SlipJig Band - Players

Mike Clem – a Cullman, Alabama native – began guitar lessons at age nine and has had some sort of stringed instrument in his hands ever since. A veteran of various Rock ‘n Roll bands, jazz combos, big bands, pit orchestras and a brief flirtation with Bluegrass, he first took the stage in 1966. For the last several years, Mike has focused his musical attention solely on the study of traditional Irish music and packs a mandolin, guitar, Irish tenor banjo, bodhrán and a bag of whistles to SlipJig performances. He generally does not sing, as several southeastern states have enacted laws prohibiting this. Mike says, “In this part of the country, Celtic music is not very common. It’s not on the radio, in the music stores or on MTV, so a huge number of people have never heard anything like it. People will show up to a SlipJig performance not knowing what to expect and it’s great fun to watch their faces light up when they hear the stuff we’re playing.”

Jim Holland – an Athens, Alabama native – Jim comes from two families of fiddle, banjo and guitar players, forming a foundation of traditional music on a variety of instruments. Jim has ventured into other music, resulting in a variety of projects and bands thru the years, including early blues, gypsy jazz, bluegrass, and contra dance. Jim enjoys making music with friends around the country, and is active at old-time music gatherings and contests. It’s only natural that a forensic approach to traditional music would lead to an interest in music from gaelic speaking lands. Being a true sinstral, Jim often brings an assortment of fretted and non-fretted instruments, tailored for his persuasion.

Jim Holland

Mike Lyon

Mike's musical career began in kindergarten where he was placed in the highly-cherished role of rhythm stick player. This career was short-lived, however, after he hit classmate Billy Jackson with the sticks. Realizing percussion could ultimately land him in jail, he switched to wind instruments. With Highland blood flowing in his veins - and a wee bit of single malt, to be sure - he became a founding member of the Glen Astar Pipes and Drums of Huntsville before moving over into the broader Celtic genre. Mike sought out traditional Irish Session music because of its expressiveness, variety, and overall fun and he currently provides some of SlipJig's hot air -- whistle(s), bagpipes, and vocals. His musical philosophy is “I never met a pub song I didn’t like, except for maybe Danny Boy” and he brings many of these rousing songs to SlipJig’s performances. When not playing music, Mike can be found behind a camera or otherwise enjoying retirement after 30 years as a rocket scientist working for his Uncle, Sam.

Al Trotter

Some years ago someone gave Al’s son a pennywhistle as a birthday gift. Son Brian didn’t appreciate the little instrument, but Al was surprised by how lively and fun it was to play. A search to discover the “natural habitat” of the whistle quickly led to a hopeless addiction to traditional music. Thousands of tunes later, he is playing “timber” flute as well as high and low whistle, and loving every minute.

Al has been active in the Huntsville session scene since 2000, as well as a member of the band Kinvara. A self-described tradhead, he has a passion for the tunes as well as the nuts and bolts of traditional technique. He can be found many Thursday evenings sessioning at Finnegan’s Irish Pub in Huntsville. Absence from the session is a sure sign that he has been distracted by the day (and night) job, working as a surgeon in the specialty of Otolaryngology, in Guntersville, AL.

Irish by marriage and musical preference, Al is married to Wanda McCarthy Trotter. Al and Wanda have 4 grown children as well as the nucleus of the next trad supergroup with 7 (soon to be 8) grandchildren. Look out Lunasa!

Phil began performing music as an early teen playing lead guitar in a series of rock bands. After about 10 years he was ready for a change and made his move to acoustic folk music and the fiddle in the mid 1970's. He played fiddle, mandolin, and guitar with folk and bluegrass bands for another 10 years before he "discovered" traditional Celtic music. “I immediately loved this music … its passion, variety and beauty.” Since the mid-1980's, Phil has focused his musical energies on Celtic-style fiddling and has performed throughout the area in popular traditional Celtic bands including “Calliope”, “Jig Masters”, and “The Wild Hares”. Phil is a regular at the weekly (Thursday night) sessions at Finnegan’s Pub in Huntsville. With SlipJig, Phil primarily plays the fiddle with occasional side-trips to the octave mandolin and other instruments.