Contributors

Editor Mary Larsen, a native Californian now living in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is a frequent traveler between the East and West coasts. She especially enjoys Irish and old time fiddle music and plays at occasional sessions and parties. Mary was inspired to begin Fiddler Magazine after a trip to Ireland in 1993.

Music Editor Jack Tuttle has performed professionally in the U.S., Canada, and Japan as a member of numerous bands playing bluegrass, old time, and swing. Based in Palo Alto, California, he has taught more than a thousand students in over twenty years. He is the self-publisher of the Traditional Fiddle Collection and the Bluegrass Fiddle Collection, available at www.jacktuttle.com.

Michael John Simmons is a writer based in northern California. He spent fifteen years working at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, California, where he learned a great deal about the construction and history of guitars, mandolins, and banjos. Michael is the review editor at Fiddler Magazine, co-editor of the Ukelele Occasional, and is a frequent contributor to Acoustic Guitar and Guitar-maker. He contributed entries to Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia and is the author of Taylor Guitars: 30 Years of a New American Classic.

Peter Anick has been playing fiddle, guitar and mandolin since the mid-'70s. He co-authored Mel Bay's Old Time Fiddling Across America, has a CD of original songs with the bluegrass band WayStation (Looking for Love, www.waystation.net/music/waystation), and currently performs with Wide Open Spaces (www.wideospaces.com). When not fiddling, he works as a web search engine researcher/developer at Yahoo!

Brendan Taaffe grew up listening to traditional Irish music in his father's house, and has been an avid fiddler since 1993. In addition to Irish fiddle, he also plays DADGAD guitar and whistle, and works as an adjunct music faculty at a small Vermont College. You can find out 'more about him than you ever wanted to know' at www. brendantaaffe.com.

Jody Stecher has three fiddles and no car. He sings and plays in duet with Kate Brislin and in the band Perfect Strangers. Jody's recordings have won several Indie Awards and two Grammy nominations. He's been writing the Cross-Tuning Workshop for eight years; his favorite fiddle tuning is GDAE.

Former Oregon State Fiddle Champion Hollis Taylor has toured world-wide, performing in the folk, country, and jazz genres. European folk music inspired her first compositions, Unsquare Dances, penned in Budapest in 1996. Recent commissions include a string quartet performed at New York's Lincoln Center and a violin concerto. She resides in Sydney, Australia, where she bows fences.

Andrew Kuntz has played bass in a bluegrass band, and has been a fiddler for a morris team, an old time band, and a contra-dance band. For some time he has haunted Irish sessions in the New York area, his primary avocation at this time, along with tune research. He is the author of a book of old time songs and tunes called Ragged But Right, as well as the on-line tune encyclopedia, 'The Fiddler's Companion' (www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FChomepage/htm).

Born at an early age, Paul Anastasio began violin studies at nine. He was soon mesmerized by folk, jazz and popular music. Studies with jazz violinist Joe Venuti and work in the bands of Merle Haggard and other country artists followed. Paul is currently teaching, performing, and studying southern Mexican folk violin.

Paul Shelasky was California State fiddle champion in 1975 and 1981. Though best known for his fiddle and mandolin playing, he is currently unemployed on eight other instruments as well. Believing himself to be a world-class musician, he automatically assumes his penny whistle is welcome at any jam session, invitation or no. Kidding aside, Paul tours the world with Lost Highway, and freelances in traditional jazz, Irish, and Italian music.

Bob Buckingham lives in South Carolina, where he teaches fiddle, mandolin and banjo at the 5th String in Greenville. Playing music since the early 1960s and writing about it nearly as long, he has recorded two CDs and written for Bluegrass Unlimited, The Old Time Herald, and Banjo Newsletter, as well as being a regular contributor to Fiddler Magazine.

Gordon Stobbe plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. He performs with the Gordon Stobbe Trio, Razzmatazz for Kids, John Gracie Band, and Big Blue Swing Orchestra. Other credits include radio and television hosting, composing and recording his own compositions, scores for CBC, and fiddle workshops across Canada. He has published eight books for fiddle players.

Stacy Phillips is an internationally acclaimed Dobroist and fiddler. He is featured artist on the 1995 Grammy award-winning album The Great Dobro Sessions. Stacy is the author of over twenty-five books and videos on various aspects of slide guitar and violin, and appears on countless albums.

A resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Paul Cranford works on the last manned lighthouse in the Maritimes. A publisher of many books of traditional and original fiddle music, his tunes have been recorded by artists including The Barra MacNeils, Brenda Stubbert, Maire O'Keeffe, Sharon Shannon, Jerry Holland, and David Greenberg. His tune 'Fiddling Up a Storm' graces the back of Fiddler Magazine's tenth anniversary t-shirt. www.cranfordpub.com.

Peter Marten comes from upstate New York and works as a journalist and translator in Helsinki, Finland. His main interests are Celtic, French-Canadian and Finnish music.

Candace Horgan lives in Denver, Colorado, and writes about the twin passions of her life, music and climbing. Her articles have appeared in the Denver Post, Mix, Acoustic Guitar, Strings, and Relix. She is also the editor of the American Alpine News. When not working, she studies the guitar and fiddle, and tries to find time to climb and play hockey.

Duck Baker is a highly regarded fingerstyle guitarist who has made some fifteen recordings under his own name over the years and authored numerous collections of guitar arrangements, including several devoted to fiddle tunes.

Allison M. Brock is an editor and freelance writer in St. Louis, Missouri. Her articles and reviews have appeared in Irish Music Magazine, Treoir, Rhythm Music Magazine, and other music publications.

Mark Armstrong (the creator of the 'Fiddle-Toons' that appear in Fiddler Magazine) is a cartoonist and illustrator who grew up in Cooperstown, New York. He sits by his woodstove a lot, and plays rockabilly guitar very badly. You can see Mark's work at www.theispot.com/artist/marmstrong.