When Alasdair Fraser developed and created  The Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School in 1984 and then the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, I signed up, joined in and I was hooked on the Celtic styles. When Alasdair decided to teach privately, I was one of his students.

At the time that Alasdair started teaching, I was also playing for Contra dances in the Bay Area. I am a founding member of the Sonoma County Country Dance Society. Simultaneously, I  started working at folk-dance camps and  it was necessary to learn how to play more of the  Eastern European dance styles. I was hired one summer to play Romanian dance tunes at a camp on Oahu. Also, one of the bands that I played and recorded with in those days was The Bicoastal Band, under the direction of Barbara McOwen.  We toured in Japan and various places around the US. I played for many years in the camp bands and then as the music director for the Stockton Folkdance Camp and the Mendocino Folklore Camp. I was the music director when we took the Stocktunes to Brazil.

My first trip to Scotland was in the capacity  as the dance fiddler for our Santa Rosa Royal Scottish Country Dance class. I have played for dance teachers Gary Thomas and Ron Wallace at the local Scottish classes for about 20 years. The Wild Rose Band grew out of that dance class and we are still working together. The band consists of me, Ron, Gary,  Carleen Duncan-Weirauch, and Duncan Mackintosh.

I have played with several folk bands here in Sonoma County. I enjoy playing for dancers, but I also love to accompany singers. Some of the other bands that I have worked  with are:

Ladies Choice, The Dunav Folk Ensemble, Kitchen Cajun Band, Greenhouse, Dockside, The Mongrel Chords,The  Contranaughts, and Trioliva.

One of my favorite musicians is friend, Roxanne Oliva. We play in  many different folk ensembles. She and I present a short course each year at the Santa Rosa JC in “Celtic Session Tunes”. We also lead an open  Celtic Session every 2nd Sunday at the Redwood Cafe  in Cotati, Calif. We are presently working on a new trio with Carleen Weirauch. Click on our name, Sweet Penny Royals, to check out our band website for gig info.

The Marin County Fiddle Contest at the Fair has been going for 38 years. I have been the coordinator and MC of this event for 15 years. The contest this year was  held on July 3rd. We heard some beautiful tunes.

I  have a BA in Liberal Studies and  BA in Music from Sonoma  State University.  So, I am “paper trained “ but I try to keep my classical back-round from hurting my fiddling.

For the past two years, I  have been the “Beginning Fiddle for Adults” instructor at The Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School and Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Camp. I am happy to report that Sierra Camp, June 2010, was a great success. I will be returning to VOM as a teacher this August 2010.

Teaching young players is another one of my specialties. I have taught string programs  at  two of the local elementary schools. I currently give private fiddle lessons at my home to students of all ages. Thanks for checking out my home page!

Janette Duncan Contact me at