Spending much of his time in Rome, Italy, as a child, he is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, bouzouki, banjo and fiddle player who specialises in the performance of Celtic music.
He learned to play the guitar when he was ten years old in Rome and later studied with Professor Costas Proakis, who had been a student of Andres Segovia. After his return his family returned to the United States, he studied American string band traditional music in the 1970s and towards the end of the decade he showed an interest in playing Celtic music when he found the similarities in the two genres. He also took up playing the bagpipes during that time and became aware of a different repertoire of music.
He was a founding member of the band Innisheer, who won the Columbus Music Award for Best Ethnic Band in 1994, and performs with the group Silver Arm and the trio Celtic Core.
As a soloist he regularly accompanies the singer-songwriter Tom Paxton and has released several solo CDs that include So Inclined, Farewell to the Creeks and Far Green Country. As an author he has co-written the book and CD Set A Fiddle Players Guide to Jamming.
Cincinatti Pops Orchestra recordings
The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore and Sir John Stevenson)
Telarc CD-80571 (CD: A Celtic Spectacular)
Conductor – Erich Kunzel
Arranger – Leroy Anderson
Tenor – John McDermott
Fiddle – Liz Knowles
Silver Arm Celtic Band
Pipes – Kieran O’Hare
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