About Your Host

I studied anthropology and classical Greek archaeology in university, but like most other people my age I make my living as a computer jock. I've been playing the anglo concertina since May 1996. I now play almost entirely in the Irish style, which means I play traditional Irish folk tunes, including reels, jigs and hornpipes. I saw and heard my first concertina when I was a kid and my mother brought me to see story-teller and musician Tim Jennings at the Haskell Opera House, which straddles the Quebec / Vermont border in Rock Island, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont. Tim's an amazing story-teller, but what I remembered most was that cool little squeeze-box he was playing. If you ever have a chance to hear him tell a story, don't miss it! We're not talking kid's fare here! I recently found out that Tim actually plays the English concertina, but I'm still glad I chose the Anglo, and that's the model these pages deal with primarily.

And what do you play?

I used to have information here about my concertina which was a 32-key rosewood-ended C/G Lachenal, but I have since sold it so I could buy two Jeffries. You can read all about and see lots of pictures (inside and out) of these Jeffries in my A Tale of Two Jeffries article.