As I prepare to embark on this journey, I have to ask how did this all come about?
(click pictures to enlarge)
Five years ago as a forty something classical guitarist making a decent living teaching guitar in the public school system, the thought of going to tour Scotland for a month on a Celtic harp pilgrimage would have left me scratching my head for sure. I had never even seen a harp up close. It seems many musicians do come to this instrument as adult beginners. A life long dream, “I have always wanted to play the harp.” I can honestly say that I had not ever considered being a harp player, it pretty much happened by accident. My wife Jo Ellen and I were at the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2005, and saw that there would be a harper in the acoustic tent and decided why not, lets check it out. What I saw changed my life. William Jackson was performing a solo program of Scottish music, and as soon as he started playing the tears just gushed down my face. I had never heard anything like that in my life. That was it-I needed to do that!
Shortly after that I bought my 1st harp and a couple of harp books. I had no teacher, just youtube, some recordings, and an obsession. It was a year and a half before I ever had a lesson or any classes, and started playing competitions and quickly making friends in the harp world.
Ligonier Pa. Harp Competition, 2007: 
People were
surprised that I was doing all of this in a year or so, but I did have a head
start with a master’s degree in classical guitar. And I practice a lot. It was
really a life transformation. I told myself early on that I would do this the
traditional way and not read off of sheet music. Although I do sometimes use it
to learn, I memorize as I go-so if any music is out, the harp is not (and
vice-versa).
I believe it was 2007 when I went to the
Somerset Harp Festival and had my 1st classes with Billy Jackson and
Grainne Hambly, who had become my harp heroes. They are now my teachers and good friends.
William Jackson and Grainne Hambly:
Although I don’t
get to study with them regularly, any time they are within 100 miles of home I
arrange to see them for lessons, and for a week of classes every summer at the
Swannanoa Gathering. They have also come to do concerts at Penn-Griffin and play
session music with my students a couple of times. When my principal Shelley
Nixon-Green saw how amazing they are and how the students reacted, she invited
me to start a harp program, which just finished its first year and is rapidly
becoming all the rage.
The Scottish Harp
Society of America (SHSA) has been responsible for giving me the drive and
education to make this mid-life crisis work. Their competitions are very
adult-beginner friendly and have competent, fair, and nurturing judges. The
SHSA is really like a giant family that shares a profound love for this
instrument and music. Each contest features the judge as a clinician, giving a
class for the participants and writing thorough comment sheets that serve as
detailed written lessons. Early on, I particularly enjoyed playing something
(somewhat cluelessly), getting concrete advice, implementing it, and then
having that judge actually notice the difference the next time. As a mostly
self-taught harper, that is the most rewarding sign of progress. Please support
the Scottish Harp Society of America, they are devoted to advancing harp music,
educating harpers of all ages, and bringing Scottish music to listeners.
Competing at the Nationals:
At the nationals in
2009 the SHSA awarded me a scholarship to study at the Ohio Scottish Arts School (OSAS)
in the summer of 2010. It was total immersion. A time to nurture lifelong friendships,
love for the harp, and tunes, tunes, tunes, and more tunes! That was a big step
toward this travel scholarship, which I received at the 2010 nationals. I’ll be
in Scotland during this year’s OSAS, but I’ll go again for sure. Part of the
duties for the travel scholarship is to publish this blog, bring back tunes,
and put my arrangements in the Kilt and Harp Journal. When I get back, I’m
planning on competing at the master level in the nationals in Richmond for the
big prize (although this prize feels pretty huge). Part of my proposal was to
go to the locations, battlefields, etc in the tune titles and make a video documentary
performing them on-site. I’ll be traveling with video camera and laptop,
posting tons of photos, stories, and videos as I go. I am going to several
festivals, doing lots of sessioning, and seeing teachers for lessons along the
way. Next time I see you, ask for a tune, there will definitely be
tunes-a-plenty to share.
The harp group at The Ohio Scottish Arts School, Oberlin Ohio, 2010:
Mark and Andrew (the only other dudes there, my harp brothers) I'll miss you guys this summer:
