Some Highlights

>> Have toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, and Europe; recorded on Rounder and MCA records; and appeared on Prairie Home Companion, NPR’s All Things Considered and World Cafe, Mountain Stage, eTown, MTV News, MTV’s Week in Rock, The Entertainers (Toronto), and Radio Bremen, in Germany.

>> Have performed at such events and venues as Central Park Summerstage (New York), the BAM Next Wave Festival (Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York), CBGB's (New York City), WOMAD Festival (Toronto, Canada), Big Beat Festival (Vienna, Austria), the Telluride Festival (Telluride, CO), Independence Days (Berlin, Germany), Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life (Washington, DC), Lotus World Music and Arts Festival (Bloomington, IN), Festival International de Louisiane (Lafeyette, LA), Philadelphia Folk Festival, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes (Port Townsend, WA), Vancouver Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Clearwater Festival (Croton, New York), Floydfest (Floyd, VA), Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Hillsdale, NY), Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (Oak Hill, NY), Birmingham City Stages, Rhythm and Roots Festival (Cranston, RI), Lake Eden Arts Festival (Black Mountain, NC), Tonder Festival (Denmark), Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance (Trumansburg, NY), and RockyGrass (Lyons, CO).

>> Have taught backup rhythm guitar and/or banjo uke classes/workshops at numerous music camps and programs, including: The Swannanoa Gathering, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Mars Hill Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week, Augusta Heritage Center, Southern Week at Ashokan Music and Dance, Alabama Folk School’s Old Time Music & Gee’s Bend Camp, Fiddle Hell, Old-Time Rollick at Ashokan, Florida Fiddlers Convention, Montana Fiddle Camp, Lady of the Lake Music and Dance Camp, Buffalo Gap Dance Weekend, and more.

>> Have made 6 albums with The Horse Flies (2 on a major label); 2 with Boy with a Fish; and 3 soundtrack albums.

>> A song I wrote, "Sally Ann," is the opening track on Natalie Merchant's CD, The House Carpenter's Daughter, and Merchant and band (including Judy Hyman on fiddle) performed the song on Late Night with David Letterman, while touring in support of the release of that album. The song is also included on Merchant's Retrospective album. And, film director Oliver Stone used a piece of music I created, in his film, Any Given Sunday, starring Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and Dennis Quaid.

>> Judy and I have created music for over 30 documentary and feature films, most of which have appeared on national or regional television and/or are available on major streaming services. Some have received notable awards. Please see J2 Film Music for more detail about this work.

>> In 2020, Judy and I co-produced an album, Spider Tales, with and for Jake Blount. It received some really nice reviews and coverage (e.g., The Guardian, Rolling Stone, NPR, No Depression, Paste, Billboard, Broadway World, and Strings Magazine), and it was included in a number of year-end lists.

Some Quotes

The Horse Flies churn out swirling, addictive songs, blending tradition with invention... A band that's earned a buzz. ~Rolling Stone

The Horse Flies, a band from Ithaca, NY, decided that old-time string band music, with its one-chord, modal drones and busy fiddling, has something in common with the intricate minimal compositions, themselves African, Asian, American fusions, of Steve Reich -- an unlikely combination that pays off ...The Horse Flies have figured out how to hold a hoedown in a physics lab. ~Jon Pareles, New York Times

Much like Talking Heads in its early days, the Horse Flies combine musical and lyrical quirkiness with beguiling wit and intelligence on their second album, Gravity Dance. Chief lyricist Jeff Claus may sing "I've tried psychotherapy, TV and beer / But sometimes I still feel like Van Gogh's left ear" one moment, but a few songs later he's tackling more serious concerns. Musically, Gravity Dance is a melange of rock, folk, and minimalism, all held together by Judy Hyman's haunting violin and a glove tight rhythm section. This is music that challenges the brain without sacrificing the groove. ~Chicago Tribune

On their excellent Gravity Dance album, the Horse Flies have crafted a rubbery art-rock sound that suggests Civil War music as interpreted by Talking Heads, especially in songs sung by guitarist Jeff Claus. Live, the eccentric folk-rock group rocks even harder. The Horse Flies appeal to both the head and the feet. ~Boston Globe

The Horse Flies suffer an attack of the twentieth-century blues on their arresting sophomore album. ...Gravity Dance works because of the prickly emotions contained in the material. ...The Flies are very good players, too, dedicated to a punchy, coherent band groove. Hyman, on violin, teams with keyboardist Peter Dodge to create woozy roller-coaster effects; Stearns and Claus play their guitars like percussionists, jabbing rather than massaging the melodies. ... Even when aiming for laughs, The Horse Flies rub your nose in somebody else's weirdness -- and they do it great. Are we having fun yet? ~Musician Magazine

Music of astonishing centrifugal force ... breathtakingly complex rhythms ... unexpectedly rich textures ... stunningly modern ... gravity and grace ... their ancient, yet modern sound and their easy, seemingly limitless energy make The Horse Flies special. ~The Plain Dealer, Cleveland

The textures are a blend of the ancient and the ultra modern. Realism coexists with surrealism, and synthetics and acoustics are interwoven. A record of dark brilliance. ~Melody Maker, London

Demented, post-modern mountain music ... ~Village Voice, New York

Brilliantly peculiar ... new music with gnarled and twisted roots. ~The Boston Herald

The Horse Flies swing like mad.” ~Houston Chronicle

For more quotes, go here.