Close to Your Heart

Billy Walsh is an award winning singer-songwriter from central Massachusetts who has performed throughout New England for over twenty years. The Worcester Magazine writes that Widdershins contains “…ten tunes superbly crafted, supported by a seasoned bunch of hotshots.” The Jamaica Plain Arts News says, \"Walsh lives a full, rich life and shares it with style and grace through his art.\" New England folk star Chuck Demers (from the duo Chuck and Mudd) adds that he is “an incredible voice and songwriter – this fellow would be special coming out of Nashville, but he lives nearby.”

Principle Contributors:

John McGann\'s (lead guitar, mandolin) long resume features live and session work in the bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic, country, and rock idioms. He is a National Guitar and Mandolin Champion and has performed in clubs, concert halls, and festivals throughout the United States and in Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan.

Tom Megan (keyboards) is a composer and lyricist of several musical theater pieces that have been presented in Boston and New York. He has won numerous ASCAP songwriting awards as well as the Yip Harburg Lyricist Award from the Musical Theater Project in New York.

The discography of Richard Gates (bass) reads like a who\'s who list of the top folk artists of our time: Deb Talan, Patty Larkin, Bob Franke, Bill Morrissey, Ellis Paul, Dar Williams, Jennifer Kimball, and Paula Cole to name but a few. He has toured internationally with Suzanne Vega, and he is a frequent accompanist on the national folk scene.

Dave Mattacks (drums) is a world-renowned percussionist. From his early days with English folk super group Fairport Convention, he has gone on to record with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Nick Drake, George Harrison, Joan Armatrading, Richard Thompson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jethro Tull, and many many more.

Matt Glaser (fiddle) is an internationally esteemed fiddler who has played with a very wide range of musicians, from Yo-Yo Ma to Bob Dylan to Ralph Stanley. He was featured on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack for The Civil War and he served on the board of advisors and provided narration for Ken Burns\'s Jazz documentary. He is also a founding member of the folk super group The Wayfaring Strangers.

Additional tracks provided by Jim Whitney (bass), Casey Driesen (fiddle), Matt Gordy (drums), and Mary Walsh (harmony)