Andrea MacMullin

Opening for Leaon Russell With a violinist for a mother, Andrea MacMullin was exposed to music from the start of her life. She began her violin studies at the age of 5, and was was in her first city-wide orchestra at 8 years old. A few years later, she began her studies on the flute. By the time she was in high school she had secured the simultaneous positions of co-concertmaster and co-principal flute of the Tulsa Youth Symphony as well as violin and flute positions in the Oklahoma All State Orchestra. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance, Andrea served a decade of performances for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Lawton Philharmonic orchestras. During that time, she had the privilege of performing with world renowned classics and pops artists, as well as recording on both CD and television appearances. With the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, on Austin City Limits She first caught a glimpse of a black electric violin during a pops show and was mesmerized by its shape and sound. Not being able to forget it, she finally broke down and bought a white electric Zeta violin. During her 10th year in the Philharmonic she joined The Regular Joes, a blues/southern rock band, which has been self-described as "Oklahoma Red Dirt Americana Rockgrass." Performances included car rallies, biker rallies, the Oklahoma Festival of the Arts, and opening for the legendary Leon Russell. "In the 11 months she played with the Regular Joes, I never once heard her choke on the many hundreds of "spur-of-the-moment" lead breaks we threw at her; oftentimes on songs she'd never heard. Whether playing slow, beautiful passages or zipping through flawless 64th note runs, she could always be counted upon to deliver exactly what was needed for that precise moment in a song. Come to think of it, I don't think she ever played any song the same way twice; the chick's got chops!!!" —Randy Cottrell, The Regular Joes White 4-string Zeta Strados, Peavy acoustic amp, and a digitech RP7 preamp Her self-education on the electric violin led her to the eventual founding of Fiddle Chicks, a website created to showcase women electric violinists and to educate the public on the topic. Many world-famous musicians have joined her mission by registering their information through Fiddle Chicks. While doing research, Andrea came across a form of fiddling which was being played by the Gwich'in indians in the Arctic Circle. Athabascan Fiddling was introduced to the locals in the 1800s by Scottish traders working for the Hudson's Bay Company. Andrea soon found herself visiting the Vuntut Gwich'in community of Old Crow, Canada, where no roads go in or out. She has served the roles of guest musician and program advisor for the development of their first-ever school music program. Playing the Red River Jig in Old Crow with Gwich'in fiddler Bill Stevens Seattle, Washington is home for Andrea, and where she has a "ligit" job as a web developer. Music Resume Homepage: myspace.com/macmullin Recordings "Oklahoma City Relief: A Time of Healing," Warner Brothers 1995 Music from the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Service with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic   "Sagebrush Symphony" Austin City Limits (Michael Martin Murphey with Oklahoma City Philharmonic) P.B.S., 1995   "Just in Time for Christmas" (Kathy Lee Gifford and various artists with Oklahoma City Philharmonic) C.B.S., 1997 Listen If you have Rhapsody, you can listen to a playlist of The Regular Joes covers. (Free version gives you 25 plays a month, or you can do a 14 day free trial for the unlimited (paid) version.) This playlist has 20 songs.