Biography

Rai Mordente (Whistles / Viola) When Jim met Rai in an Irish bar in Bel Air the conversation quickly got around to Irish Traditional music as she herself is a music teacher who's always had a keen interest in the ballads of Ireland. A very talented musician, Rai can find her way around any instrument and reads music fluently. That first chance meeting in 2006 resulted in several others and after an extensive search through several potential musicians they finally got together with the three lads and together launched The ShamRogues

Aaron Fowler (Guitar / Vocals) Singer / Songwriter Aaron, who hails from New York State, has been a renowned musician for many years and has thrilled audiences up and down the east coast with his songs and stories of Ireland. A solo musician for much of his career Aaron decided to break the habit and join forces with The ShamRogues, bringing his unique talents to the Irish pubs and clubs of Maryland.

Brian Wise (Bass Guitar) A familiar face on the Baltimore Irish scene for many years, Brian has played with the best of them, including 12 years with Off The Boat, Ocean City's premier Irish group. That band's loss is most definately The ShamRogue's

gain as not only is Brian a talented all-round musician but also a sound technician with years of experience in the recording business. As Jim's capabilities regarding sound amount to recently finding out where the power button is located on his feckin

mixer you can see why a man like Brian is a very valuable addition to The ShamRogues !!

Jeff Wise (Bodhran) From the best session pubs in the region to the famous traditional group Tipsc, Jeff and his Bodhran have been a familiar sight and sound all over Maryland as long as anyone can remember. One issue that a lot of Bodhran players have is the fear of hurting their drum but that's certainly not a problem that Jeff suffers from. This is one guy that realises that the goat is already dead so hitting it the way it was designed to be hit isn't going to piss it off...

Jim Phelan (Banjo / Mandolin) The ShamRogues were put together by Jim who was born and raised in Co. Laois, Ireland. Steeped in tradition, Jim developed a love of Irish music at an early age and with a guitar provided by his mom lost no time in learning a few ballads. Jim left Ireland to travel the world and, with his banjo in hand, lived in such far-flung places as Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Dubai and Australia before finally settling in the United States in January 2005. Seeing the need for more Irish music in the US Jim put together several session groups which mainly played around the house in the evenings before finally putting The ShamRogues together. After choping and changing though a few different line ups which weren't working Jim finally got together with Rai, Aaron, Brian and Jeff and the band he had in mind when all this started was finally born..