Reel of Seven

 

We are a group of friends who love to play music for Scottish Country Dancing (and Ceilidh dancing as well!)  We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, but have also travelled extensively.  We hope you enjoy our signature blend of high energy contemporary and traditional music as much as we enjoy playing it!

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Renata Bratt (cello)

 

Cellist and clinician Renata Bratt (www.renatabratt.com) is a member of the ASTA Alternative String Styles Advisory Committee and is the author of "The Modern Cello Method," "The Fiddling Cellist" and "Celtic Grooves for Two Cellists" for Mel Bay Publications. She teaches cello at the Santa Cruz Waldorf Elementary School, the Pacific Elementary School in Davenport, CA and beginning orchestra through the Cabrillo Youth Strings program.

 

She has taught classical styles, jazz improvisation and fiddling at national string workshops for children and adults including the Mark O'Connor String Conference, Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School, New Directions Cello Festival, the National Cello Institute, IAJE, ASTA, MENC and Suzuki institutes and conferences and is a past president of the Suzuki Music Association of California and the IAJE String Caucus. Ms. Bratt received her Ph.D. in Music from the University of California at San Diego. Her CDs, "Great Big Taters" and "Jazz Trio 2006" are available through CD Baby.

 

Renata has performed with luminaries such as Liz Carroll and John Doyle, Darol Anger and Alasdair Fraser and played back-up with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, David Sanborn, Lyle Lovett, and Dionne Warwick. Rolling Stone dubbed her an "ace performer" for her work recording and touring with alternative rocker Cindy Lee Berryhill's Garage Orchestra.

 

Gary Campus (percussion)

 

Gary has been playing and studying drums and percussion since the age of  8 years old.  He spent most of the first 10 years playing in concert bands, marching bands and playing jazz.   He has also enjoyed playing in theater productions.  Since moving to Northern California in 1976, Gary has played professionally in bands, playing many different styles, from rock to classical, as well as teaching.

 

Teaching percussion at Alasdair Fraser’s Scottish fiddle camps introduced Gary to the world of Celtic music; he has been playing with many different groups and exploring this exciting traditional style. This year will be Gary’s third time playing at the ball at Asilomar.  Gary can also be seen playing with regional bands, including harpist Christine Bonner, Latin jazz with Ivan Najera, and in a very popular rock and roll band called the Deadbeats.

 

Gary lives in Nevada City California, with his wife Heather and son Angelo, who is also playing many instruments and enjoying this wonderful Celtic music.

 

 Sherryl Fawx (recorder)

 

Sherryl has been playing recorders for many years.  She started teaching recorder classes at the Experimental College at UC Davis when she couldn’t find anyone else to play music with.   Her first focus was on Renaissance and church music.  While in college, she saw an ad in the Davis newspaper for Scottish dance classes and was immediately hooked.  After dancing for a few years she attended a music workshop for Scottish dance and has been playing for dancing ever since.  In addition to Reel of Seven, she plays in the San Francisco and Sacramento areas with Thistle Glen and the Davis Lemmings.  In her other life she is a computer technician for the University of California at Santa Cruz.  She lives in Santa Clara with her husband Andy Imbrie and wishes there was more time for the garden.

 

Deby Benton Grosjean (fiddle)

Deby is a resplendent fiddler who has appeared on over 30 recordings. Besides her well-received, solo CD productions O’er the Moor Among the Heather and Beyond the Shore, she has appeared on two recent releases by members of famous rock band “Journey” No Nation Illumine and VTR Cinema, Bob McMurtry’s The Devil’s Quandary, a Scottish Dance recording with Andy Imbrie, Mary McLaughlin’s Celtic Requiem (Windham Hill), Chris Caswell’s Celtic Tidings (North Star), and her many Gourd Music titles including William Coulter’s Celtic Sessions and Barry Phillips’ Music on the Mountain. Deby joins Gourd artists on two film scores, including Ken Burns’ Not for Ourselves Alone, viewed on PBS. Deby’s music can be heard on several ecological documentaries; most recent is renowned photographers Kennan & Karen Ward’s Antarctica: 100 Days in the Wildest Place on Earth. You’ll find her published in Mel Bay’s Fiddle Anthology along with the ‘top 40’ in the fiddle world today and her latest self-published book Fun Celtic Music Series. She’s received awards in national and regional fiddle championships and tours both nationally and internationally. She received 1st place awards in the MTAC classic competitions in throughout high school. She had classic formal education at UCSC with interest in orchestration and performance. A teacher of distinction, Deby is on faculty at Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Fiddling School and his Sierra Fiddle Camp, Cabrillo College Suzuki Program, Community Music School and is a highly sought after clinician for workshops throughout the USA.  Please visit www.gourd.com for more information.

 

Andy Imbrie (piano, band leader)

 

Andy began studying classical piano as a child and started playing for dances with the encouragement of Kim McGarrity and Barbara McOwen. He plays regularly for Scottish Country Dancing, ceilidh dancing, and contra dances throughout the US and Canada, and has been on music staff for several tours, including one in France, three to New Zealand and one to Scotland, Orkney, and the Shetland Islands. He has also been on staff at Asilomar and Pinewoods and was honored to have been invited to teach piano accompaniment at the Boston Harbor Fiddle School and the Valley of the Moon Scottish fiddling school for several years. Andy was delighted to serve as music director for the TAC Summer School in 2019 and to be on staff at the International Branch workshop in Italy in 2022.

Andy is married to Sherryl Fawx (also a dancer and musician); they live in Santa Clara, California. In 2021, he retired from his position as Engineering Fellow at a major aerospace company where he was a specialist in simulation, guidance, and control of flight vehicles.

 

Janet Kurnick (fiddle)

 

Janet began learning to play the violin with her brother’s help when she was 10.  She studied first classical as a child, and while in college studied fiddle with the late Tiny Moore, a well-known Western Swing fiddler.  While in college at Davis, she also began playing Celtic music with various other students from the US, Australia, and England. Her love for Celtic music brought her to Scottish Country Dancing, first as a dancer, and later as a musician.  She is the SCD musical mainstay in Sacramento, as well as Membership and Insurance Chairman for the Sacramento branch of RSCDS, and Musician Liaison for the Asilomar weekend.  She has played for Scottish Country dancing in both the Bay Area and Sacramento since the mid ‘80’s.  She is a member of Fiddlesticks & Ivory, and has played with them since their beginning, both locally and in the Western US and Canada. Janet also plays with Reel of  Seven and with Thistle Glen, the Sacramento Scottish Country dance band which is in its 16th  year.   Janet spends the remainder of her spare time harping, gardening, and playing with her West Highland White Terriers.   Janet is a Staff Programmer Analyst for the Department of Real Estate.     

 

Caroline McCaskey (fiddle, cello, saw)

 

A native daughter of the genre-bending West Coast music scene, Caroline McCaskey is equally at home in the traditional, improvisational and classical music worlds. In demand as a teacher and performer throughout North America and author of the AltStrings Fiddle Method, she holds degrees in music composition and performance, as well as Suzuki teaching certification in violin and cello. Caroline is a fiddler for the dance bands Tartan Suite, Reel of Seven and Greenwich Mean Time. She also performs regularly with Boston-based guitarist and banjo player Larry Unger, and with cellist Daniel Delaney as Secret Oaks, a jazz- and folk-inspired string duo. Caroline is the 2019 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and a two-time International Musical Saw Champion.

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Patty Van Winkle (fiddle)

 

Patty started playing the violin in elementary school in Berkeley. She trained as a classical violinist, playing in the Oakland Symphony for 5 years, and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra for over 40 years. She played in most of the SFB recordings, and the PBS Dance in America broadcasts including Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella.

 

When Colin Gordon started the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers in 1990, she joined the group to learn Scottish Fiddle and played with them for 15 years, including their tour of Scotland in 2000.  Avril and David Quarrie invited her to play for the Berkeley class where more experienced class musicians made sure she learned how to properly play for Scottish Country Dance. Thanks to the wonderful patience and mentorship of Janet Kurnick, Andy Imbrie, and Sherryl Fawx, Patty regularly plays with the “Lemmings,” otherwise known as “Thistle Glen” and with “Reel of Seven.”

 

Patty is married to John Van Winkle, retired Principal Librarian of the San Francisco Symphony and they have two grown daughters.

 

 

--Emeritus Members --

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Shelley Phillips (winds)

Shelley has a Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She plays and tours with The Anjali Quartet and The Coulter/Phillips Ensemble, performs as a duo with her husband, Barry Phillips, sings Shape Note music, and is currently collaborating with Rumi translator and poet Coleman Barks.

Shelley has appeared on many recordings on the Gourd music label, including her solo albums The Fairie Round and Pavane. She also has recorded music of the Shakers and produced a benefit album, Verdant Groves, for the Shaker village museums.

In addition to performing and recording, Shelley works as a music director within the Episcopalian church and is the founder and executive director of Community Music School of Santa Cruz, where she runs Celtic Camps for children and teens, concerts, workshops, and other programs.

She lives on the foggy California coast with her husband Barry and three very spoiled cats.

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Susan Worland (fiddle)

 

Susan was described this past summer as being “famous in the Bay Area for playing Scottish music but famous in the rest of the country for playing Polish music”.  Locally she plays for Red Thistle Dancers, Lowiczanie (San Francisco’s resident Polish folk dance ensemble), and the Santa Cruz County Symphony.  Looking for something different to do, she is also currently taking classes in Brazilian jazz and considering becoming a Suzuki violin teacher.  No one asked her to make an ad for American Express yet, but her “perfect day” would include practicing, going to the gym, cooking something yummy, catching up on reading, playing somewhere at night, and hanging out with friends and her hubby, Michael Bentley.