As she prepares to release her long awaited second solo album Fidl Afire, Alicia Svigals sat down with Neil to share stories from her life as a major figure in the revival of Klezmer music. Listen in to hear about the early days of the Klezmatics, the creation of Svigals seminal first solo album Fidl, Itzhak Perlman's In the Fiddler's House and mor…

Finnish fiddle powerhouse and founding member of the band Frigg, Esko Järvelä shares his journey from growing up in one of the most musical families in Finland to touring the world with Frigg, Baltic Crossing and Tsuumi Sound System. More info and links at www.tradcafe.org/blog-1/2024/4/3/episode-69-esko-jrvel…

In this special crossover episode, Cameron DeWhitt, the host of Old-Time music podcast Get Up In The Cool trades off the host and guest roles with Neil in between taking breaks to play tunes together. Listen to Cameron share some of their journey with the Old-Time clawhammer banjo while interviewing Neil about his background growing up in a family …

Fiddler, organizer, teacher and co-founder of Tune Supply-- you never know what Caitlin Warbelow will be up to next! In this episode Caitlin shares her unique musical journey growing up in Alaska before moving to New York. She talks about her relationship to music as a means of survival and shares some of the stories behind joining the broadway pro…

In a special edition of TradCafe Neil sits down with Sam Sadigursky and Nathan Koci to talk about their recent triple album release The Solomon Diaries and how their musical lives have let up to this collaboration. Featuring some clips from the new project as well as the usual live music collaborations. Check out the Solomon Diaries at bandcamp: ht…

One of the top mandolinists working today, Maddie Witler joins Neil for a conversation about music making, creativity and her experiences working in the bands Della Mae and The Lonely Heart String Band. maddiewitler.com dellaBy Neil Pearlman

Iconic New England fiddler Becky Tracy shares her journey through fiddling and folk dancing including her years as a core member of two of the most important bands in New England traditional music, Nightingale and Wild Asparagus. More info and links at tradcafe.org blackislemusic.com rachelbellmusic.com wildasparagus.com…

Mandolinist Joe K. Walsh joins Neil to share thoughts and stories on community, identity and artistry in the bluegrass and new acoustic music worlds. Opening music: Seneca Square Dance Closing music: Verona (by Bill Frisell)

Alasdair White kicks off the new season with a wide ranging conversation about growing up on the Isle of Lewis, touring the world with the Battlefield Band, developing his unique fiddle style and more! Opening Tunes: Keep the Country Bonnie Lassie, The White Houses of Shieldaig, Oran an Teine (Song of the Fire), Doctor MacPhail's Reel Closing Tunes…

The one and only Natalie MacMaster shares insights from her remarkable journey. From first learning how to open up to an audience to touring the world to raising a musical family, listen in as she shares why music is still such a central part of her life. More info: www.natalieanddonnell.comBy Neil Pearlman

By Neil Pearlman

By Neil Pearlman

Janos (Jani) Lang is a Hungarian fiddler living in Glasgow and in this episode he shares a unique story of moving to Scotland to follow his love of Celtic music only to find himself tapping back into his roots playing Romanian, Hungarian and Roma music. He talks about the experience of immigrating to the UK and his current work with Ando Glaso, fea…

A pillar of the traditional music community of northern Vermont, Pete Sutherland is widely recognized across the US and beyond for his unique musical voice on fiddle, piano, banjo, song and as a songwriter. This conversation focuses in on Pete's work mentoring the next generation and his thoughts on tune and songwriting, but hits on many other subj…

Fiddler, composer and one of the lead organizers of the Stringmania camp in Australia, Chris Stone chatted with Neil live in front of an audience at Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Camp 2019. The conversation ranges from Chris' search for his musical voice to the traditional music scene in Australia to the work of building communities and cultures …

Flynn Cohen has toured the world with major Irish music acts and been a mainstay in the Irish and Bluegrass music scenes of New England. In many ways his path is a classic example of a folk musician growing up in the wake of the folk revival. In other ways it is a study in contradictions. In this episode Flynn shares his path discovering acoustic m…

One of Scotland's top folk singers, Jim Malcolm is well known for both his original folk songs and his interpretations of great traditional Scots songs. He and Neil sat down backstage before a show in Boston to talk about his journey from aspiring rock star to being a key member of legendary folk band Old Blind Dogs to arrive finally at his solo sh…

One of the biggest names in Gaelic song today, Mary Jane Lamond can just as easily be found at a small Gaelic community event on Cape Breton, at an academic conference in Scotland or thrilling an audience of thousands at a folk festival somewhere around the world. She sat down with Neil to talk about her unconventional journey and her thoughts on p…

Ruthie Dornfeld's fiddling has been a huge influence on dance musicians in New England and her native Northwest and her work with Scandinavian musicians over the years has seen her tour overseas extensively. Neil caught up with her at her home in Seattle to talk about her musical journey from her first experiences with the fiddle to current creativ…

A legend of American Old-Time music, Bruce Molsky shares his story and philosophy towards playing traditional folk music with reverence, respect, and personal expression. He talks about his story falling head over heels for American folk music and names some of his heroes and mentors in the Round Peak style that is one of the roots of his sound. ww…

There's no better way to reach our 50th episode than with the third and final member of Väsen, legendary 12-string guitarist Roger Tallroth. Roger has developed his own style, sound and tuning for playing Swedish music on the 12-string guitar and has composed some of the most popular melodies played by fiddlers around the world, including Josephine…

Susan Watts is a brilliant trumpeter and singer who is also a fourth generation Klezmer musician and daughter of a legendary drummer who broke the paved the way for women in music. Neil caught up with Susan at her home in Philadelphia to chat about growing up in such a musical household, finding her voice on the trumpet and her ongoing work to prom…

The middle voice of Väsen, Mikael Marin brings a breadth of influences and musical influences to bear in his countermelodies and textures on the 5-string viola. In this wide ranging conversation he discusses the history of "second voice" playing in Swedish music, his own development as a classical and traditional musician and how a being passionate…

Neil looks back on some of the great music created in the TradCafe episodes that came out in 2018 while looking forward to the next year of episodes. This episode features Allison DeGroot (Ep. 44), Don Roy (Ep. 34), Soo Yeon Lyuh (Ep. 45), Kevin Henderson (Ep. 37), Hadith Bani-Adam (Ep. 26), Brittany Haas (Ep. 41), Andrea Beaton (Ep. 36) and a shor…

Orkney tuning, clawhammer guitar, zen banjo and everything in between. Steve Baughman is a master musician, entertainer and creative personality who is one of the most engaging performers you'll ever meet. In this episode, taped live at the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Steve tells Neil about exploring his love of music while travelling the world as …

Olov Johansson is perhaps the best known Nyckelharpa player in the world today. As one third of the Swedish power-trio Väsen he has toured the world as an ambassador for Nordic folk music for several decades now. He sat down with Neil to share his journey exploring traditional melodies and fresh collaborations all while building a unique and influe…

A pioneering artist on the South Korean Haegeum, Soo Yeon Lyuh has been bringing improvisation back to a traditional instrument which hasn't done it in generations. Neil chats with her about her journey starting in Western Classical music, transitioning to the traditional music of her home and then bringing that tradition into the Western world col…

In this episode, recorded in front of a live audience at the Sierra Fiddle Camp, clawhammer banjoist Allison de Groot shares her story of delving deep into the Appalachian Banjo tradition while growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She talks about working with luminaries like Bruce Molsky and Tatiana Hargreaves and talks about her work researching the …

A major figure in the traditional music scene of Prince Edward Island, Ward MacDonald sat down with Neil in the midst of preparing for his CD release at the Festival of Small Halls. Their conversation is wide ranging, darting between Ward's personal musical journey and the wider role of traditional arts in the modern world. Closing waltz in this ep…

A great player of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and the standard fiddle styles of his native Røros, Norway, Olav Mjelva is the third and final member of Nordic Fiddlers Bloc to be featured on the show and the third member of Sver (out of five). He takes Neil along for his journey through Norwegian traditional music from picking up the fiddle by th…

A legend of American fiddling already at a young age, Brittany Haas chats with Neil about her musical journey, from touring with Darol Anger at the age of 13 to breaking new ground in the neo-Bluegrass band Crooked Still to playing regularly with Chris Thile on his NPR show "Live From Here" (formerly Prairie Home Companion). This episode also featu…

The Swedish third of the Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, Anders Hall sits down with Neil to talk about getting all of his gigs as a result of late night parties, living on the farm where his family has lived as far back as anyone can trace, and the intricacies and history of the Polska. Music in this episode: Troll Kärrings Låten, march from right where Ande…

A preview of some of the upcoming episodes for the second half of Season 4 while we take this week off! Hear some of the music that will be featured in the next few episodes and sneak peek of who is coming up..

A great teacher and performer of Irish fiddle in the Boston area, Laurel Martin talks about her journey from taking up the instrument for the first time in her 20's and studying with the great Seamus Connolly under a master/apprentice grant to becoming a teacher herself, and taking on the "master" role in passing on and sustaining the tradition.…

In the second part of the Doug Protsik episode, Neil and Doug discuss the power of music to transcend cultural and political differences as Doug shares his experiences playing traditional music in central Asia, eastern Europe, the middle east and Africa. Doug also shares the story of Maine Fiddle Camp and what he has done to build it into a powerho…

The first in a two part episode featuring Doug Protsik, director of Maine Fiddle Camp and passionate supporter of the traditions of Maine and surrounding regions. In this episode Doug shares his early journey with music from quitting the piano as a child to rediscovering it while living in a $500 log cabin in Maine, and talks about the intertwined …

Shetland fiddling wizard Kevin Henderson talks about growing up in the Shetland Islands, where Scottish and Scandinavian culture collide and many fiddle tunes are written by the mysterious and magical Trows. Kevin opens up about the experience of making music and touring with Boys of the Lough, Fiddlers' Bid, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc and Session A9 and…

Fiddler, pianist and tune writer Andrea Beaton caught up with Neil just before playing a dance at the Canadian American Club in Watertown, MA. She talks about growing up in Cape Breton as the child of Kinnon and Betty Lou Beaton, two giants of traditional music on the island and how her relationship with music changed from being embarrassed to be a…

Hanz Araki is a long established Irish flute player and singer from the Pacific Northwest now based in Maine; but he is also a master of the Japanese Shakuhachi flute. He shares his wide-ranging musical journey from moving to Japan and practicing Shakuhachi 6 hrs a day with his father to touring 200 days a year across Canada playing the Irish flute…

Franco-American fiddler Don Roy has been a central figure in Maine fiddling for decades. He joins Neil for the first episode of Season 4 to talk about learning music from his uncle (and Maine fiddling legend) Lucien Mathieu, the connections between Maine French fiddling and traditional music from New Brunswick and Cape Breton and his own creative w…

Irish-American dancer Kevin Doyle joins Neil this episode to share his story of growing up in a strong Irish community in Providence, RI, learning to dance from his mother who emigrated from Ireland. He also tells Neil about the connections between American tap dance and Irish step dance and talks about what it was like to get the phone call saying…

Bassist of Crooked Still and CEO of Concert Window, Corey DiMario joins Neil to share his journey from completely dropping music after his sophomore year at Eastman School of Music to rediscovering his passion through the traditional music scene in Boston, going back to music school and founding one of the most distinctive bands in American folk mu…

Master Downeast fiddler Frank Ferrel is a fixture in the New England traditional music scene. He shares his musical journey with Neil: from playing banjo in Pacific Northwest bluegrass bands to falling in love with the fiddling of Gerry Robichaud and following that trail to the nexus of New England and Canadian fiddling that is Boston. Along the wa…

One of the foremost exponents of Scottish Highland music and Gaelic culture around today, Allan Henderson sat down with Neil while on a solo tour of storytelling and fiddling in the Northeast US. Listen in as they discuss the current state of Gaelic, Allan's years as a member of Blazin' Fiddles and how much of an invasive species the piano accordio…

Boston based fiddler, stepdancer, singer and tune/songwriter Emerald Rae connects with Neil over their common experiences growing up around the Boston Scottish/Cape Breton scene of the 1990's and early 2000's and they delve into what it really means to become part of a culture--does one actually need to have the heritage in order to have a place in…

A driving force of the Scottish fiddling scene in the United States, Hanneke Cassel shares her story from discovering fiddle music through local competitions to travelling the world performing and teaching her own iconic compositions, which fuse Scottish and Cape Breton traditions with a sound all her own. She and Neil also chat about her tune writ…

One of the top traditional musicians of Senegal, Lamine Touré shares his depth of knowledge as the latest in a 1000+ year line of tradition bearers in his family. Lamine sits down with Neil to discuss how he ended up living and teaching in the Boston area while travelling the world sharing his sabar drumming, singing and dancing. [music in the epis…

Somali peace and de-radicalization activist Hadith Bani-Adam shares his relationship with Somali traditional music and his mission to promote inclusivity, understanding and positive life choices in his community. He discusses the role Somali traditional music plays in his own original songs, his style of Oud playing and some similarities between th…

Master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser kicks off Season 3 of TradCafe, sitting down with Neil for a wide ranging conversation about the variety of approaches he has taken over the years to playing traditional Scottish music and the new horizons he is looking towards, exploring new music styles and traditions. www.alasdairfraser.com…

Season 2 finale episode features Neil's conversation with Syrian Oud player Kinan Idnawi. Kinan talks about growing up in a musical family in Syria, pursuing the Oud at conservatory in Damascus and travelling around the world exploring the ways in which the Oud can fit in to so many different traditions and genres and building bridges between peopl…