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photo by Anita LaFranchi
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I play fiddle and sing traditional songs,
unaccompanied or with guitar or ukulele. I play in
Irish sessions, perform at local open mics, and have
performed at the Northwest Folklife Festival and other
venues in Seattle. Here (right) I am on the east end
of Tory Island, off the Northwest
coast of Co. Donegal, Ireland in May, 2001.
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The Road Goes Ever On - a song cycle
performed
at Carleton College, Northfield, MN, Feb. 7, 1972.
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My musical education began with piano lessons
at age 7 and classical violin at 8. During high school I gave up
violin, bought my first guitar and began to sing. I studied
voice (with Jean Pilon) at Pomona College and (with James
Bailey) at the University of Illinois while majoring in
Chemistry. I taught Chemistry at St. Olaf College (Minnesota)
for 28 years and was active in the Northfield Arts Guild,
singing lead roles in summer musicals and opera workshops. I
moved to Seattle in 1996 as research professor at the University
of Washington, and picked up the violin again to become a
fiddler. I later retired to begin a new career as an unemployed
folk musician (something I can now afford!).
With Victory Music I helped set up open mics and
an acoustic music venue in north Seattle, and wrote a monthly
column, "Musical Traditions," for the Victory
Review. I produced a concert series for the Haller Lake Arts Council
from 2006-2011. In 2007 I helped revive the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society and am
its co-director. I have produced CDs: “Paddy Graber – The Craic
Was Great” (2004), songs by an Irish traditional singer and story
teller from Vancouver, B.C.; “Songs of the Pacific Northwest”
(2005), original and traditional songs of the Pacific Northwest
sung by various regional musicians; and my own CD, "Erin's Green
Shore" (2007).
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