Jamie Laval

Premier International Celtic Performer Composer | Arranger | Educator www.jamielaval.com | www.twitter.com/jamielaval One of the premier Celtic violinists on the international music scene today, Jamie Laval creates rapt audiences with his intensely passionate performances of traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, and Quebec rendered with hints of classical refinement and ethnic music from around the world. Jamie is heralded as “One of North America’s finest practitioners of traditional Scottish music” (San Jose Mercury News) and “The next Alasdair Fraser” (Press and Post). The Asheville Citizen-Times writes, “One of the hottest fiddlers out there…this act has been turning heads wherever it plays.” What sets Jamie’s music in a class by itself is the nuance, virtuosity, and musical craftsmanship he brings to an ancient art form. Simple Celtic folk melodies are transformed into epic tonal narratives which take the listener on an emotional journey from quiet melancholy to wild jubilation. Jamie's accessible sound appeals to families, youth, seniors, and devotees of ethnic, jazz, and classical music. The making of his trademark style began at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where he studied classical violin. Later he pursued careers as a professional symphony musician, recording studio artist, improvising violinist, and contra dance fiddler. But his passion for the haunting sounds of rural Irish and Scottish folk music eventually usurped all other preoccupations, and he has devoted himself exclusively to Celtic music ever since. In 2002, Jamie won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship and subsequently embarked on a full-time touring career which today includes dozens of engagements per year throughout the U.S. and Scotland. Jamie now lives in Asheville, North Carolina and takes a keen interest in the musical and historical ties that connect his Appalachian home with the dispersion of Celtic peoples from their original homeland. For five years he has served on the faculty of The Swannanoa Gathering, a summer institute for traditional arts and music, in neighboring Swannanoa, North Carolina. Jamie has recorded three solo albums to date. Murmurs and Drones, his most recent, won the popular vote for “Best World Traditional Album” in the 2012 Independent Music Awards. He has also collaborated on numerous television, film, and CD recordings including Dave Matthews’ Some Devil, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Wild America, and WB-TV series Everwood. Live performances include the Bijou Theatre (Knoxville), Wintergrass Festival (Tacoma), Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse (Berkeley), Swallow Hill Productions (Denver), Club Passim (Boston), Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Today Show, West Coast Live radio show, and a private appearance for Her Majesty the Queen. Internationally-acclaimed performer of Celtic music, composer, storyteller, educator based in Tryon, NC. www.jamielaval.com | www.twitter.com/jamielaval