"It doesn't get any groovier than Kate and Brendan playing together, if you get the chance to get in between their musical-mind-meld with your ears, do it.”
- George Jackson (Fiddler, Tall Poppy Stringband)
Kate Gregory and Brendan Hearn form an innovative duo that brings together American Old Time, Irish, and other folk music traditions on fiddle and cello. Kate (fiddle) and Brendan (cello) formed their friendship and musical connection at fiddle camps on the West and East coasts of the US and as members of the Ministry of Folk team, a pandemic project to support folk musicians. They combine their backgrounds from multiple musical styles and shared appreciation for melody and groove to create rhythmic arrangements of traditional and original tunes and songs.
Album Available Everywhere on November 14, 2025
Kate (fiddle) and Brendan (cello) first started talking about making an album together during the bright, shimmery post-pandemic summer days of 2021. Despite living on opposite sides of the country (Kate is based in Portland, OR, and Brendan is based in Brooklyn, NY) they had built a musical connection through their shared appreciation of innovation and groove. Over the next several years, they performed at venues on both coasts of the US, playing tunes and singing songs from American Old-Time, Irish, and other traditional music styles. They also began writing and performing original material, much of which became the tracks for this album. Kate wrote the title track, One Year Since, in her basement during the pandemic. She recorded a voice memo of the tune and then forgot about it, only to discover it again one year later when many things about the world and her own life had changed. Fiddle in the Attic is for Kate’s fiddle, which was found in an attic in Scotland after anticipating its next tune for who knows how long. By December of 2024, Kate and Brendan were in the studio in rainy Portland with mostly original material written in the old-time fiddle style, one song Brendan composed from a poem, and one song by Emmylou Harris and the McGarrigle sisters. One Year Since is Kate and Brendan’s first EP as a duo.
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Little Bird is a song by Emmylou Harris and the McGarrigle sisters that Kate and Brendan arranged with an old time fiddle and cello twist. The track features tight vocal harmonies and fiddle and cello interplay supported by Nate Sabat on bass and foot percussion by Nic Gareiss.
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Goodbye Ruby is a tune inspired by old-time fiddle breakdowns that Kate wrote for her totaled Subaru. It’s a reflection on the ephemerality of material things and the longevity of memory. This track features Kate’s rhythmic fiddling accompanied by Brendan’s tight cello lines, with Ethan Setiawan on mandolin and Nate Sabat on Bass.
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"It doesn't get any groovier than Kate and Brendan playing together, if you get the chance to get in between their musical-mind-meld with your ears, do it.”
- George Jackson (Fiddler, Tall Poppy Stringband)
Biography
Stage Plot & Rider
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