Album Notes

Wandering hands is a collection of classically trained musicians and recovering early-music geeks who re-interpret traditional Celtic and British Isles material through different musical styles around the world in combinations nature never intended. On their first CD you will hear everything from flamenco to Hawaiian, Arabic to bluegrass, Renaissance to Rockabilly but somehow the interpretation always fits the song.

Leith McCombs:
The extreme multi-instrumentalist, Leith sings (mostly low baritone) and plays as many different instruments as he can get his (wandering) hands on in as many styles as he can figure out how to play. These include mandolin, cittern, oud, banjo, Irish flute, whistle, recorder, uillean pipes, lute, bass and many guitars of many tunings.

Kelly Bowen:
The other extreme multi-instrumentalist, Kelly plays all the stringed instruments that Leith can't handle, namely anything bowed or hammered. She also sings in a rich Mezzo and theoretically plays percussion except that her (wandering) hands are usually busy elsewhere.

Jeannie Duval-Hemmen:
The resident diva, Jeannie brings a degree from Boston Conservatory and a voice fit for any opera company you could name. Listen to her on 'Brighid O'Malley' and you'll know what I mean. When not busy wowing everyone with her vocal prowess she plays hand bells or various ethnic percussion.

Kat Schroeder
Kat is actually a movie star who moonlights with Wandering Hands as chief percussionist, occasional vocalist, part-time emcee and Mistress of the Beat between filmings. You can see her in the movie Strange Aeons (www.maelstromproductions.com) and various theater productions with Troupe Du Jour (www.troupedujour.org), which she and Bryan co-founded.

Bryan LaPorte
Bryan pretends to be a bass player, and a fine one at that, but is actually a gifted classical guitarist, keyboardist and former choirboy who sings tenor and countertenor. He professes to have terrible stage fright but performs with Kat in Troupe Du Jour. He is a creature of many contradictions.