The Bee Eaters are 6-time National Fiddle Champion siblings Tristan and Tashina Clarridge with hammer dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman. Together, they weave a tapestry of sound that is their own, drawing on roots in bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, old-time, and other world music traditions. With Tashina’s delicate fiddle and Tristan’s grounding cello wrapped around Simon’s ethereal dulcimer, they have created a never-before-heard sound in American music. Three instrumental voices, united in their musical exploration. Throughout the past 2 decades, The Bee Eaters have toured and recorded with GRAMMY winning singer-guitarist Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), legendary fiddler/composer Darol Anger, bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis, Appalachian music master Bruce Molsky, singer Aoife O'Donovan, and dozens of others, all around the world.

This tour, The Bee Eaters bring their unique tapestry of sound - and 18 years of shared rhythm and groove, harmony, and improvisation - to the music of J.S. Bach, arranged for cello, violin, and hammer dulcimer. Bach’s music has been a central theme in Tashina and Tristan’s lives since they were toddlers with small fiddles growing up in a tipi on the side of a mountain. Though the sibling pair spent as much of childhood practicing the music of Bach as anything else, they turned towards improvisational folk music; touring the world in bands, house concerts, the community spirit of music camps and festivals, and away from the stiffness and lack of rhythm and groove that sometimes permeate "classical" music. Now, when reflecting on Bach as the truly masterful improviser he was, (renown for improvising fugues on the spot amidst Baroque “jam sessions”), and considering the rhythmic dance forms he used, his works simply stand as some of the greatest music of all time, ready to be brought to life in musical conversation by anyone with an instrument to play them. He tapped a deep well of melody and harmony; deep enough to keep anyone challenged and inspired for many lifetimes.
Let’s share in an evening of Bach’s music in it's original setting: improvisational chamber music.
BeeEaters.com
Grand National Fiddle Champion Tashina Clarridge has toured with Mark O’Connor, Tony Trischka and Laurie Lewis and has performed at Carnegie Hall as a part of GRAMMY-winning bassist Edgar Meyer’s Young Artists program. Multi-instrumentalist brother Tristan is a 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with rhythmic vocabulary from jazz, rock and pop music, and leading a revolution among adventurous young cellists throughout the country. He has recorded and toured the world with folk-pop sensation Crooked Still and Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, as well as with Mike Marshall, Abigail Washburn, and star Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster. Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings a whole new approach to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique. His inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world.

The Bee Eaters have collectively taught hundreds of lessons and workshops in communities, schools, and colleges such as Berklee College of Music, the University of Victoria, Humboldt State University, and many others. Tashina and Tristan co-founded the Shasta Music Summit, now in it's 20th year, where they unite the highest level of musical masterminds with musicians of all ages and skill levels, for a series of workshops and all-star concerts exploring the connections between musical traditions of the world, in a holistic community environment. The Shasta Music Summit is revered by many as a powerful musical and social melting pot; young students and professional musicians come together to share, driven by a bold vision of strengthening the interwoven connectedness of music, community, and culture.