A little bit about us ...

Moira Levant (Fiddle, Vocals)

Moira was exposed to many kinds of music from a very early age, from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Mary Poppins, the Weavers, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, Allen Sherman, and David Bowie. To this day she loves all kinds of music. Moira began to play music as early as 2. Her formal lessons on the violin began when she was 8. Her love of folk music took her to Ireland where she spent as much time as possible in the pubs playing music with the Irish. She holds three degrees in music — a BM in Music History from Wright State University, a Masters in Music Composition from Carnegie Mellon and a Masters in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland.

Rachel Bond (Vocals, Guitar)

Rachel Bond has been singing ever since she could hold a hairbrush as a microphone. Her audience extended past her family when she explored musical theater in high school and college, staring in Something’s Afoot her junior year at the University of Dayton. She learned guitar and voice as a part of her music minor, where she was also invited to solo with the University of Dayton Chorale. Her musical involvement shifted toward groups after college as she was invited to lead singing in a variety of settings including camp counselor, retreat leader, worship leader and liturgical soloist. Her love of group music making led her finally to complete a master’s in music therapy in which she learned how to use music (voice, percussion, keyboard and guitar) in therapeutic ways to better connect body and soul. Rachel is mother to two wee lasses and loves a rousing sing along as well as any opportunity to show her Irish roots in musical story telling.

John Schneider (Percussion, Vocals)

John Schneider has been an amateur musician and stage performer since the age of five. His passion for Celtic music has led him to pursue irish flutes and whistles, but his primary talent lies in percussion instruments. He possesses a vibrant skill with the Bodhran, as well as numerous hand drums, which he frequently blends with high energy vocals and a charmingly raucous sense of humor, to create a lively and invigorating stage presence.

William Stager (Bass)

Bill’s musical career began when he started taking private lessons on accordion in the 2^nd grade. He and his brother Jim were groomed to play Slovenian polkas for Mom and Dad, until they got tired of Frankie Yankovich and moved on to bass guitar (Bill) and saxophone (Jim), broadening their repertoire to include the sounds of such decadent artists as Boots Randolph, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and Frankie’s evil twin Al. In high school, Bill broadened his musical repertoire by learning to play clarinet, and his senior year was spent bossing around the marching as their drum major.

Bill eventually veered off into heavy metal and a career in electrical engineering, and recently finished up 7 years directing a church choir. (How’d that happen?) Bill’s day job is designing surgical instruments for the Ethicon division of Johnson & Johnson; he’s also enabling two daughters to get thru college – Miami-Jacobs and Alabama (Roll Tide!) – and helping his teen-age son actually get to college!

As a founding member of rock ‘n’ blues band Blue Money, Bill knows where the malt vinegar for his fish and chips comes from. But he recently agreed to play with Blackthorn and Laurel too, mostly to figure out if the band members’ Irish accents are fake. They aren’t, but they try hard to sound American, so please don’t tease them if you hear an occasional lapse!

Brian Hyer (Guitar, Vocals)

Brian Hyer is a Dayton native who has been surrounded by music his whole life – from elementary school, where he was “the kid who played the piano” for those dreadful school assemblies, through the 1980s performing with friends for parties in Cleveland, up to now – when a chance Facebook post brought him to the attention of Blackthorn and Laurel. Five minutes into the audition, everything clicked, and he’s been with them since. He was a keyboard player first, but now plays guitar and mandolin with B&L and sings the occasional raucous song.
Brian is a professional graphic artist and technical prepress specialist. He lives in Miamisburg with his wife in a house full of rescued dogs and cats. Brian is the Worshipful Master of Minerva Lodge #98, the Masonic Lodge in Miamisburg.