The story behind The Fiddle Funnel Sessions
The Fiddle Funnel Sessions began in December 2025 with a simple goal: to create an instrumental album that honors the living fiddle traditions of New England while celebrating the musical paths that shaped them.
For more than five decades I have performed, studied, taught, produced, and documented the music of New England, Acadia, Scotland, Ireland, Quebec, and Cape Breton. Throughout that journey I became increasingly convinced that the Northeast deserves greater recognition as one of North America's great crossroads of fiddle music.
I often describe this musical crossroads as The Fiddle Funnel—the place where Celtic, Acadian, French-Canadian, Scottish, Irish, and early American traditions flowed together through immigration, mill towns, fishing communities, dance halls, grange halls, kitchens, churches, and front porches. These traditions did not remain frozen in time. They evolved into a distinctive regional voice that continues to inspire musicians today.
This album is my contribution to that continuing story.
Every performance on The Fiddle Funnel Sessions was created by musicians playing together with intention, experience, and respect for the tradition. There are no artificial performances or AI-generated music—only human musicians responding to one another in real time, allowing the melodies to breathe, swing, and tell their own stories.
The sessions brought together an extraordinary group of collaborators whose artistry helped shape every recording. Each musician brought decades of experience and a unique musical voice while serving the melodies rather than overshadowing them. Their contributions transformed these compositions into living conversations rooted in tradition and inspired by friendship.
Although the music is deeply connected to history, this is not a museum project. These performances are contemporary interpretations that respect traditional forms while embracing modern arrangements, recording techniques, and production. My hope was to create recordings that honor where this music came from while inviting new listeners into its future.
Recorded, engineered, mixed, and produced at Whole Music Studios, The Fiddle Funnel Sessions represents nearly six months of focused work beginning in December 2025. Every tune was carefully crafted to preserve the expressive qualities of the fiddle while allowing each supporting instrument to contribute its own voice to the musical conversation.
My hope is that listeners hear not only the melodies, but also the generations of musicians who carried this music across oceans, through communities, onto dance floors, and into the present day.
This album is dedicated to those traditions—and to everyone who continues to keep them alive.