Corner House, a musical duo hailing from Columbia, South Carolina, will perform at Mountain City Traditional Arts (MCTA) on Saturday, September 4th at 7:30 pm. Afternoon workshops for fiddle and guitar are also being offered at 3 pm. For 20 years, fiddler and vocalist Andi Hearn and guitarist Davey Mathias, have been playing music together.

For 20 years, fiddler and vocalist Andi Hearn and guitarist Davey Mathias have been playing music together,  and for more than 10 of those years, their focus has been on performing and teaching Irish Traditional Music. Joining them for the MCTA performance is Frostburg resident and former Corner House band member, Jeff Thomas, on concertina. 

Corner House formed in 2003 and has since performed around the southeast and beyond. Their hearty performances blend traditional jigs, reels, marches and more with ballads and songs from Ireland and a variety of other folk traditions.

Davey has played guitar since the age of nine and has studied a wide variety of traditional styles. He honed his DADGAD guitar accompaniment, learning from Dathi Sproule and Paul Brady, with a nice mix of his own thoughtful style. He brings an authentic and respectful sound that complements Irish traditional music beautifully and has performed with Irish music masters such as Randal Bays, Liz Knowles, Patty Furlong and Asheville’s Half Nine.

Davey is an accomplished tenor banjo player, as well, and applies his warm, laid-back banjo sound to Irish melodies.

Andi took up Irish fiddle in 1998 and has studied with many of the great players from the Irish tradition Martin Hayes, Tommy Peoples and Maeve Donnelly to name a few. She plays in a rustic and soulful style. Andi also has a fine collection of old-style ballads and a rich ornamented singing style. In addition to performing, Andi Hearn runs the Redbird School of Irish Music and organizes the SC Irish Arts Weekend and other events in order to share the living tradition of Irish music with the community.

Jeff Thomas began playing the concertina nearly 20 years ago. In 2005, he relocated to Frostburg from Asheville, N.C., where he was a leading figure in the local Irish music scene. Over the years, he has taken numerous trips to Ireland to hone his skill and has also taken master classes on the instrument. He has played at sessions throughout the United States and Ireland, and conducts concertina workshops each summer at the South Carolina Irish Arts Weekend in Columbia, S.C. Today, he divides his time between playing, teaching and crafting his own line of high-quality Thomas concertinas

Suggested donations for the concert are $5 for adults and $3 for children and students. Workshops are $25; advanced registration is requested.

Dedicated to the education, sales, documentation and perpetuation of traditional art in the Appalachian region, Mountain City Traditional Arts is a partnership of Folklore & Folklife Programming at Frostburg State University, the Allegany Arts Council and FrostburgFirst: A Main Street Community. For more information about the show or the venue, or to register for the workshops, contact 301-687-8040, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or search for Mountain City Traditional Arts on Facebook.