Martin Hayes’ assessment of Dale Russ as “one of the greatest fiddlers I know in Irish traditional music” is shared by all who hear him. Dale has been playing Irish fiddle since his move in 1973 from his native Connecticut to Washington State, where he is now regarded as “the shining jewel of Northwest fiddle players.”
Dale taught for 15 years at the Lark in the Morning Summer Camp in Mendocino, California, and he has taught and performed at many other workshops and music camps, including the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, and the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina. He has also played for ceilis, set dances, and dance competitions.
In 1990 Dale was invited to perform at the first Boston College Irish Music Festival “My Love Is in America,” featuring 16 of the finest Irish fiddle players living in the US. The concert was recorded and released by Green Linnet Records and won the Smithsonian Institute’s “Traditional Recording of the Year” award.
Dale performed for 15 years with the traditional Irish band the Suffering Gaels, appearing at the Milwaukee Irish Festival in 1993 and ’94. In April of ’96 he spent two weeks touring Japan with the trio Jody’s Heaven, and has returned to Japan yearly. He currently plays with Mike Saunders and Tom Creegan in the trio Crumac.
Dale has recorded an instructional video for the Lark in the Morning video series; a solo CD, Soul Food; a duet CD with guitarist/vocalist Mike Saunders, Celtic Dance Music and Song; two albums with the Suffering Gaels; a fiddle and uilleann pipe CD with Todd Denman, Reeds and Rosin; a duet album with Suffering Gaels guitarist Finn MacGinty, two CDs with Jody’s Heaven, and two CDs with the trio Setanta. He was featured in the Spring 1997 issue of Fiddler magazine.
“Dale’s playing is fresh and dynamic, expressive and easy. His style is refreshingly wild, inventive, creative, and inspired.” —Una Pett, Victory Music Review
Dale Russ teaches:
