GAELIC CULTURE PRODUCTIONS

What’s an Irish American, Irish speaking, sean nós singing, bodhrán playing, story telling, country boy from North Carolina who also speaks Finnish, loves Lexington style pulled pork BBQ, Tarheels basketball, cross-country skiing, surfing, ice swimming and sauna doing in Oulu, Finland?

You guessed it, Irish music and culture.

Originally from Mocksville, North Carolina, I arrived in Oulu in 1997 as an exchange student at the University of Oulu and have called Finland home ever since.

In 2006, I founded The Irish Festival of Oulu with a group of friends and fellow musicians, driven by a shared passion for Irish music and culture. What began as a wild idea—an Irish cultural festival near the Arctic Circle—has grown into the premier Irish cultural festival in the Nordics, welcoming over 130,000 participants and some of the finest Irish performers in the world.

In 2026, the festival made history as the largest Irish cultural festival ever held in the Nordics, attracting nearly 18,000 participants. The landmark edition featured Northern Finland’s first large-scale street arts festival as part of Ireland’s EU Presidency Global Cultural Programme (Cultúr2026) and the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture programme.

It’s been an incredible privilege to play a small part in the global Irish music tradition, working with and presenting artists ranging from six-time Grammy Award winners The Chieftains to Altan, Danú, Dervish, Beoga, Lúnasa, Usher’s Island and legendary musicians including Paddy Keenan, John Doyle, Andy Irvine, Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill, Sharon Shannon, Liam O’Flynn, Paddy Glackin, and Dónal Lunny.

As a traditional Irish musician and storyteller, I’ve also enjoyed countless memorable performances, from playing with my bands The Soap Pig and Droichead to spontaneous late-night sessions. Highlights include sharing the stage with legendary uilleann piper Paddy Keenan, performing Bill Whelan’s Riverdance: A Symphonic Suite on bodhrán with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra under conductor David Brophy, and a solo performance at the Divulge Dancers’ Film Fest in Hollywood, California.

Simply put, it’s always been about the craic. My passion for Irish music and culture continues to burn bright, and sharing that passion with audiences, musicians, friends, and colleagues from all walks of life remains the greatest reward.