My Story
"Claudine Langille can really cook on mandolin and flat picked tenor banjo, and her lead and harmony vocals were a highlight." - Boston Globe. Claudine is best known for her tenor banjo and mandolin playing with Touchstone, Triona NiDhomhnaill's highly acclaimed Irish-Appalachian fusion band based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the 80's. Touchstone recorded two award-winning albums on Green Linnet, The New Land and Jealousy. The title track, "Jealousy," was written by Claudine: it's a powerful song which has been recorded by other groups and continues to be played internationally. "The band's prime asset must be Claudine Langille-surely one of the great voices in folk."- Leicester Mercury, England "Claudine's playing was one of Touchstone's identifiers." - Folk Roots. She has been picking melodious tunes on mandolin for almost 30 years. While living in Galway, Ireland, she learned the exciting Irish flat-picked tenor banjo style from Charlie Piggott of De Danann. Claudine has led workshops at folk festivals in the US (Philly, Catskills, Pittsburgh, Kerrville, North Carolina), Canada (Winnipeg, Lunenburg) and England (Bracknell, Fylde). She currently performs with the Vermont based band Gypsy Reel, who have recorded six cds in Claudine's Mount Hollywood Studio, and have been recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts award for touring artists. Claudine maintains a musical connection with the traditional music of the maritime provinces of Canada, especially Nova Scotia, home of her father. She is a member of Otis Tomas' magical ensemble, The Fiddletree, who have performed at Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, and were featured at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland January 2015. Claudine plays mandolin on 2 Fiddletree cds -see fiddletree.com Her most recent releases have been collaborations with Victor Paul, an award winning singer songwriter based in Virginia, US- You Are My Flower-Songs of the Original Carter Family, and a new single written by Vic, Save the Land. She sings and enjoys arranging mandolin and tenor banjo accompaniments for songs, and she has written some gems, like the Vermont anthem "Livin' in the Snow." "Ms. Langille possesses an arresting resonant lower range voice which has a nice flinty edge to it, self-trained through several years work in both American and Irish traditions." Charleston, West Virginia Daily Mail. Claudine's solo show is a nice mix of original and traditional acoustic music from around the world. She leads the Mount Holly Folk Club that meets weekly in her home town of Belmont, VT (now 7 years old!) She enjoys teaching privately, and at the Connecticut Academy of irish Music and at the Celtic Music Academy of Massachusetts.