Folk Music

My interest in folk music came from my involvement with Circle Dance. After years of dancing to haunting melodies and fascinating rhythms from the Balkans I was developing an understanding of how the music was structured, I just couldn't see how I could actually start to play it.

My opportunity came whilst signing up for a folk dance camp in Ramblewood in the USA, organised by the EEFC. The camp offered many different instrument classes and beginners had the chance to borrow an instrument for the week, to see how they got on. I signed up for Beginner's Macedonian Tambura and when I arrived I was handed a strange, four-stringed, narrow lute sort of thing. Under the tutelage of the wonderful and patient Adam Good I learned to produce a recognisable tune from the tambura, in an uneven rhythm no less. On arriving back in the UK I managed to find myself a tambura (from a Swiss man who imported them from Turkey) and have never looked back.

I play Macedonian (four string) and Bulgarian (eight string) tambura and, not being a purist, also acoustic and electric guitar and electric bass. Most of the music I play comes from the southern Balkans (Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece) but I've also played Turkish, Armenian and Klezmer tunes.

The Festival Band

I am a member of Gadje Dilo who play music from 'Eastern Europe and beyond'. We play regularly for dancing - there's more information on our website here. I've been playing with the band since 2007, before which I'd been an occasional contributor since 2002.

We used to be called The Festival Band and before that The Findhorn Festival Band.

From 2003 to 2006 I played with Rosadusha, based at Findhorn. The band consisted of Laura Shannon (vocals and percussion), Stella Sofer (vocals, accordion, whistle), Rory O'Connell (saxaphone, clarinet, gaida, flute, vocals) and myself (electric and acoustic guitar, Macedonian tambura, bass guitar).