Human Biographies

The majority of the The Dubliners' Tabby Cats band members are cats. However, the band decided to enlist the aid of several talented Celtic musicians to create the Irish drinking song sound of them.

See the cat biographies here.

Marc Gunn (human lead vocals, autoharp)

Marc Gunn is the Celtic folk singer and autoharpist owned by Tiziano and Torre. They adopted him in the spring of 2003 and never looked back. Torre chose him to be the lead human vocals of the band after hearing him sing with Marc's Celtic folk music group, the Brobdingnagian Bards. Knowing that Marc was also a fan of The Dubliners and "weird" Al, Torre thought he'd be the perfect person to write the human lyrics for the band's CD, Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers.

Ari Koinuma, (producer, bass, piano, mandolin, percussion, backup vocals)

Ari Koinuma is originally from Tokyo, Japan and has been in Austin area since '97. He is in demand as a guitarist, producer and composer. Details about his music career, including his current activities and mp3s of recent work, can be found on his web site. He lives near Bastrop, Texas with his wife Terri, his daughter Marie, and his cats, Jean-Luc and Dax.

 

James "Cedric" Hazlerig, the Man Who Would Not Kiss Cats (fiddle, backup vocals)

Long before he began performing with the Bedlam Bards, Cedric the fiddler believed the only good thing about cats was catgut. But those whom the Gods would confound, they first make into cat lovers.

Along came Thryth, a bold brindled kitten who decided he was daddy. Then Epiphany of the thundrous purr appeared, just as suddenly as her name would imply. Next came Zoey, a black kitten who curled up in his arms and informed him that she was a personal emissary of Bast, sent to watch over him and pee in inappropriate places. And finally there came Kaylee, the fierce kitty of destruction, who licks his moustache on a regular basis and has taught him how to use a computer with a cat on top of his wrists. Verily, the proud man has succumbed to the mighty cutitude of kitties.

Ben Hamby (backup vocals, cat in heat meows)

Ben Hamby is a stray tomcat with big dreams. He's traveled the country in the company of knights, and spent some time drunk in Italy. He fancies himself an artist, though strangely enough, he spends most of his time placating the yowling complaints of others. Back fence concerts from him are certainly not uncommon, and he's been chased out of more than one backyard, narrowly avoiding a boot or alarm clock.

Ben Hamby is no newcomer to the recording studio. A seasoned actor from several Renaissance festivals, he's recorded with the Texas Blues Coalition, the Irish rockabilly band Stout, and even done voice over work for Japanese animation. But never before was he able to fully express himself artistically, and does so proudly here, with his disturbingly realistic yowling cat in heat noises. He is thrilled to be part of this project, and looks forward to spending more time proudly yowling along with The Dubliners' Tabby Cats.

April Porter (flute, penny whistle, vocals, clapping, backup meows)

April Porter has been making music pretty much since birth, though she suffered a minor setback at the age of two when she was kicked out of music class for biting some of the other students (she claims that she simply couldn't control her "inner kitty" at the time). She now resides in a small apartment with a multitude of instruments and houseplants, and dreams longingly of the day when she'll live in a house large enough for a multitude of feline friends. She uses her frequent visits to several human friends as a thinly veiled excuse to play with their "owners", and dedicates her performance on this fine album to her former kitten, Tigger, who went to visit Catnipping Green far too soon. When not making music, she's designing beautiful wedding headdresses.

Hannah Gunn (flute)

Hannah is the sister of Marc Gunn and great fan of Marc's band, the Brobdingnagian Bards. She is in the 11 th grade in a central Texas high school and has been playing the flute for 5 years. She was selected as a member of the Central Regional Symphony Orchestra in both flute and piccolo and was a UIL Regional Finalist in flute. She is also trained in piano and in Irish dancing. Hannah has received many honors during her school years and is currently the treasurer of the Business Professionals of America, Public Relations Officer for the Junior Historians Club, and Captain of the Color Guard. She has maintained an A average in her schoolwork while volunteering in the Logos program at her church and working in a local bookstore. This is Hannah's first recording and eagerly anticipates future recordings with them in the future.

Christopher Buckley (fiddle)

Christopher comes to Austin by way of Minneapolis, MN, where he was a regular performer in local Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis pubs. He also has multiple performances at Milwaukee's Irish Fest and Summerfest to his credit, and performed for the first time this past March at the North Texas Irish Festival. He is an original member of the Milwaukee based Irish group, 180 and the Letter G. A highlight of his performing career came when he was invited to perform alongside James Kelley, Charlie Mulvihill, and Zan McCleod at the 1997 Milwaukee Irish Fest. He currently performs with Cluan and the Tea Merchants.

Heather Gilmer (fiddle)

Heather Gilmer arrived in Texas from New England, where she discovered Irish music in 1994. In 1997 she moved to Austin, where she found a place to play music before she found a place to live. She has taken Irish fiddle classes in both Ireland and the US with a variety of Irish fiddlers from various regions, including Seamus Connolly, Kevin Burke, Ben Lennon, Paul O'Shaughnessy, and Matt Cranitch, and has almost completely recovered from classical training. She has been performing with various Celtic acts in Texas since 1998, has been the music and dance coordinator for the Austin Celtic Festival, and often plays for dance classes and workshops. She does not understand cats, but many of them seem to like her for no particular reason.

Blake McCaig (vocals and backup meows)

Blake McCaig began playing piano when she was just a wee girl. She started singing out of the womb. Her seven octave vocal range got her record contract as a teen. That was good enough for most singers, but not for her. She knew she was destined for great vocal glory so she joined Austin's Best Dance Variety Band, Dayz Later.

As a professionally certified chef and lover of fine food, it took extensive home-cooked, gourmet Italian meals and lots of cat love to coerce her to take that next step in her music career. Now she doesn't just sing, she meows too!

Kristen Roger (meows)

As long as she can remember, Kristen Roger has been taken care of by cats. Her earliest memories are those of crawling off after Mama cat, or sitting on the rug and getting kisses ... or maybe groomed is a better word. Today she lives with five gorgeous, and very talented feline friends, and one dog who likes to think she's a cat (because everyone wants to be a kitty!). Kristen has spent time in several bands, in and out of school, but this is her first chance to show off her feline-honed skills. Her owers send word they are very excited about the CD and all of it's participants, and that they are very proud of Kristen. For them, this is the cumlination of several generation's worth of training. MROW!