This is Maggie's Boots
Hollis
Payer
has been playing traditional Irish music on the fiddle ever since she heard The
Chieftains perform in 1979. As soon
as she could, she left for Ireland, to listen and learn.
Returning to the states, she settled in Portland, Oregon, where she met
fiddler Kevin Burke, and learned some more.
After moving to Philadelphia, Hollis played in many musical groups,
anchored a multitude of Irish music sessions, and has become known as a teacher
of Irish fiddle and tunes. She and
Rob began playing together in 2017 and formed Maggie’s Boots in 2018.
Rob
Curto
is a composer and musician with a reputation for dizzying skill and deft mastery
of the accordion across musical and geographical
boundaries. For over 20 years Rob has
performed, recorded, and toured extensively and been a staple at music festivals
and events. Traditional Irish music has
been his recent focus, after meeting and studying with Billy McComisky, John
Whelan, and PJ Hernon. Curto is profoundly interested in the (relatively) recent
history of accordion in traditional Irish music, a passion that has brought him
zigzagging around West Kerry and Co. Sligo, joining sessions and absorbing
tradition and tunes. He now lives in Philadelphia with his wife and abundance of
pets, and when not on the road with his America Roots band, Fish Harmonics, or
playing with Maggie's Boots, can often be found at sessions in Philadelphia and
Baltimore.
Melissa
Brun, cello, is classically
trained, with a background in musical theater.
She came to folk music in the summer of 2009 when she attended Mark
O’Connor’s fiddle camp in NYC. From there, Melissa attended the Valley of the
Moon Scottish Fiddle School and the Mike Block String Camp, first as a student,
then as part of the faculty. Melissa has also taught at the Flapping
Fiddle School in Phoenixville, PA, and the Kenossee Lake Kitchen Party in
Saskatchewan, Canada. She played
with Fire in the Glen, a local Irish trio, and is a founding member of the
chamber-folk sextet, The
Sound Accord who
frequently tour around the country presenting concerts and educational
workshops. Melissa joined Rob and
Hollis in Maggie’s Boots the fall of 2019.