Harpist/singer ELIZABETH NICHOLSON is at the vanguard of a new generation of  Celtic
musicians. Considered among the top American interpreters of Irish traditional music for harp,
her studies have also included classical, Paraguayan, and mediaeval harp, and she has stretched
the traditional boundaries of the instrument into rock music and country blues. Her recent CD
of traditional and original music, Sink or Swim (Waterbug Records) was released to
widespread critical praise and international airplay, including a spot on Fiona Richie’s
Thistlepod, which highlights outstanding new Celtic releases.

Born into a Scottish piping family, ROB BARRICK grew up playing with
the City of Victoria Pipe Band, one of the world’s top-rated bagpipe ensembles.
Today Rob is recognized as among the West Coast’s premier Scottish pipers, and is
in high demand as an adjudicator for piping competitions throughout the US and
Canada. Also a veteran bass player, Rob has toured extensively with renowned
Irish singer-songwriter Peter Yeates and his band New Shilling, performing at most
of the nation’s larger Celtic festivals and appearing with some of the genre’s
top players, including Kevin Burke and Johnny Cunningham.

BOB SOPER is counted among Portland’s most astonishingly versatile multi-
instrumentalists.  A rock and jazz drummer from a young age who also studied classical
Indian percussion at the Ali Akbar College of Music, he went on to learn the Irish
fiddle, ultimately becoming one the Northwest’s most sought after players. Also an
accomplished bouzouki player and vocalist in both Irish and American traditional styles, he’s
been a member of some of the region’s most beloved and successful ensembles,
including the Irish bands Cul an Ti and Grafton Street, as well as the old-time/country-
blues group The Pagan Jug Band. Bob is studying classical Indian Sarod and Irish tenor banjo.

Violinist/violist EDDIE PARENTE first came to prominence as a member of the critically
acclaimed Irish ensemble Touchstone (Green Linnet Records), and with subsequent
performances with members of the renowned Celtic supergroups The Bothy Band and
Silly Wizard.  Eddie has since proved himself to be a master of multiple genres, performing
in bands that range in style from Americana (The Oregon Trail Band), to Tango, mariachi,
Indian, classical, and more.  However, he is perhaps best known for his immense prowess
in the realm of jazz, and has filled concert halls throughout the world touring under his
own name as a jazz soloist.