Biography
acob began playing music from a young age, starting with piano at the age of 4, and then stand up acoustic bass at the age of 9, first studying classical music, and then eventually jazz and jazz improvisation. Not long after he took up the electric bass and electric guitar, and got into playing Rock, Punk and Metal. Around that same time, he took up the Bodhrán; an instrument he had played off and on for a number of years. After receiving some instruction to get the rudiments of Bodhrán playing technique, he started to develop his own modern style (a combination of "traditional Kerry style" and "modern top end" styles). At the age of 14, Jacob began playing some his first gigs with the Celtic band WhirlyGig. By 18, Jacob was an active session player, and also began teaching privately, doing workshops and became a faculty member at the Riverside Celtic College of Traditional Music in Guelph, Ontario.

Presently Jacob plays in bands such as WhirlyGig and Fig for a Kiss, as well as subbing in for a variety of different bands. He teaches workshops, and gives private lessons. He also continues to teach at the Riverside Celtic College of Traditional Music in Guelph, Ontario (www.riversidecelticcollege.ca ). Some of the bands he has played with include: multi-award winning Irish band The Cheiftains, award-winning Scottish band “Lau”, award-winning Canadian band "Genticorum", Chicago-based duo “Bohola” and Toronto-based “Sproai”

Jacob is an award-winning Bodhrán player, having competed at some of the North American traditional Irish music competitions (Toronto Fleadh Ceol 2008, Detroit Mid-west Fleadh 2008).

Jacob recently completed the Audio Sound Production program at Recording Arts Canada in Toronto and received a diploma in Sound Engineering (July 2009). He is currently in production of his first Bodhrán Instructional DVD, which features a 3 hour lesson instructional, included with bonus features and live music sets. Some of the musicians present on the DVD are: Duncan Cameron, Steafan Hannigan, Saskia Tomkins, Pascal Gemme, and Dan MacDonald. The DVD is scheduled to be released in late 2009/2010.