We first met at a jam in Ithaca, NY on New Year’s Day in 2011 or 2012. Fast forward a couple of years and Brian had moved to Ithaca and into one of the coldest winters we’d had in a long time. We started getting together on those cold, snowy nights to play tunes, talk and get to know each other. We discovered that we really enjoyed sharing time

We first met at a jam in Ithaca, NY on New Year’s Day in 2011 or 2012. Fast forward a couple of years and Brian had moved to Ithaca and into one of the coldest winters we’d had in a long time. We started getting together on those cold, snowy nights to play tunes, talk and get to know each other. We discovered that we really enjoyed sharing time and tunes. Not too much time passed before we started throwing around the idea of recording. By 2016 (yes it’s been a while :)) our good friend Joseph Emerick Alston started recording in a beautiful space just outside of Binghamton, NY and we knew we had to record there. Making this album together with Joe was such a fun and positive experience. We love the variety of tunes chosen for this project and think it’s a testament to old and new coming together.

We would like to thank all of the wonderful (and very patient) people who donated to this project and therefore made it possible! We appreciate every one of you. We would also like to thank our families for their unwavering support, thank you for believing in us. Thank you to Joseph Emerick Alston for your passion and patience during this project. You made it all happen and we’re so grateful! Pete Lister, thanks for taking the time to learn these tunes and record them! A big thank you to the Hart family for opening their beautiful space up to us and letting us create there. We love you all!

On these recordings, Claire plays a fiddle made by Josef Deulin in Detroit, MI, 1933 and Brian’s father’s Guild D-50 Guitar; Brian plays a Bell & Son Sweeney Fretless Banjo eBay purchase, a gifted Orpheum No.1 Open-Back Banjo, a traded for Gibson RB-1 Prewar Resonator Banjo, and an old German Stradivarius Copy Fiddle his mother bought for him in Nashville; Pete Lister played his Christopher Upright Bass.

For booking, shows, lessons, and more music, please visit www.banjoandfiddle.com.