About/Bios

Formed in 2007 but playing together for years, we are:

Al Petty- Al pulled this group together because of his love for English Country Dance and the need he saw for a quality band to fill this space. Al is a master of irish & baroque flutes, whistle, fife, and vocals. Al’s family is very musical, his brother teaches music at Michigan State. Al is a regular attendee of many of the local Irish sessions, he studies under Paul O’Connell, and he and his wife Lynn teach English Country Dance in several locations (including Old Sturbridge Village). Al is a high school math teacher in the Worcester school system.

Matt Plumb- Studied classical & bluegrass violin/fiddle since he was five (performing on stage for the first time during the Greyfox Music Festival). He enrolled in the Comhaltas Boston Irish Music School four years ago (studying under Matt Heaton) and now is focusing his talents on the guitar. He is a senior at Hopkinton High School and hopes to study music in college.

Deirdre Sweeney- Master of the irish flute, whistle, and uilleann pipes. Deidre is also an accomplished irish step dancer. A graduate of Holy Cross College with a degree in history, she currently works as an art teacher. Much of her time is given to teaching music to youth, volunteering for Worcester’s First Night preparation, editing “The Ancient Times”, and playing with the Sudbury Fife & Drum Companie, where she’s been a member for the past 15 years.

Matt Brench- Matt is a graduate student in Seminary Studies pursuing a vocation in the minstry. He’s highly skilled at whistle, fife, flute, mandolin, guitar, and piano. Matt also performs with the Stowe Minute Companie Fife & Drum.

Dirk Mahling - Expert on the traditional 10 string Mado-cello and known for he vast repetoire of traditional songs, Dirk is a semi-professional musician with European roots. He is also a member of the Rambling Ranger’s, playing traditional ‘camp’ style music and he helps organize events at the tavern at Old Sturbridge Village.

Frank Smith – Hailing from New Hampshire, Frank brings the sounds of the traditional fiddle to our group. Frank is also a member of the Rambling Ranger’s.

Brian Plumb - Performs on the whistle, flute, and fife, has been with the Sudbury Ancient Fife and Drum Companie for the past 11 years, performing weekly at the Wayside Inn.

The Band

The Colonial Minstrels recreate the sounds of colonial era America, when hornpipes, reels, jigs, slides, contradances and minuets were all the rage.

Whether at the 300 year old Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA, a local outdoor festival, sitting in an Irish pub or colonial tavern (we were just at the Salem Cross Inn!), or playing for friends or patrons at private parties, it's always a well-received show. This is due to the pleasing folk/celtic sound, quality of the musicianship, and the historical (or casual) setting where it is usually presented (eg, it just sounds cool in an old tavern or harvest festival!).

Much of the music has been painstakenly researched and "field tested" to bring about the best sounding tunes we could find (we've collectively gone through hundreds of tunes). The result is interesting, ear pleasing music. The band currently consists of 3 flute/whistle players, 2 mandolinist, 1 guitar player, and 1 fiddler. It seems to be the perfect balance.

For Bookings:

For engagements, contact us at 978-874-0530 or send a note to apetty at massed.net. Our home base is the Wayside Inn in Sudbury MA, but we travel from NY to Maine for gigs. We are extremely reasonable in our pricing (occasionally we barter for beer and food), and we do volunteer work for non-profits as our schedule permits.

We are available for dances, fife & drum gigs (we've played just about every local venue there is), historical festivals, small parades, political & corporate events, really pretty much anything. Dancers are also available (we play with the Wayside-In Steppers when needed).

Do you have a special talent, love for this music (or dance), and have interest in joining our group? We're happy to invite you over for some fun and see what music we can make together! Please do send a note. See the item on the left for music lessons, which some of our members can also offer.

About/Bios

The Band