I was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and, after spending 12 years in Ottawa and Halifax, settled in St. Albert, Alberta in 1980. We're near to Edmonton, approximately 400 miles north of the US (Montana) border.

My father played his fiddle in the kitchen every Sunday and, as a result, down-east and Cape Breton fiddle music courses through my veins. I learned to accompany him on piano but have given that up completely since one of my pinky fingers was destroyed during a baseball game with a bunch of crazed Boy Scouts.

I now play guitar and howl along with it every chance I get. My tastes are varied ... blues, bluegrass, folk, Celtic, 50's and 60' rock and roll. I usually play rhythm guitar (note - my dictionary defines strumming as "to play the guitar badly") and I try to get together with different people at least once a week for an informal session, usually in somebody's basement. One of my priorities is to play with better musicians than I am ... that's so that this old dog can continue to learn new tricks. These days, I'm concentrating on learning to flat-pick fiddle tunes on the guitar and developing a small repertoire of blues leads. I have never played for money but have played in front of audiences on a number of occasions.

I guess I'm a typical Mudcatter ... a 51 year-old accountant with two boys (18 and 25.) The 18-year-old plays electric & accoustic guitar and sings - he prefers Christian music. The 25-year-old, who will return in a few weeks from a two-year sojourn working in pubs in England (Newcastle and Bristol), wants to play guitar ... he may become more dedicated once he hears what his younger brother accomplished during his absence.

My house is about a five-minute walk from Sheye's who is also an avid Mudcatter ... which reminds me ... it's been much too long, Sheye. I'll call you in a few days about an upcoming jam. The weather here today is sunny and in the low teens (celsius). The leaves are falling down. As opposed to eastern Canada and the US, they're mostly brown and yellow; no reds and golds. The snow we had 10 days ago has long since disappeared but we're bracing for winter.

Bob