Widely regarded as a composer - the classic Cape Breton jig, Spin-N-Glo, is one of his compositions - Frank Ferrel is considered to be one of the leading North American fiddlers performing today. In a recent Boston Globe article, music critic Scott Alarik referred to Mr. Ferrel as "One of the finest living masters," of that genre.

Frank began his fiddling at age 8, influenced first by his grandfather, a traditional musician and native of Ohio and West Virginia. His father's family originally came from the Longford area of Ireland via Maritime Canada. Frank rekindled his interest in traditional fiddling under the influence of local Irish, French-Acadian, and Canadian Maritimes fiddlers while stationed at the old Charlestown Navel Shipyard in Boston in the 1960's. 

 Those were the days when Kerry fiddler Paddy Cronin held forth at the old Greenville Tap in Dudley Square, while up and down Dudley Street, Cape Breton Irish and French Acadian maritime music drifted out of dancehall windows at such legendary places as the Rose Croix, O'Connell Hall and the Hibernian. There you could dance to the fiddling of Winston Scotty Fitzgerald, Bill Lamey, Tommy Doucet, and Angus Chisholm, just to mention a few. And if it wasn't the dances, there was always the old Hillbilly Ranch on Washington Street down in the Combat Zone, a good place to listen and sit in with the likes of Bill Keith, Tex Logan, and the Lilly Brothers.

Over the years, Frank has appeared on the nationally broadcast popular American radio series, A Prairie Home Companion, and is included on their anthology recording, "PHC Tourists." He has performed on numerous occasions with the legendary Celtic group, The Boys of the Lough, both as guest artist on their Scottish Highlands and Islands tours, as well as in concert performances in North America. The Library of Congress chose his major label CD release, Yankee Dreams, for inclusion in their Select List of 25 Recordings of American Folk Music. Most recently, he's been performing with the legendary Irish-American accordion player, Joe Derrane, and is music director of the National Public Radio series, Says You.

Frank has published two collections of fiddle music for the international music publisher, MelBay, and is currently putting the finishing touches on a third collection. He has also produced recordings of traditional music for such major folk labels as Rounder Records, Voyager, and Flying Fish Records. In addition, he has made a number of recordings, both as a solo artist, and as a studio musician.

Frank was asked to help in the development of the now legendary Festival of American Fiddle Tunes held in Port Townsend, Washington, and served as one of the first directors of that festival for ten years

Published Writings:

Celtic Tides, Traditional Music in a New Age, Martin Melhuish,
Chapter contributor, Quarry Press, 1998
Boston Fiddle, MelBay Publishing, 1998
Music for the Feet, MelBay Publishing, 1995
Column Contributor, New England Folk Almanac

For a complete list of recordings, visit the Discography page

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Website by Cheryl Smith - OutFront Productions Inc.