about the band
Mad Maudlin is a four-piece Celtic folk band that leans into Scottish and Irish traditions. They play upbeat songs and tender ballads in tight three- and four-part harmony. Mad Maudlin plays amazing toe-tapping traditional instrumentals featuring fiddle, guitar, bouzouki, whistle, button box accordion, Scottish Highland pipes, small pipes, djembe, and bodhrán. They also incorporate modern and original songs and tunes into their repertoire.
The band has been a Dublin Irish Festival favorite since 2015, and has also been featured at the Ohio Scottish Games, the Cincinnati Celtic Festival, and the Parkersburg Celtic Festival. Mad Maudlin enjoys frequent airplay on WCBE 90.5 Columbus, and WYSO 91.3 Yellow Springs.
member bios
GLENN MACKIE
Bagpipes, Button Box, Whistle, VOCALS
The founding member of Mad Maudlin.
After picking up the bagpipes and hearing bands like the Tannahill Weavers and the Battlefield Band, Glenn knew that he wanted to play in a Celtic folk band. Glenn has been playing pipes for more than thirty-five years and has been the Pipe Major (musical director) of several pipe bands over the years. One band, the Cyril Scott Pipe Band, shared the stage with The Chieftains three different times. In addition to the bagpipes, Glenn also adds a button box accordion to the band's sound.
CARTER JASTRAM
Guitars, vocals
Carter Jastram has played acoustic guitar since the age of 15, specialized in 12-string at 17 yras old, and began performing and singing publicly when about 18. He played the coffeehouses and was in two different folk/acoustic cover bands in the 1970s and ‘80s. After taking a shine to Celtic music and learning the tunes in sessions, he was asked to join Mad Maudlin in 2009. He also sings in Chorus Columbus State.
JOHN GARCIA
fiddle, bouzouki, vocals
John started a lifelong love of Irish music at a young age, enjoying recordings of The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, The Irish Rovers, and early recordings of legendary Irish fiddle masters. Fiddle was his first instrument, picking up others along the way including piano, bouzouki, tin whistle, guitar, mandolin, and banjo. After a lengthy hiatus from Irish music, John reconnected with his musical roots in 2014, joining Mad Maudlin shortly thereafter. And don't let the surname fool you! John is proud to have Irish ancestry on both sides of his family tree.
TIM O'NEILL
BODHRÁN, DJEMBE, VOCALS
Tim is a long time veteran of the central Ohio Celtic music scene. In 1997 he became a founding member of the band Knot Fibb’n, where he honed his skills on the Irish bodhrán. Over a period of 14 years as lead vocalist and drummer with the band, Tim played numerous venues and festivals across the Midwest, and can be heard on five CD recordings. After Knot Fibb’n disbanded, Tim maintained his role in Celtic music as a member of the Cyril Scott Pipe Band and 9 Castle Close. He joined Mad Maudlin in 2015, incorporating the rhythm of the African djembe to the band’s sound.