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The Players' Bios
Joy Luther, singer-songwriter, has been playing guitar and singing since the early 1970s. Born in Belfast and raised in the County Down, Northern Ireland, Joy emigrated to the USA in 1968 and brings a folk and Celtic mix to her repertoire. Joy now lives in Austin, Texas, and performs regularly at coffee houses, house concerts, weddings, and churches. In 2003, she released her debut CD, A New Direction, consisting of nine cuts of original music. "Joy combines traditional Irish/Celtic melodies and contemporary adult music and lyrics with critical issues of today's complex world, and adds a very personal touch to many of the events in her life. Her voice is unique, her songs are hauntingly good and her ability to touch the spirits of listeners is in a word: "Amazing." (Ken Morgan, Wireline Studio.) Find Joy at www.mytexasmusic.com/joyluther or email her at SingJoysing@aol.com.
James Patrick Jones is Scots, Irish, and Welsh and has been immersed in Celtic culture from his infancy. An eighth-generation native Texan, his first Scottish Highland games experience was in Alma, Michigan, at the age of two weeks, while his father competed with the Windsor Police Pipes & Drums. He began learning the actual skills of playing the Great Highland Bagpipe from his father at the age of twelve and studied under piping great Jimmy McColl. He attended a two week piping intensive at St. Thomas Episcopal School and eventually settled into the Scottish scene in Texas. James is active with Clan Donnachaidh, which his parents and grandparents helped to start, and plays at various times with the Houston Highlanders and the Black Bexar Pipe Band. He began adding instruments to his repertoire while teaching math and raising a family in Fort Worth. First it was the Irish whistles, and then came the Australian didgeridoo, the low whistle, the bodhrán, the Appalachian hammered dulcimer, and he is finally getting around to figuring out the guitar. He is also a member of the Clann a'Chalmain, the Celtic Christian organization he co-founded with other members of the Black Bexar Pipe Band.
Steve McDaniel has have been playing bass since he was 12 years old. He grew up in Oklahoma, moved to Texas after high school, and then started a business career that took him to Omaha and Chicago. He returned to Texas eight years ago to start his own business. His diverse music career began while in high school playing rock and roll on an electric bass and traveling throughout Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. He moved to Fort Worth, played country music for a few years, and then took off to Omaha. There he discovered acoustical, bluegrass, and swing music while playing all over Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa. He then moved to Chicago and naturally had to join a rhythm and blues band. Since being back in Texas, he has played country, blues, and dinner music. The fun never ends!
Jim Richardson has been a long time friend of Charlie D’s and has been playing guitar since Moby Dick was a minnow. He recently played lead guitar with the Terry Allen Band http://www.terryallenband.com/home.cfm and has a great time every weekend in Lawton Oklahoma and on the road. Drop by the myspace website for the band and check out some cuts on his new CD. http://www.myspace.com/terryallenband07 He is also an accomplished bass player, which is what he played on the road all through the '80s with Red Steagall. Every Sunday evening he is hosting a jam night for local musicians in Lawton Oklahoma.
Jim passed away from cancer May of 2009. He was a great man and a fantastic musician. He will be greatly missed.