ONE OF THE premier Celtic violinists on the international music scene today, Jamie Laval creates rapt audiences with his intensely passionate performances of traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and Quebec, rendered with hints of classical refinement and ethnic music from around the world.

Jamie is heralded as “One of North America’s finest practitioners of traditional Scottish music” (San Jose Mercury News) and “The next Alasdair Fraser” (Press and Post). The Asheville Citizen-Times writes, “One of the hottest fiddlers out there…this act has been turning heads wherever it plays.”

What sets Jamie’s music in a class by itself is the nuance, virtuosity, and musical craftsmanship he brings to an ancient art form. Simple Celtic folk melodies are transformed into epic tonal narratives which take the listener on an emotional journey from quiet melancholy to wild jubilation.

Jamie's accessible sound appeals to families, youth, seniors, and devotees of ethnic, jazz, and classical music.

The making of his trademark style began at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where he studied classical violin. Later he pursued careers as a professional symphony musician, recording studio artist, improvising violinist, and contra dance fiddler. But his passion for the haunting sounds


of rural Irish and Scottish folk music eventually usurped all other preoccupations, and he has devoted himself exclusively to Celtic music ever since.

In 2002 Jamie won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship and subsequently embarked on a full time touring career which today includes 100 engagements per year throughout the U.S. and Scotland.

Jamie now lives in Asheville, North Carolina and takes a keen interest in the musical and historical ties that connect his Appalachian home with the dispersion of Celtic peoples from their original homeland. For five years he served on the faculty of The Swannanoa Gathering, the celebrated summer institute for traditional arts and music.

His critically esteemed debut CD recording, Shades of Green, airs regularly on many NPR programs nationwide. Meanwhile, Zephyr In The Confetti Factory, his duo album with mandolinist Ashley Broder, won Best World Traditional Song in the 2007 Independent Music Awards Vox Populi.

Jamie has also collaborated on numerous television, film, and CD recordings, including Dave Matthews’ Some Devil, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Wild America, and WB-TV series Everwood.

Recent live performances include the Bijou Theatre (Knoxville), Wintergrass Festival (Tacoma), the Freight & Salvage (Berkeley), Swallow Hill Productions (Denver), Club Passim (Boston), The Fringe Festival (Edinburgh), the NBC Today Show, The West Coast Live radio show, and a private appearance for Her Majesty the Queen.