BOB SMITH

Tenor Banjoist, Mandolinist

For over 20 years, Bob Smith has been involved in traditional Irish music in the Washington-Baltimore area, performing at festivals, céilís and other events in the mid-Atlantic region. He formed his own group in 1987, the Wild Geese, with fiddler Donna Long, flutist Frank Claudy and guitarist Andy Thurston. Wild Geese eventually became Custom House, with some notable members along the way, including fiddler Jesse Smith, flutist and singer Mark Evans and piper Eliot Grasso. In 1993, Bob, Frank and Andy performed at the Wolf Trap Irish Music Festival with special guest Joe Vesey, to showcase the music of Joe’s father, John, the great Sligo fiddler. In 1995, Bob won the senior banjo competition at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil in New York, and competed later that year at the international Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Listowel.