In 2002 EJ released an album entitled "The WIllow" with guitarist Gerry O'Beirne and fiddle player Rosie Shipley and the three of them did some touring as "The Willowband" for a while. In 2003 when Clandestine was to take a long hiatus EJ began turning Scottish small pipes with his amateur experience making and playing Uilleann pipe reeds as a guide.

EJ has been playing professionally with various groups at all kinds of festivals since 1991 and regularly attends informal jam sessions in his native Houston and in Asheville NC where he now lives. He works to encourage informal music and dancing at every opportunity and believes that playing music is an optimal part of a well balanced life.

EJ now plays around the country with the re-formed Clandestine and a new pipe and drum group called Teribus.

http://www.clandestineceltic.com
http://www.teribusmusic.com

Chris acquired his first set, made by an amateur maker, on his fifteenth birthday, and set out to emulate the prominent pipers of the Twentieth Century. Formal tuition was difficult to come by, so he relied upon careful study of the classic recordings of the pipes and the mentorship of Anthony Robb. Within three years of taking up the instrument he became a regular Open competition winner.

In 1979 Chris left Tyneside to study at Liverpool University. Northumbrian musicians being scarce on Merseyside, he began to participate in the thriving Irish music scene. This was not without its challenges, and he had to find means of incorporating the gracings essential to Irish music without compromising the characteristic closed fingering of the small pipes. His inclusion in a compilation recording of Irish musicians in North-West England is testimony to his success in this area! Chris also took the opportunity to learn the Highland pipes (with one eye on becoming a Border piper!), playing with the Liverpool Irish Pipe Band. Having completed his B.Sc. he trained as an occupational therapist and practiced in Chester until his return to Tyneside in 1989.

During the 1980s Chris maintained his interest in the classic piping repertoire in general, and the music of Tom Clough in particular. In 1986 he met Clough’s son, himself a piper, and was able to increase his knowledge of the family and their music. In 1987 he recorded a CD of Clough’s music; sadly this was never released.

Nowadays Chris is sought after as a piping tutor and has taught and performed in the USA, Canada, Europe and throughout the United Kingdom. In 2000 he was invited to perform at the Edinburgh Festival. He has appeared on numerous CDs and has played alongside musicians as diverse as rock star Peter Gabriel and Paddy Keenan of the Bothy Band. He did, eventually, become a player of Border pipes and Scottish small pipes, and has recently taken up the uilleann pipes. When not performing solo he can be heard playing for dancing with the Border Directors Ceilidh Band. Chris is currently recording a solo CD due for release in Summer 2003.

For nearly 20 years he has played with the English piping trio The Goodacre Brothers, who have recorded two CDs. In 2000 Julian released his solo CD 'Pipemaker Calls Yer Tunes'. He is now gaining a growing reputation for his performances, talks and lectures. He currently lectures for the Piping Degree Course at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Glasgow, Scotland.

Hensold’s Northumbrian piping is firmly grounded in traditional Northumbrian technique, but his playing cannot be considered strictly traditional, since he incorporates musical ideas from many of the styles he works in. Rather than taking the tradition as given, he imagines all the different ways the pipes can be played, given their unique characteristics, and uses all the techniques available to maximize expression and rhythmic drive. In fact, his playing is best characterized by imagination and creativity. He is also a prolific composer of music for the pipes.

A full-time free-lance musician, he specializes in the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland and Northumberland; Nordic folk music; early music; and Cambodian traditional music. He has released numerous CDs as a member of the groups Piper’s Crow, Way Up North, The New International Trio, the Lyra Baroque orchestra, and with Ruth MacKenzie’s Kalevala. His solo Northumbrian smallpipes CD Big Music for Northumbrian Smallpipes was released in 2007.

He also performs on the Medieval greatpipes, Scottish Highland pipes, säckpipa (Swedish bagpipes, recorder, seljefløyte (Norwegian willow flute), low whistle and traditional Cambodian reed instruments, and is much in demand as a sidemusician, composer/arranger, studio and theater musician. His recent theatre projects include work at the Guthrie Theatre, Children's Theater Company, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and with Ruth MacKenzie's Kalevala and Snow Queen.

His new music credits include an appearance with the Greenville Symphony orchestra as soloist in “Cross Lane Fair”, a symphonic work featuring Northumbrian smallpipes. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship.

Among his 20 wins at open piping competitions, he is a nine-time winner of Northumbrian Pipers Society Annual Open Competition, currently a record. In addition, Andy based his first study for his music degree at the University of York on the Northumbrian smallpipes.

In 2002 Andy left his day job to become a full-time musician, teacher and pipemaker, the same year taking up a position with Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies, one of the hardest working bands on the British folk scene. This work has involved performances in the US and Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Estonia alongside touring the UK.

When not touring Andy teaches pipes and is particularly pleased to have a number of promising young players under his guidance. He also produces a small number of sets of pipes for sale. His first solo album, ‘The Yellow Haired Laddie’ was released on Fellside recordings in 2003.

In recent years, Jim’s attention has turned to teaching, publishing and performing. His 1992 he made a solo CD – Volume 10 in Lismor Recordings’ World’s Greatest Pipers collection. His tutor and companion CD, Rhythmic Fingerwork, published in 1998, became an immediate bestseller and set a new standard for piping tutors. It is now in its fifth printing. His two instructional videos, Pipes Ready and Pipes Up were released in 2000 and 2001 respectively and have attracted attention from pipers worldwide.

Born in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Uilleann Piper and whistle player Eamonn Dillon has toured and recorded both as a solo artist and with a varied group of performers, touring shows and bands.

Working between the U.S., Canada and Europe ,he has performed and recorded as a featured artist in both traditional, theatrical and mixed genre ensembles including Needfire, John McDermott (The Irish Tenors), Celtic Bridge, Sarah Packiam, Paloma Faith and King James, among others.

He first learned the tin whistle from his father, and from Tara Diamond before getting his first set of Uilleann Pipes made by the great master Sean McAloon, who mentored Eamonn while he was first starting out.

Eamonn is currently in pre-production on his new solo CD, featuring his sister, acclaimed fiddle player Roisin Dillon of Cherish the Ladies, and other guest musicians and vocalists.

Well known as an insightful and generous teacher, Benedict is also an engaging if low-key performer and will be at the Pipers' Gathering along with his wife, harper Hilari Farrington. 

Benedict and Hilari live in East Montpelier, Vermont where Benedict, in association with David Quinn, makes and restores Uilleann pipes.

Sarah Blair began playing Irish fiddle in Providence, Rhode Island's thriving traditional Irish music scene. She honed her playing as a sought-after session leader in Boston and in the world of American contra dancing. With her band The Sevens and with other ensembles, Sarah has played at festivals, concerts, and dance weeks from Alaska to Quebec to Florida. Her most unusual gig was filling in for fiddler Liz Carroll for a portion of The Eagles' singer Don Henley's 2000 tour. In 2001, the Sevens were featured on NPR in an interview with Noah Adams. She is included in "Handy with the Stick: Fiddler Magazine's Best of Irish fiddling," a forthcoming book profiling top Irish fiddlers by Brendan Taaffe.

Much of Sarah's time is spent teaching fiddle at home in Montpelier, Vermont, and at workshops and camps. Teaching is a tremendous privilege for her, as she tries to bring her students to an understanding not simply of the sound, style, and techniques of traditional Irish fiddle playing -- although that is of course a huge undertaking -- but also the context of the music: the background of players and tunes, repertoire, important recordings, dancing, and singing.

Sarah plays in The Sevens with flute and banjo player Mark Roberts, guitarist and singer Flynn Cohen, percussionist Mark "Pokey" Hellenberg, and bassist Stuart Kenney. The Sevens frequently play for contra dancing at dance weekends and festivals such as Falcon Ridge, The Champlain Valley Festival, and the Lake Eden Arts Festival. In February 2007, they released their second CD, "Valiant."