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MJ: [Laughs] I started with guitar and then the next instrument I learned was when I was six, I
learned the fiddle and then the banjo when I was seven. And I play other instruments as the
years have progressed. I can play quite a few string instruments and other things, but the
fiddle used to be kind of like my main instrument because I used to, for a brief period in
Nashville I would be a violin player for different bands around town for some extra cash and
so I always kind of thought of it as my main instrument on the fiddle. But the banjo has kind of
set itself apart as far as the fans go and my original songs and I love what I can do with the
banjo and not make it, I mean play it the way I want to play it and not fall into some genre idea
where it has to be bluegrass, or it has to be this. It’s like it’s an instrument. It can do anything it
wants to do, so I love using the banjo that way and I’m very comfortable with it. But I miss the
fiddle sometimes. I haven't played it as much in recent years and touring solo is not a great
thing because I tour mostly solo. It’s not a great thing for playing just a solo fiddle for a show,
so I’ll just do a song here and there in my act and so it’s kind of been sitting off to the side. So
when I record, it’s really a chance to like, how do you play this thing again [laughing]? It’s a

good time to get reacquainted with my fiddle, so I’m happy that there’s that chance to pull it
out and on this new album too, I got to throw a song in there.

BiTS: I hear lots of Irish sounds in your music. Do you have an Irish background?

MJ: I do. We are, my family’s got a strongish percentage of English and Scottish and Irish in our
background, but I’ve always just loved that style of music and I played a lot of historic music
from the Civil war era, the 1860s and such for a brief time from about the age of 11, oh gosh, to
16. I was touring a lot doing historical shows and playing music just from that era and a lot of
those American songs were based off of old Irish, Celtic tunes. I really loved them. I loved the

melodies and I guess it’s kind of rubbed off because when I write, I think I tend to go that
direction a bit.

BiTS: Do you have any favourite contemporary musicians that you listen to that play in your
style?

MJ: To be honest, I don’t. I mean obviously, I see a lot of cool folks when I tour and I play
festivals and stuff with other people, but as far as just everyday stuff, I don’t really listen to
music much anymore. Especially when I’m recording, it’s just like I don’t want to be influenced