Hanneke Cassel, a native of Port Orford, Oregon, started playing classical violin when she was 8 years old. She met Portland-based fiddler Carol Ann Wheeler when she was 10 at a Texas-style fiddle contest. She soon quit classical, started taking fiddle lessons with Carol Ann, and began competing in contests throughout the Northwest. A few years later, Carol Ann encouraged Hanneke to learn some Scottish tunes. In 1991, Hanneke entered the Columbia-Pacific Scottish Fiddle Contest in Portland. She won the Jr. contest and went on a year later to capture the U.S. National Scottish Jr. Championship in New Hampshire. With this honor came a scholarship to study on the Isle of Skye, Scotland with the renowned Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Cape Breton master Buddy MacMaster. These two quickly became her fiddle heroes and continue to inspire her music to this day.

The Boston Globe describes Hanneke’s playing as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow both wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.” Now in her mid-20s, Hanneke holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Berklee College of Music, and she has performed and taught across the U.S., Scotland, Sweden, China, New Zealand, France, England, and Austria.

Maeve is a collaboration of three individual artists — Courtney Reid, Rachel Taylor and Rollyn Zoubek — blending together their own distinct voices and styles to create a cohesive sound rich with harmony reminiscent of the Indigo Girls and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In 2001, a promoter friend suggested that the girls, who were all performing in different musical configurations at the time, collaborate for an evening at a venue just for fun. This performance led to additional collaboration both as performers and songwriters. The Boston-based trio then decided to take their music underground to try out their new songs and develop their unique sound alongside Boston commuters while busking in Harvard Square and at the Back Bay Train Station. One day while playing in the subway, the then-nameless band met a little girl named “Maeve” who danced to their music and dropped a dollar in the open guitar case. Thanks to this little angel, the band discovered its name.

Above ground, Maeve continues to share their music in East Coast clubs, coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, churches and women’s conferences. They were selected for showcasing as a part of the NEMO festival in Boston (2005–6). Maeve has independently released four albums. Their first release, Maeve (2002), was self-produced and captures the acoustic sound of the band’s formative days. Their second release, The Simple and the Wonderful (2003), was produced by Phil Madeira (Buddy Miller, Jill Paquette) and includes a serendipitous blend of acoustic pop, jazz and folk with Americana touches. Maeve’s third album, Whatever Befall (2006), was produced by Don Chaffer (Waterdeep, Sara Groves) and has a rootsy, organic pop flare. Their fourth album, Mothers of Grace Club, released in mid-2007, is a collection of 12 spiritual songs that have an earthy, groovy feel about them.

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[Hanneke Cassel] is already a rising star in the Celtic skies . . . her musical ideas are savvy and sophisticated, but her throaty, gusting style is deeply banked in the Scottish and Cape Breton traditions. Boston Globe

 

. . . elegant, graceful . . . Cassel’s tunes capture the mixture of sadness and hope found in much Scottish and Irish music and give it a fresh West coast spin. Dirty Linen Magazine

 

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Acoustic pop with Gospel overtones, Maeve is a fresh new trio with an adult contemporary vibe. Harmony focused and lush, Maeve is rapidly winning converts on the Boston circuit. Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Who needs the Dixie Chicks or the Indigo Girls when you've got Maeve? . . . a three-piece all-female Boston trio of harmonic goodness. Hippo Press, Nashua, NH