As anyone who has heard Irish music in Ohio knows, it is high calibre without being high velocity, and Clepper and Sherman hit the target every time in this album.”

— Sean Laffey, Irish Music Magazine, Dublin, Ireland

John Sherman & Randy Clepper

Acclaimed multi-instrumentalists John Sherman and Randy Clepper are two highly regarded performers of Irish traditional music from central Ohio.  Both are consummate multi-instrumentalists, and together they perform arranged Irish and Celtic tunes on fingerstyle guitar, bouzouki, and tenor banjo.  John and Randy’s latest recording, “Finally Tuned”, has garnered favorable reviews in both Ireland and the US – “a fine and finely tuned album that is intricate in its arrangement and delivery", TradConnect.com.

JOHN SHERMAN has been a performer of traditional and Celtic music for the last two decades. While John has played a variety of instruments (fiddle, bouzouki, banjo and Highland bagpipes), he is first and foremost a guitarist, and has arranged over a hundred Irish and Scottish melodies for the instrument.  His two solo recordings, "Farewell to the Creeks" and "So Inclined" have received critical acclaim in musical magazines Sing Out!, Dirty Linen and Acoustic Guitar, and have garnered airplay across the U.S. and Canada, Ireland and even Slovenia.  John was a founding member of Innisheer, long one of Ohio's most highly regarded Celtic concert bands, which released two recordings "Sounds from the Atlantic" and "Rainbands" and received the Columbus Music Award for Best Ethnic Band in 1994.  As an accompanist and opening act, John has performed with the Tannahil Weavers, Phil Cunningham and John Renbourn, with uilleann piper Todd Denman, and as a regular accompanying guitarist for folk singer/songwriter Tom Paxton.  John was a member of the Celtic group Silver Arm, with which he recorded the album "Links".  John and the late fingerstylist Carol Barney released a critically acclaimed album of Irish music arranged for two guitars, "Ceol Anam", on the Folk-Legacy label.  John has a third solo album of Irish and Scottish arrangements, "Far Green Country", Wahalla Park Productions. 
  
Multi-instrumentalist RANDY CLEPPER is an accomplished player of Irish and other traditional music on Irish bouzouki, fingerstyle acoustic guitar, tenor banjo and hammer dulcimer.   Equally adept at all of these, his playing has been described as “magnificent”, “strong and confident” (Dulcimer Player’s News) – “a Celtic guru” (Wood ‘N Strings).  Randy has performed as half of the duo Begley’s Braes with award-winning Scottish harpist Christine Fraser Ramsey and as part of the eclectic hammer dulcimer group Hammer On! with Dan Landrum (Yanni World Tour), Mark Alan Wade (National Hammered Dulcimer Champion), and Bob McMurray.  Randy has performed with the Chattanooga Symphony, with members of the Yanni World Tour ensemble, with aerial dance troupe Project Bandaloop and, with Mark Alan Wade, as an opening act for Grammy-nominated folksinger John McCutcheon.   Randy has released an acclaimed solo instrumental album of traditional Irish music, “Within a Mile”, a CD “Hammer On!” with the band of the same name, and has appeared as a guest performer on Dan Landrum's "Winter Mix" CD. 

John and Randy's album "Finally Tuned" was ranked in the top 10 in three instrumental and traditional album categories in 2013 by Folk Festival, WDCB Public Radio, Chicago.  John and Randy were featured as Official Showcase Artists at the 2017 Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) in Montreat, NC, Quad Showcase Artists at the 2014 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) in New York, Performance Lane Showcase Artists at Folk Alliance Regional Midwest (FARM) in 2013, and performed at the 2012 North American Irish and Celtic Festival Organizers (NAICFO) Conference.  Regular performers for over a decade at the renowned Dublin Irish Festival, Dublin, Ohio, they have appeared on WYSO’s Dear Green Place and are frequently featured on WCBE’s Toss the Feathers.

Album: "Finally Tuned"

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#3 Top Fave Instrumental Albums of 2013   
#2 Top Fave Traditional Albums of 2013   
#10 Top Fave Instrumentals of 2013 
 

- Lilli Kuzma,  Folk Festival on 90.9FM WDCB Public Radio, Chicago  

 
"a remarkably accomplished recording."  
"exquisite delivery with plenty in the way of texture and emotion." 

- Tony Lawless, TradConnect.com, Ireland

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