Meet the Players

(Left to Right) Pat Carey, Kevin Angus, Ben Ford, Dick Bolt, Bevin Lynn, Chuck Boda

Kevin Angus plays whistles, pipes, percussion, other woodwinds and adds an extra voice to CCB’s ensemble. Steeped in the traditions of Scottish & British music and piping since childhood, he researches much of the repertoire currently performed by CCB. Kevin is the former Pipe Major and founding member of the Feadán Òr Pipe Band, the 2004 Northeastern United States Pipe Band Champions (runner-up 2003 & 2005). He has also produced medal winning performances at the Eastern United States and Canadian Pipe Band Championships.

(Feadán Òr Pipe Band – www.feadanor.com)

Chuck Boda plays the bagpipes, Scottish small pipes & border (reel) pipes, mandolin, guitar, cittern, whistles and anything else CCB can throw at him. He is a founding member of the Scottish trio Haggis Du Jour and is in demand as a solo piper for weddings, charitable events, and concerts. Chuck fancies himself an inventor having created a unique hybrid set of small pipes that he regularly plays in concert, as well as his own mandolins and banjos. Chuck also plays bass with young singer, songwriter & fiddle player Kate Lee.

His previous musical life includes a ten-year stint as a founding member of the bluegrass band Cabin Fever where he played bass. Chuck’s musical interest began with stringed instruments and is firmly rooted in bluegrass and old-time folk styles. He began his current foray into Celtic music after discovering it as one of the primary roots of bluegrass & early American folk music. Chuck was formerly an alpaca farmer.

(Kate Lee with No Strings Attached – www.kateleemusic.com)

Dick Bolt is a versatile musician and entertainer who sings and plays fiddle, Celtic harp, viola, guitar, and keyboards. He has a long history of playing Celtic music as a founding member of the Blackthorn Ceilidh Band, and more recently the Tullamore Celtic Band. In 2004 and 2006 he was a featured performer at the nationally acclaimed Old Songs Folk Festival held in Altamont, NY. He regularly performs traditional American music at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown and as a member of the Flint Hill Folk at the Genesee Country Museum. Retired as a physician with the Eastman Kodak Company, Dick frequently fiddles for contra dances, teaches fiddle, and plays harp for weddings and church services.

(Dick Bolt – www.dickbolt.com)

(Tullamore Celtic Band – www.tullamorecelticband.com)

Pat Carey is a triple contributor adding Irish flute, guitar and voice to the CCB. Pat treasures her family’s Irish & Welsh background and is eager to lend balance to the Scottish & Cornish influence of the other members. Pat is enjoying her fifteenth year with her traditional Irish trio Cuisle mo Chroi and is a member of the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann – Rochester’s Irish musicians’ association. She has been a featured performer at the Rochester Irish Festival and can be found throughout upstate New York playing and co-leading Irish music sessions.

(Cuisle mo Chroi – MySpace Page)

Ben Ford brings his well honed skills to the Christmas Ceilidh Band playing guitar, mandolin, cittern, & bouzouki. The musical perfectionist has played in various Celtic and bluegrass bands over the years, most recently as a member of No Strings Attached with Kate Lee. Ben has also been the guitar accompanist at the Kanack School of Music with his wife Linda. Percussion has also struck Ben who piqued his curiosity by learning the Swiss based style of Scottish snare drumming rudiments eventually playing with the successful Feadán Òr Pipe Band. He can never get enough practice and always strives for improvement for the band as a whole.

(Feadán Òr Pipe Band – www.feadanor.com)

Bevin MacRae Lynn plays percussion, Celtic bouzouki, banjo, keyboards, and adds a beautiful lyric voice to the ensemble. Bevin is a former member of the Feadán Òr Pipe Band where she played lead snare drum for six years. In 2002 she was the featured performer at the Sunday Afternoon Celtic Concert Series playing the marimba with Scottish smallpipes accompaniment in arrangements of classic Celtic tunes as well as classic Latin styles. Bevin is a Percussion Performance graduate from SUNY Geneseo and continues marimba studies with Ruth Cahn of the Eastman School of Music. She began her musical studies playing piano at nine, teaching herself to read music. Bevin is also in demand as a highly acclaimed "premier" Highland dancer and instructor having performed throughout the United States and Canada with groups such as the World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band (Vancouver). She is the founder of the Kintail School of Scottish Highland Dance.

Bevin is also a gifted designer and seamstress of period clothing focusing on the Civil War era.

Miss MacRae's - Seamstress (www.missmacraes.com)