About

Biddy on the Bench’s origins go back to the winter of 2013, when the founding members met largely out of coincidence. Kevin, Casey, Maeve, and Nick began carving out a niche in Portland, Oregon’s folk scene with a combination of ballads, pub classics, rebel songs, harmonized shanties, and traditional tunes. 2017 saw the arrival of Tristan, followed by his brother, Trevor. An ever-increasing schedule of pub gigs, Highland games, Celtic festivals, and private events around the Northwest cultivated a supportive and widespread audience. Nick left the band in early 2019 for other pursuits but not before the six-piece recorded its first single with Billy Oskay at his Big Red Studio. As a five-piece, Biddy continued to evolve and hone its sound. Spring of 2020 arrived along with the band’s debut album, “Make the Rafter Roar.” As venues began to open again in 2021 following quarantine, and after Tristan moved away across the country, Biddy was once again delivering traditional music to the masses. The Biddy sound lives on!

Performance highlights:

Photos by Joshua Dommermuth Photography
www.quixoticimages.com
@quixoticimagespdx

Kevin Grgurich

Vocals, Tin Whistle, Guitar

Kevin got his first tin whistle on his eighth birthday and from there on out it was all music. Growing up in Cleveland, life was steeped in Irish American culture. Playing with Respectable Hooligans and Scully all across the greater Cleveland area he earned his chops in pubs, The Cleveland Irish Festival, Lake County Irish Festival and countless other gigs. Opening for bands like Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfetones, The Dublin City Ramblers, The Wolverines and many others he was always encouraged to keep playing. Later playing with Mossy Moran , Kevin had many opportunities to travel and play including a week stint at Ri Ra Pub at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. In 2012 Kevin moved to Portland and shortly after met Noah and Casey and the Clevelanders and Portland lads have been playing since.

Maeve Cotter

Vocals, Mandolin

Born and raised in the small, rural community of Eagle Creek, Oregon, Maeve Cotter has been singing Irish and British folksongs since she was thirteen. Maeve’s interest in Irish and Celtic culture, enriched by trips to Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany and her three years as a player on Portland’s hurling team, has given her a deep appreciation of history, language, and dialect that is evident in her performances. During her high school years Maeve participated in several notable choral ensembles, including the Oregon Bach Festival’s internationally auditioned Youth Choral Academy and the Pacific Youth Choir’s Chamber Choir, but found herself continually drawn back to her original musical passion and folk roots. In addition to Irish and Old World folk styles, Maeve enjoys listening to and performing bluegrass and Appalachian music. Maeve is also a skilled artist whose portfolio ranges from oil and graphite portraiture to illuminated manuscripts and murals.

Casey Dyer

Uilleann Pipes, Tin Whistle

Casey was born and raised in Oregon, and owes his love of music to his parents. Throughout his childhood, his mother felt a deep connection to her Irish roots and had folk musics of all sorts playing in her art studio, and his father played country in his shop. The influence didn’t stop there. One day when Casey was 15, his mother asked if he’d be interested in learning the tin whistle. An enthusiastic “yes” launched him into the world of Irish music. Throughout the years, Casey has performed on instruments of all shapes and sizes, jumping into each challenge with a passion. In high school he played around Portland with a student band ran by the great teacher Jan DeWeese. From there, Casey performed with many musicians throughout college and beyond. In the summer of 2014, he met the original members of Biddy on the Bench at a music jam party. Casey joined the bench soon after.

Trevor Cormack

Fiddle, Viola

Trevor began taking viola lessons when he was 9. His school’s orchestra and teachers immersed him in the world of classical orchestral music while his friends and family ignited his interest in Irish, American Old-Time, and Bluegrass music. Drawing inspiration from the various collaborations of American musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Mark O’Connor, Tim O’Brien, and Bela Fleck among many others, he began learning how to fiddle and play the mandolin. He went on to study music at Ohio State University earning a Bachelor of Music Education. Trevor has taught Orchestra, General Music, and Beginning Band at public schools in Ohio, Florida, and California respectively. Trevor moved to Portland in early 2017 to rejoin his long-time friends who had formed Biddy on the Bench.