Album Notes

Mighty Squirrel plays everything from Appalachian old time and classic country to Yiddish swing, Celtic, and French Canadian--it's essentially old time music from around the world, a genre we like to call "World Time" music.

The band is Caridwen Irvine Spatz (vocals, fiddle), Greg Spatz (octave mandolin, fiddle, mandolin), David Keenan (National Reso-Phonic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, vocals), and Ivan Rosenberg (dobro, clawhammer banjo, vocals).

Caridwen Irvine Spatz has played fiddle since the age of 13 when her mother told her not to. The reverse psychology worked like a charm. She studied violin and opera at the Freiburg Hochschule fur Musikk, and she's fluent in many fiddle styles, especially Celtic and Klezmer. Singing in French, English, German, Italian, Russian, and Yiddish, Caridwen is often the only one in the band with any idea what the lyrical content is, though she insists most songs are about small mammals or birds.

Based in Spokane WA, Greg Spatz is best known for his work with the Juno nominated bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds (www.thejaybirds.com). He has performed and/or recorded with Rob Ickes, High Country, The Good Old Persons, Frank Wakefield, Tony Furtado, Kathy Kallick, and many others. You can hear him on all of the Jaybird's recordings: Stellar Jays, The Road West, Field Guide, and The Jaybirds.

A closet mandolin player for as long as anyone can remember, Greg also discovered the joys of playing in the lower frequencies, and has consequently become a devoted octave mandolin convert. He's thrilled for the opportunity it gives him to stretch his musical horizons waa-a-ay beyond bluegrass.

Greg's literary doppelgänger "Gregory Spatz" is a well published author with two novels, a book of short stories, and numerous individual fiction and nonfiction pieces to his credit. His latest novel is Fiddler's Dream, which many consider to be the best novel ever written about bluegrass music. You can find more information about Greg's writing at www.gregoryspatz.com or by listening to a recent review from NPR's All Things Considered (www.npr.org).

David Keenan is no stranger to music. Performing since the age of 12 and teaching since he was 17, David has turned a love of music into a full-time career that has seen him share the stage with the likes of Bill Monroe, Bela Fleck, and even Garrison Keilor. David’s proficiency on several instruments landed him a job with Sugar Hill recording artists Ranch Romance, with which he recorded 3 albums and toured for 5 years, playing over 100 shows a year throughout the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

David is currently a member of several bands in his native city of Seattle. He's a fine composer, having licensed many songs to background music giant Muzak. David is also a record producer and session player, and has taught at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, the California Coast Music Camp, and The American Banjo Camp.

In Mighty Squirrel, David mostly flatpicks (and occasionally plays percussion on) his National Reso-Phonic guitar. He also sings and plays mandolin, fiddle, and three-finger banjo, and is Mighty Squirrel's fashion coordinator, keeping the band well-stocked in vintage plaid...

Ivan Rosenberg has released 4 CDs of mostly-original music and an instructional DVD. Now living in Bellingham, Washington, Ivan has performed and/or recorded with Billy Cardine, Julie Elkins & David Thompson, Mike Grigoni, Chad Manning, Jake Schepps, Ben Winship, Iron Lasso, Chris Stuart & Backcountry, The Mountain Poodles, Hit & Run, and other bluegrass and Americana acts. In addition to Mighty Squirrel, Ivan plays with alt-bluegrass band The Breakmen whenever he gets the chance.

Ivan’s original music for dobro and clawhammer banjo has appeared in several film and television scores including Jerry Bruckheimer/Warner Brothers Films' Kangaroo Jack (2003), HBO's Making Deadwood: The Show Behind the Show (2004), Comedy Central's The Daily Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and High Plains Films' acclaimed documentary Libby, Montana (2004). He has led seminars at the Sore Fingers Week bluegrass workshop in the United Kingdom (2004), the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop (BCBW) in Canada (2003-2007), and the California Bluegrass Association music camp in California (2004, 2005), and many other workshops throughout North America..