JOHN McGANN BIO 2011
I am a multi-instrumentalist, specializing in mandolin family instruments and electric and acoustic guitars. I also play electric bass, steel guitar, and dobro.

• Professional composer, arranger, performer, recording artist, producer, and educator, working in a variety of idioms including Jazz, Bluegrass, American traditional music, Rock and Roll, and Traditional Irish dance music.

• Recording artist for Green Linnet, Compass, Rounder, Sony Japan, Flying Fish, Narada, East Side Digital, and various independent labels. 

• International concert tours including UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Japan and Singapore.

• Orchestrations and arrangements created for The Boston Pops and New Philharmonia Orchestra. Recent performances include Utah Symphony Orchestra Pops performing my orchestrations with The Wayfaring Strangers.

• Published author with 4 current titles published by international music publisher Mel Bay. Upcoming: "Beyond Bluegrass Mandolin" (Berklee Press)

• Professor, Strings, Berklee College of Music, 2004-present.

• Faculty, New England Conservatory 2010-2011

• 1985 US National  Flatpicking Champion (Mandolin), winner of numerous regional contests on both guitar and mandolin.

• Performance  in Jazz, Bluegrass, Irish and other styles with artists including 2004 National Heritage Fellowship Award recipient Joe Derrane; Seamus Connolly, chairman of Irish Music studies at Boston College, The Wayfaring Strangers, Rust Farm, Celtic Fiddle Festival, and many others.

• “The Boston Edge” trio CD voted “#1 Irish Recording of 2004” by The Irish Echo. Duo recording with Joe Derrane "Grove Lane" named “#1 Irish Recording of 2010” by The Irish Echo. Album engineered by John McGann.

• Columnist for Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Mandolin Magazine, Jazz Improv Magazine, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, Frets Magazine, Steel Guitar World, Mandocrucian's Digest.

 • I own and operate an independent music transcription company (The Original Custom Transcription Service), which has been in business since 1981 serving both individual clients and publishers. Publishers include Mel Bay Publications, Homespun Tapes, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Bassics Magazine,  Mandolin Magazine, Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine, Sing Out!, Frets, Acutab etc.

• I have worked as a transcriber for hire for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, David Grisman/Acoustic Disc, Mel Bay Publications, John Reischman, Brooks Williams, Carl Filipiak, Tim Price,  etc. and have had well over 1000 private clients.

• Other recent projects include a series of independently produced  DVDs “Rhythm Tune Up” "Sound Fundamentals" and "Rhythm Mandolin", and folio of Joaquin Murphy steel guitar transcriptions.

• Production work includes progressive bluegrass band Beacon Hillbillies, Irish rock band Sunday's Well and nuevo-contradance trio The Latter Day Lizards.

• Musical Director and composer/arranger, Childsplay (30 piece string orchestra)

• Founding member of The Dactyls, as heard on the nationally sydicated NPR radio program "Says You".

• ASCAP award winning compositions including “Canyon Moonrise”.

Clinics and seminars including :

• Boston College Gaelic Roots- Irish music instructor and performer
• Concord School of Music, Concord NH (clinic and performance)
• Django In June, Northampton MA (instructor/performer)
• Hillman Music Seminar, Uniondale Pa (clinic and performance)
• Berklee College of Music (with David Grisman, John Blake, Grey Sargent etc.)
• Groove Camp (Honesdale PA) (clinic and performance)
• Ashokan Music and Dance Camp (Ashokan NY) (clinic and performance)
• Music Emporium (Lexington MA)
• Mandolin Camp North (Groton MA) (clinic and performance)
• Helsinki Jazz and Pop Institute (2007)
• Dublin Institute of Technology (2009)
• Newpark Music Centre, Dublin Ireland (2010)
• Little Delaware Youth String Ensemble (2011) clinic and concerts with violinist Ben Powell



Selected list of John McGann's performance venues
Symphony Space (NYC)
Skirball Center, New York University (NYC)
Bottom Line (NYC)
Joe's Pub (NYC)
Gerde's Folk City (NYC)
CBGB (NYC)
Irish Arts Center (NYC)
Eagle Tavern (NYC)
Tommy Makem's (NYC)
South Street Seaport (NYC)
Troy Music Hall (NY)
Turning Point (NY)
Town Crier (NY)

Abravanel Hall (Utah Pops) (UT)
Wolf Trap Barns (VA)
National Folk Festival (Richmond VA)
Washington Irish Festival (DC)
 Philadelphia Museum of Art (PA)
Dayton Art Museum (Dayton OH)
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (NY)
Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival (NY)
Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass Festival (NY)
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (NY)
Merlefest (Wilkesboro NC)
 Station Inn (Nashville TN)
Irish Arts Week, East Durham (NY)
Old Town Music School (Chicago IL)
The Ark (Ann Arbor)
Live Oak Festival (Santa Barbara CA)
South by Southwest (Austin TX)
 Walnut Valley Festival (Winfield KS)
KFC Bluegrass Festival (Louisville KY)
University of Wisconsin, Madison (WI)
University of Michigan (MI)

Symphony Hall (Boston Pops) (Boston)
Symphony Hall (Classical Tangent) (Boston)
Sanders Theater (Cambridge, MA)
Gaelic Roots Festival, Boston College (Boston MA)
Berklee Performance Center (Boston MA)
Portsmouth Music Hall (Portsmouth, NH)
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston MA)
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA)
Somerville Theater (Somerville, MA)

Irish Connections Festival, Canton (MA)
Cape Cod Celtic Festival (MA)
New Bedford Summerfest (MA)
Ryles Jazz Club, Cambridge (MA)
The Rat, Boston (MA)
The Paradise, Boston (MA)
Portland Performing Arts (ME)


Celtic Colours Festival (Cape Breton NS)
Shetland Folk Festival (Scotland)
American Club (Singapore)
Takarazuka Bluegrass Festival (Japan)
Tønder Festival (Denmark)
Falun Festival (Denmark)
Concert Halls in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Kyushu, Hokkaido (Japan)
Geneva, Bern and Basel (Switzerland)
Lyon (France)
Copenhagen (Roundhouse) and Hørsens Festival  (Denmark)
Stockholm and Dårlarna region Festivals (Sweden)
Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto Festivals (Canada)
Jazz and Pop Institute, Helsinki, (Finland)
Shebeen (Dublin, Ireland)



Partial listing of artists with whom I have had the pleasure of performing and/or recording:

David Grisman
Andy Statman
Sam Bush
Mike Marshall
Darol Anger
Bruce Molsky
 Mark O'Connor
Junior Daugherty
 Tim O'Brien
Russ Barenberg
Darrell Scott
Tony Trischka
Yoshihiro Arita
Julian Lage
Jason Anick
Stacy Phillips
Roger Williams
John Williams
Alan Williams
John Hughey
Bill Evans (sax)
Bruce Barth
 Laszlo Gardony
Bruce Gertz
 Grey Sargent
John Blake
Claude "Fiddler" Williams
Matt Glaser
Billy Novick
Matt Darriau
Evan Harlan
Aaron Weinstein
Dave Mattacks
Jamey Haddad
Casey Scheuerell
Larry Eagle
Matt Gordy
Rick Vanaugh
Chip Taylor
Carrie Rodriguez
Hanneke Cassel
 Jim Whitney
Richard Gates
Marshall Wood
Marty Confurius
Samson Grisman
David Hollender
Jim Mouradian
Dennis Crouch
Dirk Powell
Rushad Eggleston
Casey Driessen
 Greg Liszt
Frank Ferrel
Ruthie Dornfeld
Peter Barnes
Margot Leverett/Klezmer Mountain Boys
Seamus Connolly
Joe Derrane
Johnny Cunningham
Kevin Burke
Tony DeMarco
Brian Conway
John Whelan
 Pat Kilbride
Tony MacManus
Johnny O'Leary
Paddy Cronin
Martin Hayes
Tommy Hayes
 James Kelly
Sheila Falls-Keohane
Alasdair Fraser
Jerry O'Sullivan
Paddy Keenan
Cillian Vallely
Pat Kilbride
Mimi Rabson
Eugene Friesen
Melissa Howe
Bonnie Bewick (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Ben Levy (BSO)
Mickey Katz (BSO)
Julianne Lee (BSO)
Aoife O'Donovan
Tracy Bonham
Jennifer Kimball
Lucy Kaplansky
Heather Masse
Ruth Ungar
Liza Constable
Sarah Siskind
Cathie Ryan
Bridget Fitzgerald
 Niamh Parsons
Dawn Sears
Carolyn Martin
 Karan Casey
Maeve Gilchrist
Tess Reitz
Hoot Hester
Kenny Sears
Jeff Taylor
Andy Reiss
Jay Unger and Molly Mason
Mary Lea
Morton Alfred-Høirup
Vance Gilbert
Jim Kelly
Nate Leath
Andy Hall
 Chris Moore
Jimmy Ryan
Adam Larrabee
Zach Hickman
Mike Barnett
Jesse Harper
Joe Walsh
Michael Krause
Gordon Stone
John Intrator
Stephane Wrembel
Jack Soref
Sonny Barbato
Denis Chang
 Billy Walsh
Tom Megan
Gregory Lyons
Flynn Cohen
 Lincoln Meyers
Lauck Benson
Howie Tarnower
Chris Pandolfi
Chris Eldridge
 Rodney Miller
Christian LeMaitre
David Surette
John Zeidler
Jim Dalton
Margaret Glaspy
John Repucci
Larry Baione
Dan Beller-McKenna
Darleen Wilson
Mike Block
Jon de Lucia


Morning Confusion (1972-75)
As You Like It (1975-77)
Lost In The Shuffle (1981-83)
Stringbusters (1984-85)
Airplang (1986-87)
Off Center (1985-1990)
Billy Walsh Band (1986-)
Noel Rassam (1990-91)
Wendell Post Band (1991-92)
American Café Orchestra (1992)
Dear Sir (1992-93)
 Boston Acoustic Band (Japan 1992)
Celtic Fiddle Festival (1992)
Beacon Hillbillies (1992-1996)
Fistful Of Dollars (1993)
Kips Bay Ceili Band (1993-95)
Rust Farm (1993-2003)
The Wayfaring Strangers (1996-)
The Dactyls (1996-2003)
The Boston Edge (1999-2008)
Childsplay (2000-2004)
Durango Reinhardt (2004-)
Classical Tangent (2005-)

Selected Compositions:

Mando Madness (1981) mandolin trio
Buzzard Maimed a Schoolmarm (1981)
Quartet for Two mandolins, Two Guitars (1981)
Cormorant Dive (1981)
I'm With You (1983)
Little Pony (1983)
No Deposit, No Return (1983)
Pastorale (1983)
Off Center (1985)
Alignment (1985) mandolin duo
Out on the Ice (1985) 3 banjos
Shetland Jumper (1987)
Sligo Lament (1987)
Armitage Shanks (1987)
Song For Dexter (1990)
Canyon Moonrise (1991)
Road to Cody (1992)
Laramie Divorce (1992)
Bluebilly Ramble (1992)
Eisengrim's Waltz (1992)
'64 DeSoto (1993)
Watchung (1994)
Burnell, Come Quick (1994)
Wise Up, Grumpy (1994)
Message From Home (1994)
The Island House (1994)
Smokey's Foghorn (1994)
Smokey’s Victory Reel (1994)
Honeybee (1994)
Huggin' The Rail (1994)
Midnight Sun (1994)
Watchung (1994)
Water, Water (1994)
Dreaming West (1994)
Norris’ Jig(1994)
D’wan’s Jig (1994)
Under the Marquee (1994)
Great Blasket Island (1997)
Orange and Black (1997)
Lindsay Polka (1998)
The Nightlight (1998)
In The Shadow of the Mountain (1999)
Shadow at the Window (2000)
Hot Peppers (2000)
Julian (2000)
Welcome to the Parallel Universe (2000)
Woodwind Quintet (2000)
Parallel Universe Suite (2000)
Duo for Electric and Acoustic Basses (2000)
The Mescalito Polka (2000)
Dance of the Bushmen (2000)
Study for String Quartet and Percussion (2000)
Probably Not (2000)
Hannah McGann’s (2003)
Mandolin Quartet #1 (2005) (mandolin 1 and 2, octave mandolin, mandocello)
Miniatures (2008) Duo composed for Annika Luckebergfeld and myself
Dangerous Birds (2009) Commissioned by JZO Youth Orchestra of the Rhine, Germany
As Swam Two Birds (2009) Mandolin + string orchestra
Snowmageddon (2011)
Up Down Strange (2011)