Good Times

I’ve been a life-long musician, though after sitting down with my friend Trent Bradford, and witnessing him work out a tune on a set of Kirk Lynch Uilleann pipes I began studying the music that spoke to me most closely. I first picked up the whistle and bodhrán. Not long after, along with fellow musicians and dancers, I traveled one-thousand miles to East Durham, NY for the Irish Arts Week, where I met and learned from John Skelton, Rosin White, and many others. On my returned to Alabama, where I lived at the time, I decided to spend several hours each day studying and learning the music as if I was still in East Durham. Since then, I’ve relocated, become a father and husband, and a secondary school teacher. The spirit of the music has been a guide, and people who play it have been dear. The oral traditional method of passing on the music cultivates community, family, and a love of life. While I do have a childhood filled with jazz, symphony, and north American folk music, my heart resides and abides in the Irish Tradition.

Teaching is a way I celebrate and pass on the Irish Tradition. In locations distant from historical urban Irish cultural hubs - where one can’t just walk down the street to get superb tuition, or play tunes while sitting next to your mentor on a weekly basis, the online format offers access to the tradition. Feeling and joining the pulse a mentor lays down in a set of tunes only happens a few times a year. So, to learn the subtleties and nuances of the music and rhythm one needs a purposeful and focused approach. Frequent purposeful listening becomes incredibly important and critical.

I’ve performed with and accompanied internationally acclaimed soloists such as Randal Bays, Roger Landes, Liz Madden, and Drea Pressley, and taught at ZoukFest from 2009 to 2011. My style of play incorporates top-end and traditional double-ended styles, and so I teach both skill sets. I’m also a traditional Irish flute player. Playing melody has informed my bodhrán accompaniment of solo melody players and small ensembles. When not playing and teaching Irish Traditional Music, I teach secondary school English Literature, Composition, and Critical Thinking.

I’m deeply grateful to my teachers and mentors throughout the years. Please support them whenever and however you can: Randal Bays, Blayne Chastain, Doug Goodhart, Eliot Grasso, Steáfan Hannigan, Roger Landes, Catherine McEvoy, Mick O’Brien, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Luke Plumb, John Skelton, Moira Smiley, Chris Smith, Mark Stone, and Roisin White.

Teaching

The skills are what we have fun doing, sure, but why we do what we do and when are questions that can give context and depth to our playing. I’ve found that knowing the background about and reasons why certain skills are applied at certain times or in certain ways often enhances and improves our skills. My approach to teaching incorporates a blend of skills and knowledge. This way my students will understand why they’re applying their skills the way they do. Most of the time it has to do with working as a team with other musicians to ensure everyone is enjoying experience and playing their best.

"In addition to his fine musicianship, Dain's thoughtfulness and attention to detail have made him an excellent teacher. He clearly has taken a great deal of care to learn about his chosen genre and to translate that understanding into practical help for his students."

— Randal Bays

"Dain has shown himself to be not only a masterful and engaging performer — he is also an excellent teacher." — Roger Landes