Bio
The Carroll Sisters Trio is most known for its lively traditional Celtic tunes, beautiful harmonies, intriguing counterpoints, and unique musical arrangements on fiddle, cello, and piano. They have performed in intimate settings such as pubs, farm festivals, and house concerts, as well as at larger events like Sober St. Patrick's Day in New York City (2018), the Boston Celtic Music Festival (2022-2024), and the 2024 Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park, CO. Their 2022 debut album (Daybreak, produced by John Whelan) has been critically acclaimed and featured in Irish Music Magazine, Celtic Life International Magazine, The Irish Echo, Boston Irish Magazine, and Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. They were on that podcast’s Top 10 Celtic Bands of 2022 and the Top 5 Bands to Watch in 2023 lists.
Emilie and Nora
Emilie and Nora Carroll have loved Celtic fiddle music since they were toddlers. Emilie (19 years old) and Nora (17 years old) started Suzuki classical violin lessons at ages 5 and 4 and began taking classes at The Connecticut Academy of Irish Music in 2014 where they were taught, shaped, and inspired primarily by Jeanne Freeman and John Whelan. They have further developed their passion for Celtic fiddle with lessons with Katie McNally. In June 2018, they were among 4 Americans in their category and age groups to qualify to compete for the All-Ireland title in Ireland. In 2020, they partnered with Sammy Wetstein on cello (see below).
Sammy Wetstein
Sammy Wetstein is a musician, composer, and teacher intent on fusing styles of folk and jazz music with improvisational creativity. While initially classically trained on cello and piano, he has gone on to perform and record in a variety of folk styles including Celtic, New England, bluegrass, and old-time fiddle music. Sammy's love of music stems from his dream to find belonging and bring others together, and in his teaching he hopes to encourage string players of all ages and backgrounds to find freedom in their music, explore alternative string styles, and to play music as a means to find/ build community while better understanding oneself.
As a multi-instrumentalist fluent in playing accordion, guitar, mandolin, violin, and viola he has performed at such venues as the Newport Folk Festival, The Shalin Liu Performance Center, and the annual International Bluegrass Music Association conference, and has appeared alongside artists such as the Grammy-winning 8 Bit Big Band and Guster, jazz icons Joe Levano and Kenny Barron, and world renown string players including Eugene Friesen, Darol Anger, and Jason Anick. He is currently a student at Berklee College of Music, focusing on jazz and roots cello performance.
Sammy frequently performs with a variety of bands and musical projects ranging from jazz combos to contemporary bluegrass, Celtic, and contra dance bands. As an advocate for furthering the role of the cello in traditional music, he has been featured on Bluegrass Today and Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction with his contemporary folk quartet, Catfish in the Sky.
Sammy met the Carroll Sisters at an Irish session in Connecticut in February 2020 as he was first learning to play folk cello. He was overjoyed when they told him they’d wanted a cellist to play with for a while, and through playing with them learned how to play Celtic cello accompaniment and maintained the motivation to keep playing cello through the darkness of the 2020 pandemic. He is incredibly grateful to add his unique musical voice to their twin fiddle magic and to have them as bandmates and friends, always encouraging of his somewhat zany chordal accompaniment and instrument shifting.