I began playing the fiddle when I was four, taking Suzuki lessons as well as learning fiddle tunes from my dad’s guitar picking. I grew up going to bluegrass and old-time music festivals in California, which I loved. I began playing gigs when I was twelve, and by the time I was in high school I’d joined a couple bands. Some of my previous bands are All Wrecked Up, Donner Mountain, Dark Hollow, and Lost Coast. Donner Mountain won several band competitions, including the 2006 Huck Finn Jubilee National Playoffs, 2005 Music on the Mountain Band Contest, and 2004 Bluegrass in the Foothills Emerging Artist Band Contest.
I felt very honored in September 2005 to play with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings at the Four Corners Folk Festival in Colorado. During my senior year of high school I became entranced with gypsy jazz (Django Reinhardt’s music), and began to get my hands on whatever recordings I could find. In January 2006, I was the fiddler for the Gypsy Kidz in the Gypsy Caravan Tour, sponsored by Amoeba Records, starring David Grisman, Stephane Wrembel, the Robin Nolan Trio, and Brandi Shearer. In October 2006, I was the recipient of the Dudley Hill Award for Outstanding Young Musicians at Djangofest Northwest. I was presented with an SV-1800 Cremona Violin by Saga Musical Instruments. From 2007-2010, I was a part-time fiddler for Town Mountain, an energetic bluegrass band from Asheville, North Carolina. I toured with them several times and we recorded an album called Heroes and Heretics.
I now play with The Kathy Kallick Band based out of the Bay Area. We released an album last year called Between the Hollow and the High-Rise and have been having fun touring with it nationally and internationally. I also play with Andrew Carriere & the Cajun All-Stars for upbeat dances around California. In addition to playing bluegrass and cajun music, I also perform and tour with the George Cole Quintet. I frequently sit in with various bands in the Bay Area including the Crooked Jades, Jimbo Trout & the Fishpeople, and Mitch Polzak & the Resonators. I also have a duo called Whiskey Deaf with John Kael and we enjoy finding old songs to sing and switching around on instruments.
I endorse Saga’s Cremona violins and L.R. Baggs pick-ups. I am available for fiddle lessons, session work, and performances. If you are interested, please contact me.
