When I was leaving Nashville for my move to New England, my good friend and colleague Old Time/Irish fiddler David Coe told me to make sure to meet Randy Miller, renowned for his expert contradance and Irish fiddling, compositions and tune books. To my delight, within a week or two of my move, I found myself playing at the legendary Nelson NH contradance next to Randy and the equally legendary piano player Bob McQuillen on a beautiful moonlit summer night. Now, a year later, I’ve just returned from a ‘world tour of Maine’ with Randy: a sprightly contradance in Bowdoinham, a concert on Great Cranberry Island, where ti
me stands still, and an intense session at Portland’s Blue with its many fine local players of Irish music (more on these great musicians in future posts).
Just before leaving on our Maine jaunt, Randy and I recorded 14 tracks of tunes and songs (in two 3-hour sessions!). Check out the CD on Randy’s website.