tamsyn
Greetings! My name is Tamsyn and I am primarily a fiddle player, currently residing in Ames, Iowa, where I do communications & writing for Practical Farmers of Iowa, a non-profit group focused on sustainable agriculture & conservation stewardship on working lands. I was most excited to find an Irish music session when I moved here two years ago that's been meeting regularly for about 30 years just a quick drive down the highway in Des Moines.
I'm originally from western Pennsylvania and have loved traditional folk music from my earliest memories. I love to play all sorts, from Celtic, to Scandinavian, to Appalachian and Canadian. I've been playing violin since about age 7 and started playing Irish music before anything else, around age 9 when I started taking lessons with the local folk music society. It was a little intimidating being the only small person enrolled in the course ...most everyone else was at least 20 yrs. older at the time! ... but such fond memories of learning my first Irish tunes by heart: "The Boys of Bluehill" and "Sweeny's Polka," taught by Oliver Brown, a soft-spoken Irish man with a fire in his wrist. I started classical music and trained mostly classically over the next several years, but have always loved Irish & Scottish folk music and never stopped taking classes in it or playing it on my own.
I also like to pluck around on my mandolin (technically it's called a "mandolute," but it's basically a mandolin that has a slight gourd shape to it, which gives it a mellower sound), a beautiful antique instrument given as a present by my father for my 16th birthday; and a mandola (currently residing in Sydney, Australia).
Thanks to all who post such wide-ranging variety of tunes that make this site such a wonderful resource, and a fun place to visit!
--tamsyn--
Tunes in tamsyn's tunebook: 310