Jessie Burns
Encyclopedia
Jessie Burns is a British Celtic and Cross-Over 4 and 5 String fiddle
player and composer. She is currently a member of the Celtic Rock band Gaelic Storm
, as the fiddle player and a backup vocalist. She is also currently (2009) working on her first solo CD. When not touring, she resides in Boulder, Colorado
.
:
Jessie grew up in England
, raised by her American
mother and Anglo-Irish
father in rural East Anglia
, and through various parental marriages, is one a eight kids
As a child, she played recorder
, violin
and piano
, competing and performing nationally and internationally in orchestras and chamber groups
. Music was constantly played at home, and her Irish grandparents got her hooked on Irish Trad
at a young age. Three of her siblings are in successful rock bands in London
, so music continues to be at the center of the family.
After graduating high school, she moved to Kalimantan
, Indonesia
, to teach English
for six months. Upon her return to Old Blighty, she went to Durham University
to study Anthropology
with thnomusicology.
She moved to Colorado
in 1997, lured by the Rockies and the promise of powder skiing in Steamboat Springs. When not on the hill, she worked for five years as a Program Director of Strings in the Mountains Music Festival. Incidentally, for part of this time she lived in a house full of five snowboarding guys - little did she realize the great training she was getting for her future gig with Gaelic Storm! She also played in numerous bands, and started playing oldtime and bluegrass music
regularly.
In 2005 she moved to Boulder
, Colorado
to play with a Trad Irish
band, The Wayfarers, which came second in the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival's
Band Competition and opened for bands such as Cherish The Ladies
, Boys of the Lough, Yonder Mountain String Band
, Nickel Creek
and Physchograss
.
Before joining Gaelic Storm
in April 2007, she was playing and recording with songcrafter, Gregory Alan Isakov
and his band The Freight and had traveled to England to work with singer song writer David Ford. She has also played with a number of musicians including Darol Anger
, Johnny B Connolly, Tony Furtado
, Sally Van Meter, Vince Herman
, John Doyle
, Liz Carroll
, Crooked Still
, Slipstream
and Ross Martin
, amongst others and performed at festivals including Rocky Grass, Folksfest, Falconridge Folk Festival, and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
When not playing music she can usually be found hiking
or skiing
in the Rocky Mountains
, cooking or tinkering with her ancient VW Golf.
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
player and composer. She is currently a member of the Celtic Rock band Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band. Their music includes traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres...
, as the fiddle player and a backup vocalist. She is also currently (2009) working on her first solo CD. When not touring, she resides in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
.
Biography
The following biography appears on the website for Gaelic StormGaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band. Their music includes traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres...
:
Jessie grew up in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, raised by her American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mother and Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
father in rural East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, and through various parental marriages, is one a eight kids
As a child, she played recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, competing and performing nationally and internationally in orchestras and chamber groups
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. Music was constantly played at home, and her Irish grandparents got her hooked on Irish Trad
Folk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
at a young age. Three of her siblings are in successful rock bands in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, so music continues to be at the center of the family.
After graduating high school, she moved to Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, to teach English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
for six months. Upon her return to Old Blighty, she went to Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
to study Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
with thnomusicology.
She moved to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in 1997, lured by the Rockies and the promise of powder skiing in Steamboat Springs. When not on the hill, she worked for five years as a Program Director of Strings in the Mountains Music Festival. Incidentally, for part of this time she lived in a house full of five snowboarding guys - little did she realize the great training she was getting for her future gig with Gaelic Storm! She also played in numerous bands, and started playing oldtime and bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
regularly.
In 2005 she moved to Boulder
Boulder
In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
to play with a Trad Irish
Folk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
band, The Wayfarers, which came second in the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival's
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado by . Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of genres. In 1974, its first year, it attracted 1000 participants. Currently the festival's attendance is capped at 10,000...
Band Competition and opened for bands such as Cherish The Ladies
Cherish the Ladies
Cherish the Ladies is an American all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America in what had been a male-dominated scene...
, Boys of the Lough, Yonder Mountain String Band
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Jeff Austin, Ben Kaufmann, and Adam Aijala, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings to date.- History :The band's history stretches back to...
, Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
and Physchograss
David Grier
David Grier is an American acoustic guitarist. He is considered to be one of the premier flatpicking guitarists in the world. His unique phrasing and his ability to create multiple variations on a theme are hallmarks of his playing style...
.
Before joining Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band. Their music includes traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres...
in April 2007, she was playing and recording with songcrafter, Gregory Alan Isakov
Gregory Alan Isakov
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in Philadelphia, Isakov later moved to Colorado. Isakov's voice and guitar style leave a humble presence that has spawned a burgeoning fan base. He has shared the stage with numerous touring artists such as Ani Difranco, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Alexi...
and his band The Freight and had traveled to England to work with singer song writer David Ford. She has also played with a number of musicians including Darol Anger
Darol Anger
-Career:Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandolin in The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut. He co-founded the Turtle Island String Quartet with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed,...
, Johnny B Connolly, Tony Furtado
Tony Furtado
Tony Furtado is an American banjo player and slide guitar, and singer/songwriter.player of Portuguese and Italian heritage who was born in Oakland, California...
, Sally Van Meter, Vince Herman
Vince Herman
Vince Herman is a guitarist and singer best known for being one of the founding members of Leftover Salmon. Leftover Salmon started in 1989 as somewhat of a melding of the Left Hand String Band and the Salmonheads, and became more and more popular over the sixteen years that followed...
, John Doyle
John Doyle
John Doyle may refer to:* Jack Doyle , Irish boxer and actor* Jack Doyle , American baseball player* John Andrew Doyle , English historian...
, Liz Carroll
Liz Carroll
Liz Carroll is an Irish-American musician. She was born in Chicago of Irish parents. In 1974 she won the All-Ireland under 18 fiddle championship. The next year she won the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Championship....
, Crooked Still
Crooked Still
Crooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...
, Slipstream
Slipstream (band)
Slipstream were formed in 1994 after Mark Refoy left Spiritualized. The band consisted of Ian Anderson on guitar, Gary Lennon on bass, Steve Beswick on drums and occasional appearances from Jonny Mattock who had also stopped drumming for Spiritualized later that year...
and Ross Martin
Ross Martin
Ross Martin was a Polish-born American Emmy-nominated actor known for playing Artemus Gordon in the western TV series The Wild Wild West, starring Robert Conrad, and Andamo on Mr...
, amongst others and performed at festivals including Rocky Grass, Folksfest, Falconridge Folk Festival, and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
When not playing music she can usually be found hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
or skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, cooking or tinkering with her ancient VW Golf.