kind of music.
What's the biggest audience you ever performed to? What's the smallest?
Biggest: 2400 Convergence, goth convention in Las Vegas, NV. Smallest: 5 House concert in WA. Most memorable? I think my favorite one was with Ray Frank in Piedmont, CA. We filled the house, and though I'd had laryngitis all week, we put on a fantastic show, and moved people. There's nothing better to me than to hear about songs moving, touching, affecting audience members. Are they dancing, crying? remembering childhood songs? Falling in love? Offering marriage proposals? laughing at funny moments? That's what I do it for,
You're stuck on a desert island and only get to bring one album with you. What do you pick?
g'aaaaaaah, i don't think I could answer that. As long as I've got music inside me... and I always do... I can't possibly choose to limit it to just one. I don't have a favorite for all time, I've got favorites for now, and even those are inevitably plural. I love a whole lot of different kinds of music, and hope I always will.
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