Just fiddlin' around... Can't say I'm really good at it. Now if I had MORE TIME to practice...

The band (when it has time to be a band) is Amagala (Sumerian: temple singers), known on bad days as Amagalla (demon singers). Celtic-ish & Pagan type music, mostly. Drum (tar, doumbek): JoAnn, guitar/vocals: Lisa, didjeridu: Richard, fiddle/main vocals: me, aspiring bassist: Kristil. We all suffer from the common problem of Too Much Life & day jobs, so gigs are surpassing rare these days (last one was a couple Pantheacons ago).

Possibly my favorite fiddle piece ever:
Davey Arthur's "Tam Lin Reel" (best version I've heard is The Bringers', 2nd best is Highland Sun's, where it's matched up with the incredibly cool and eerie Jacobite song "Burning of Auchindoun"

The best versions of "Tam Lin" start slow and build up to a break-neck pace. It has a manic desperation to it that I really resonate with. To me it's like dancing as hard and fast as you can, to fully live the moment before the inevitable wave of pain crests and you crash into its depths.

Music is a mirror. Music is a balm. Music is a release...

(Excuse me, Dilandau needs her medication now... ;) )

Some of my favorite fiddlers:
Jenny Wilhelms of Gjallarhorn (she plays a wicked Hardänger fiddle! Woo-hoo!)
Michi of The Bringers
Howard Chu & Linda Kodaira of Highland Sun
Liz Carroll
Cat Taylor
LeighAnn Hussey
Heather Alexander

I was a backup musician in "Water, Fire and Smoke" (by Betsy Rose) on Kathy Mar's "My Favorite Sings" CD - playing DRUM (djembe). Whee. (My sweetie played didjeridu in that piece - which he's quite good at.)

More here someday (like maybe sound clips and such)...