 Richard Carlin |
Richard Carlin has been writing about and
playing the
concertina for over 30 years. He is the author of English Concertina
(Oak Publications, 1977), soon to be published in an enlarged second
edition by Mel Bay Publications. He has also produced numerous
recordings for Folkways Records, now available from
Smithsonian/Folkways.
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 Frank Ferrel
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Though Frank
may be generally known as a stellar fiddler, he is equally competent on
anglo concertina. Frank began fiddling at the age 8 under the influence
of this grandfather, a traditional musician and native of Ohio and West
Virginia. Concertina came a bit later under the influence of local
Irish, French-Acadian, and Canadian Maritimes players while he was
stationed at the old Charlestown Navel Shipyard in Boston in the
1960's. Over the years, Frank has appeared on the nationally broadcast popular American radio series, A Prairie Home Companion, and has performed on numerous occasions with the legendary Celtic group, The Boys of the Lough. The Library of Congress chose his major label CD release, Yankee Dreams, for inclusion in their Select List of 25 Recordings of American Folk Music. Most recently, he's been performing with the legendary Irish-American accordion player, Joe Derrane, and is music director of the National Public Radio series, Says You. |
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 Jeff Jacobs |
Jeff
Jacobs received his first concertina 14 years ago, an anglo, as a gift
because it was similar to a harmonica which he also plays. He quickly
switched to the Hayden Duet because of its simplicity and versatility.
Self taught and playing by ear he likes to experiment with different
techniques and make different arrangements for a wide variety of
musical
styles. Jeff plays for his own enjoyment as well as for folks in nursing homes and hospitals where he finds the Hayden Duet very suited for both soothing and spirited music. Often when visiting he tells patients to feel free to doze off - and that if they do - he considers it a compliment. Jeff hopes that his abilities on the Hayden Duet will encourage others to see it as a very versatile and user friendly instrument - with a lot of potential. |
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 Richard Morse
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Richard Morse, concertina and melodeon player, Morris musician and dancer (Muddy River, Newtowne, Wake Robin and Marlboro Morris), free-reed enthusiast and founder of The Button Box, has been deeply involved in the traditional music and dance scene in the Northeast since the 1970's. He was responsible for starting the Northeast Squeeze-In festival in 1989, where he continues to lead concertina band and duet concertina workshops. He is the designer of the R. Morse & Co. line of concertinas produced by The Button Box. Rich plays and is one of the leading proponents of the relatively new and lesser-known Hayden duet concertina. |
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 Brian Peters |
Brian Peters has played Anglo for twenty-five years, and, according to The Living Tradition magazine, is second only to John Kirkpatrick as an exponent of the English style of playing the instrument, based around melody and chorded accompaniment. His repertoire includes dance music, slow airs and ragtime pieces, but he's also well known as a song accompanist, performing mostly traditional material but also branching out into Music Hall and pop. Brian is a regular tutor at concertina workshops in England including Witney, Kilve and Swaledale, and in the course of his career as a professional folk musician has travelled to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He also plays melodeon and guitar and has made eight solo CDs, plus other releases with various bands.In 2005 he released his first album devoted exclusively to the concertina, Anglophilia (Pugwash PUGCD 006), which attracted much favourable comment in the concertina world and the folk music press. |
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Bob Snope acquired his first English concertina almost 25 years ago. In the mid-1980's he played for many contra dances in the Boston/Cape Cod area with the band Nantucket Sound. During this period, he was also the musician for the Northwest Clog Morris team Rose Galliard. Since joining The Button Box, where he oversees the repair and manufacturing side of the operation, he has performed regularly for English Country Dances in the Amherst area and has taught concertina privately and through the town's Leisure Services Department. A self-taught player, he enjoys working with beginners and has led workshops in music theory and playing by ear at the Northeast Squeeze-In and through the Eastern Cooperative Recreation School. |
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 Chris Stevens |
Chris Stevens from Cape Neddick, Maine, has been playing traditional Irish music on the button accordion and anglo concertina since 1998. Chris currently resides in Lowell, Massachusetts and is completing a Bachelor's degree in Music Business at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He is a regular at sessions and contra dances throughout New England, and performs with many different area musicians. Appearances include the Champlain Valley Folk Festival, the New World Festival, the Festival du Joie, the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, the Berklee College International Folk Festival, the NEFFA Festival, the Boston Celtic Music Festival, the Irish Heritage Festival, and he competed at the 2000 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Enniscorthy, Wexford, Ireland. Chris is on the faculty of the Boston Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Music School, instructing anglo concertina. |
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A familiar presence on the folk scene
since the mid
seventies as an energetic harmonica and banjo player, singer, and
workshop leader, Ken Sweeney took up the English concertina in 1983 and
has been sharing his concertina playing techniques (in traditional
Irish tunes, and song accompaniment) at such events as The Northeast
Squeeze-In, NEFFA, and the Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport Museum
in his native CT since 1989 (when he also joined the museum's chantey
staff).
Ken was a member of the New Haven based contradance band, the Fiddleheads, from 1979 to 1990, and has since played dances with numerous other bands at home and abroad. His harmonica can be heard on several of Mystic's festival recordings; and on two CD's by Skip Gorman: A Greener Prarie and A Cowboy's Wild Song To His Herd, and on banjo and concertina as well with Tom Hodgson (guitar) and David Carpenter (fiddle) on their CD Tapping The Tradition. . |