Hi,

I played guitar in standard tuning for years. One evening several many years ago I stumbled into Paddy Burke's Pub in Boston, Mass, and heard Brehan Law, a local Irish trio, and heard by first kick-a*s mandolin playing. I was hooked and bought a mandolin shortly after that.

Some time after that my grandmother's fiddle surfaced when one of my cousins didn't want it anymore and I took a few months of lessons right before I turned 30.

I found the basic fingering patterns easier to remember because of the mandolin background ( I had taught myself mandolin), but I definately lacked the skill of bowing.

It was right after that I met my wife while playing mandolin in a pub in the Bronx. Out of sheer love for her (and now our infant son) I've hung up the fiddle until we get a larger place with a sound-proof practice room.

It ain't a pretty sound.

Happiest New Year to everyone out there!