Jean Bolger Fiddle, Piano Accordion, and Harmony Vocals. Compositions: Planxty Ellie Murphy, Oxford Road, Ben's Two Step, Jumping Ship, Saint Bartholemew's Feast, Deorai, Pedals and Wheels, Yeshe in the Garden, and Roberto Corvus. With Mick Bolger: Bermuda Line, The Hungry Grass, Athens Hotel, The Streets of Our Town, Silas, Like Martha Blake, and Flags.

Tell us about your early musical life. Did you come from a musical family? Did you have lessons?

      My parents were amateur musicians and great music lovers (classical music pretty exclusively). They started taking me to concerts as soon as I could be relied on to stay relatively quiet -- often I'd be asleep right after the intermission. I started violin lessons at age six, with the Suzuki violin method, which was very new in this country at the time. I still have my first Suzuki book -- all of the printing other than the music is in Japanese!

How did you become interested in Irish music? What is it that makes that music compelling for you?

      I think the first music of that sort that I heard was a concert by the Tannahill Weavers when I was sixteen or so. That's a long time ago (1979?)... it had to have been one of their first tours in the US. I remember having a great time, but it never occurred to me that I might be able to play that stuff -- I don't think there was a fiddle player in that concert. I quit playing the violin, for a few years, shortly after that. When I got back to it in my early twenties I started trying to escape the "printed page" and learn something about improvisation and fiddle music. My playing Irish music was literally a product of a chance encounter in the street that led to meeting the Colcannon crew. When I started playing with them I was miserable as a fiddler -- I was learning everything from sheet music and I thought I sounded terrible, but they put up with me (I think because I laughed at their jokes.) I learned a huge amount about Irish music and about improvisation from playing with Doug Berch during those years.
      As to what I find compelling about Irish music -- well, I've always loved the emotional qualities of the tunes -- they're very bittersweet and complex. And I love the stories in the songs. Instrumentalists might find it strange, but I like backing up a song as much as playing a fiddle tune. It's great to help a singer make a song into a powerful experience for an audience -- and Mick is so good at that to begin with.

What sort of music do you mostly listen to for enjoyment?

      I like a lot of odd stuff. Mike (Fitzmaurice) plays in this other band called Hamster Theater that I absolutely love. I'm not sure how you'd describe it other than a quirky art band. At home I listen to a lot of solo piano music on CD -- Chopin, Schumann, that sort of thing. I've been listening to a CD that Brian gave me called "Gravichords, Whirlies & Pyrophones- experimental musical instruments" That's a lot of fun.

No Irish music?

      I do listen to a lot of Irish music, too. I love Martin Hayes. I have a CD by Tony McManus that I'm listening to a lot, and some great Welsh stuff from a Fflach trad sampler. I'm not that thrilled with a lot of the current crop of Irish music. So much of it has this pervasive pop influence -- perky pop grooves in the guitar, breathy vocals, "interesting" world-beat percussion -- it all sounds the same, and doesn't necessarily (in my opinion) serve the music. I think it's fallout from the commercial success of Riverdance and the like: bands are trying to be the next big "crossover" act.

What do you like best about being in Colcannon?

      I love being in Colcannon. I really appreciate getting to play music for a living, and I'm delighted that what we do, odd as it is, is so well received. And the people in the band are really my best friends. We've been through a lot together, and we still have loads of fun, and we still find new things to explore musically.

What do you like least?

      I do a lot of the business stuff for the band, and that's where I'd find the stuff I like least. It's been, and continues to be, a good learning experience for me, but there's lots to not like about it; trips to the printer, hours at the copy shop, standing in line at the post office, phone calls that don't get returned... you know, the glamorous trappings of the music business!

What do you do for fun?

      I have two cats that I play with -- I like gardening, although it doesn't necessarily like me. I do yoga.

What kind of books do you read? Anything recently that you'd recommend?

      I read a lot of mysteries... most recently some by Ian Rankin. I have to be careful because I'm an addictive reader -- I'll get started on a mystery and literally cannot get anything done until it's finished.
      I've also recently read that Coffee book that Mike mentioned -- it's a lot of fun.