The Band
Poised between tradition and invention, Rumgumption is darkly whimsical Scots/Irish roots music: slippery jigs, lyrical ballads, rollicking reels, rousing shanties, and songs new, borrowed, and bluesy.
Shawn ´ Chad ï Kerri ç Henry ì Pat
Canadian born singer and songsmith Shawn McBurnie writes on Scots language use in song for Scottish journal The Kilt and Harp and teaches singing at the Center for Irish Music. Like many traditional singers, Shawn is mainly self-taught - inspired to learn by the time-tested combination of love of song and scarcity of entertainment. He fell prey at a young age to an abiding obsession with singing; his passion for wordcraft came later but was no less tenacious. Shawn is a recipient of a 2012 MN Artist Initiative grant to write and record a project of original songs about ‘fearsome critters’ from Northwoods folklore spanning the US/Canada border.
In Chad McAnally’s hands, the sounds of the wire-strung harp, hammer dulcimer, and Irish flute are at once evocative of antiquity and exuberantly contemporary. Chad is at the forefront of the continuing revival of the ancient wire-strung Gaelic harp. Recent honors include: 2009 National Scottish Harp Champion; 2010 winner of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board; 2011 American Composers Forum invitee to their new 'Composer Teaching Artist' program; and 2012 Irish Music Awards “Top Harpist” nominee. Chad's compositions and performances are rooted deeply in Irish and Scottish traditional music and are further informed by his graduate study of ethnomusicology. Chad teaches harp, hammer dulcimer, and whistle at The Center for Irish Music in Saint Paul, MN.
Kerri Joy, fiddle player and singer, hails from Northwest Montana, where she came by her impressive Old Time and bluegrass licks and developed her signature clear, authentic vocal style. Having fallen in love with Celtic music, she set out to gain her trad chops from the rich session scenes of New York City and Austin, TX. Kerri’s captivating stage presence, honed in a variety of performance environments, is a regular show-stopper. With a range that flows easily from rich alto to soaring soprano, Kerri is especially fond of sharing historically-rooted melodies and lyrics that have inspired musical storytellers for generations.
Henry Lebedinsky began playing New England old-time fiddle at age ten. His passion for music gave rise to a career as a concert harpsichordist and organist, as well as a published composer of sacred choral music. As a Celtic bouzouki and guitar player, he currently performs with The Beggar Boys (Boston), Earl's Chair (Portland, ME), and around the Twin Cities with Irish piper Tom Klein and the Fauxtatoes. His original songs and tunes have been heard on nationally-syndicated NPR broadcasts and on three CDs on the independent Beggar Boys Music label as well as a new Christmas album produced by NPR affiliate WDAV 89.9 fm in North Carolina. Henry serves as Music Minister at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in White Bear Lake, where he also directs the successful WaterMusic concert series.
Patrick McCormick has been playing the uilleann pipes since 2005. He has performed as a solo artist and with multiple groups over the years, including Murphy’s Empty Shot and Wookiefoot. Patrick is board member of the Great Northern Irish Pipers’ Club in Minnesota. Pat also sits on the board of the MN Bagpipe & Drum Society and plays the highland bagpipes in two Saint Paul pipe corps. Pat is the uilleann piping instructor at the Center for Irish Music in Saint Paul, MN.