Member Bios:
Nicolas Brown is one of the most exciting up and coming young musicians in the Ontario Irish music scene. He is a skilled uilleann piper, flute player, and whistle player and has also been known to sing the odd song. He has performed before at the Mill Race Folk Festival in Cambridge, and at such venues as the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society Listening Room, The Schneider House in Kitchener, and even as far away as Littleton, Colorado.
Nicolas started his musical career playing the french horn, but discovered the joys of the tin whistle at the age of 17. This led eventually to the wooden flute and the torturous uilleann (or union) pipes. Nicolas has attended classes at the world-renowned Chris Langan weekend in Toronto, the East Coast Tionol in East Durham, NY, and at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, Ireland. Nicolas has learned from local greats Debbie Quigley and Norm Stiff, as well as internationally reknowned pipers Tommy Keane, Mick O'Brien, and Ronan Browne and flute player Hammy Hamilton.
Nicolas has delved deeply into the piping of Seamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, and primarily Tommy Reck. He has also studied the music of the great Clare fiddlers, such as Bobby Casey, Junior Crehan and Paddy Canny and the great Kerry fiddlers such as Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Paddy Cronin, and their teacher Padraig O'Keefe. Nicolas has also explored the flute playing of Paddy Carty and Tara Diamond and the whistle playing of Donncha O'Briain. Nicolas has strived to bring the Clare sensibilities and the slides and polkas of Kerry to his piping and flute playing.
Brandon Gidley is another young musician to watch, being one of the foremost Irish fiddlers in Hamilton, Ontario. Together with Karli Strohschein, he has hosted sessions at the Winking Judge, Slaintes, and the The Corktown Pub, as well as being a mainstay at the Lionshead Pub, which has had a session running for over 20 years. Past performances have included a wide range of venues, from weddings and wakes, to bars and pubs. It is also not unusual to see him performing with fiddle on Hamilton streets and markets in the summer months.
Brandon began playing traditional fiddle music at the tender age of 18, after years of playing guitar styles ranging from jazz to heavy metal. Listening to and learning about the various Irish fiddle styles has become a major part of Brandon's life, and this attention to nuance and detail shows in his playing. Lessons from renowned fiddler Patrick Ourceau have helped to solidify his technique and to bring out the sounds that he'd listened to with such joy. Brandon aims to evoke the great Clare fiddle players especially Junior Crehan, Paddy Canny and Bobby Casey.
Karli Strohschein is one of Hamilton's hidden treasures. Having only started playing at the age of 19, she is the youngest and newest member of this trio. She has helped to host sessions with Brandon, and has performed with Brandon and Nicolas in pubs and concerts from Fergus to Toronto. She can be found with Brandon at sessions in Toronto and Hamilton.
Karli has had a lifelong obsession with the
accordion. Since she was a toddler, the music of Buckwheat Zydeco and Cajun
accordionists has inspired her. She discovered the great music of Irish
accordion players such as Tony MacMahon and Jackie Daly, bought a button
accordion and hasn't looked back. Preferring the punchier, more rhythmic styles
of these Clare and Kerry players, she taught herself the C#/D playing style, as
opposed to the more common B/C instrument. Karli's playing is often described
as driving and inventive, and the combination of her sweet tone and strong
rhythm brings lift to any session.
Group Bio:
Nicolas, Brandon and Karli have put together a love of Clare and Kerry music, intensive hours of listening, and their respective instruments and joined forces to form Farewell to Erin. This trio plays music accompanied only by the drones of the pipes, the strings on the fiddle and the bass on the button accordion. They will carry you to the Cliffs of Moher, the Beare Island, and points in between, with slides, polkas, reels, jigs, hornpipes and slip jigs both old and new, but mostly old. You'll be transported to a time when travelling to the next parish was a major voyage, and American Wakes were held to say goodbye, forever, to family members leaving for Canada and the United States. The tunes will be tied together with stories of immigrants, musicians, and itinerant travellers, and interspersed with airs and songs. Farewell to Erin is Karli Strohschein on button accordion, Brandon Gidley on fiddle, and Nicolas Brown on pipes and flute.
Farewell to Erin in session at the Golden Kiwi Pub, Cambridge, Ontario
Sample Recordings:
Below are some sample recordings, recorded "in session" at the Winking Judge, Augusta St, Hamilton, ON.
HillsofCooreandtheStackofOats.mp3
humoursofballyconnellpipes-fiddle.mp3
Contact Us:
Please feel to contact us regarding sessions, gigs, or just to say hi:
Nicolas Brown: nicolaslbrown@hotmail.com