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Biography

 

The Misfits of Avalon have been delighting lovers of Celtic music all over New England for more than a decade. The group features Brian Weiland on the ethereally beautiful hammered dulcimer, Celtic mandolin, and anything else he can get his hands on, along with Max Cohen, a virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist who also possesses a brilliantly emotive voice. The group has released four critically acclaimed CDs to date, whose sound has been described as delivering both delicately sublime beauty and energetically powerful drive- often within the same song!

Contemporary and Traditional

Celtic Music

~Brian Weiland~

​Hammered Dulcimer, Celtic Mandolin, Guitar, Penny Whistle, Recorder, Percussion, & Vocals

 

A classically trained percussionist, Brian is also a multi-instrumentalist and singer who for many years has performed in a variety of musical groups in a wide range of styles. A lifelong love of Celtic music, combined with a trip to Ireland, inspired him to form the Misfits of Avalon. When not performing, Brian is a music teacher at a K-8 school, and composes music for children’s musical theater productions.

~Max Cohen~

​Guitar, Vocals, Bass

 

Max fuses impeccable fingerstyle artistry with a rock-solid groove. With several solo CDs to his credit, Max has been called a virtuoso by Guitar Player magazine, and lauded in the pages of Guitar for the Practicing Musician as “among the most musically complete players this column has seen.”   In addition to his solo fingerstyle

wizardry, Max is a well-respected songwriter, an in-demand session musician who has appeared on dozens of CDs, and a renowned accompanist of traditional music, most notably as a sideman for fiddlers such as Donna Hébert and Rose Clancy. When not performing, Max works as a producer and recording engineer for a wide variety of musical artists in a wide variety of styles.

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At various points all three of Brian's children have also performed in the group.

Currently his youngest child Aiden is an active member of the group.

~Aiden Weiland~

 

Aiden's brilliant fiddling - on both raucous technical burners and slow beautiful melodic airs - belies his young age. He has been studying the instrument since he was four years old, and when not fiddling he enjoys acting in musical theater productions, singing, dancing, reading and writing, all types of crafting especially leather working and whittling, horseback riding including mounted archery, and playing with his big squishy yellow lab Quinn.

~Avalon Weiland~

 

The namesake of the group, Avalon is a sensitive and dynamic harpist who also plays the piano, guitar, penny whistle, and she sings- though not all at the same time! Avalon is an accomplished artist, potter, and jewelry maker who also enjoys dance, figure skating, diving, and traveling.

~Liam Weiland~

 

Liam performed onstage at his first professional show when he was just six years old, and at age nine was a founding member of the Misfits of Avalon. A multi-instrumentalist, Liam plays the guitar, cello, bass, percussion  piano, and he sings. He is a recent graduate of the Berklee College oMusic, and he is currently working at a prominent recording studio in Los Angeles.

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