Squirrelheads in Gravy may be heard at several North Texas Traditional Dance Society contradances each year in Dallas, and are regulars at the Fiddler's Dream Music and Dance Camp near Lake Texoma around New Years. The Squirrelheads will provide music for NTTDS dances  on October 4, October 10, and November 1 during Fall 2008. Check the NTTDS schedule for the latest on local dances with music provided by Squirrelheads in Gravy and other fine local bands. The NTTDS contra dances take place in the recently renovated Plaza Art Center on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of the month, starting at 8 PM.

Neia

Neia Lively Izen started her journey in old time music when she lived in Charlottesville, Virginia in the early 80’s. There, she jammed with the “Not So Well-fed Stringband” (not to be confused with the more experienced “Well-Fed String Band’) and immersed herself in the old time scene in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina where she had the chance to spend time with Tommy Jarrell, Mike Seeger, Dwight Diller, and other old-time players. Cathy Fink, of the D.C. area, helped her along with her back-up guitar licks when she was first figuring things out. Neia settled in Urbana, Illinois (meeting Joe at the first contradance he attended upon his arrival from Europe) and continued playing old-time guitar and contradancing both in Urbana-Champaign and Chicago where she enjoyed the musical influence of the Volo Bogtrotters (in particular, Jim Nelson who was their guitarist at the time), the Allen Street Stringband, Lotus Dickey, Brad Leftwich, Dan Gellert, and other old time players who showed up at jams and festivals in the area. Four years later, after co-hosting a weekly radio show and settling how any children they might someday have would be raised, Neia and Joe decided to date. The rest happened rather quickly.

Neia and Joe hooked up with Ray Quigley to form the core of Squirrelheads in Gravy shortly after moving to Texas in 1991. (Originally the Raynormalization Stringband, the band was renamed with help from former Squirrelhead, Gary Washmon, a fiddler in Denton, TX). Joe and Neia tend to prefer a driving southern-style rather than the more melodic New England style. Ray, who cites Bruce Molsky, another southern-style fiddler as his major influence is amenable, but occasionally slips in a jig over Neia’s objections.

In addition to playing backup old time guitar, Neia sometimes sings folksongs and ballads when she has a hankering. She used to appear fairly regularly in coffeehouses and music clubs in her hometown of Buffalo, New York in the late 70’s and early 80’s and also performed at the Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville, Virginia and the Red Herring Coffeehouse in Urbana, Illinois. She is particularly partial to British Isles traditional songs with an Appalachian link but also likes to do singer/songwriter pieces that sound more traditional. When things get too serious, she is likely to break into raunchy blues or gross-themed songs. Joe says that he only sings when the band is amplified so loudly that no one on the dance floor can hear him.

When Joe isn’t playing banjo he is a physics professor at UT Dallas doing elementary particle physics experiments at CERN and at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Neia stepped back from an academic career in special education with the move to Texas and the birth of Becca and Jack, but began an Engish tutoring business in 2005. Their children, Becca and Jack have partaken of the old-time music/contra dance scene since infancy.

Ray

Ray Quigley is married to Martha Quigley who calls for dances in Dallas. When Ray isn’t fiddling, juggling, or chasing round the country to hear Bruce – Molsky that is, not the Springsteen guy from New Jersey, Ray can be found in his lab pursuing water transport. We suspect Ray’s working on recipes for kidney pie, but he says it’s all to help very sick kids with kidney problems. Since he’s a pediatric nephrologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, his bandmates give Ray the benefit of the doubt.

Greg

The founding Squirrelheads were ever on the look-out for another fiddler to provide an Appalachian twin-fiddle sound. The search ended when Greg Breiland, a fiddler from Flower Mound joined the band in 2002. When Greg isn’t playing southern tunes, you might find him playing Norwegian tunes on his hardanger fiddle or breathing circularly while playing digereedoo.

Prior to joining Squirrelheads in Gravy, Greg fiddled in Chicago with the Chicago Spelmanslag and helped found the Great Lakes Scottish Fiddle Club.

Leon

Leon Ashley Peek was dragged back into the band to play stand-up bass against his better judgement in 2006. He said that only a crazy person would become a Squirrelhead twice. Since Leon's a forensic psychologist, we regard that as a professional opinion. Leon can also be heard playing for Le Not So Hot Klub de Denton (jazz) and Tuberville (Irish).

Jack

Ghosts of Squirrelheads Past, Present and Future

During the late 90’s another Denton fiddler, Gary Washmon was a member of Squirrelheads in Gravy until a medical problem temporarily interfered with his fiddling. Gary tells us he's been cured, but you will have to judge for yourself as he's mostly playing bluegrass music.

When the number of fiddles in the Squirrelheads grew to three, Joe thought the banjo section was getting short shrift and made a pitch for another banjo. Joe's bandmates had a different kind of banjo pitch in mind. They told Joe he played so well that there was no need for another banjo. Joe is mollified for the moment.