Jeff Irwin

Jeff Irwin (a.k.a. "the Yeti", born September 12, 1977) is an American, East Nashville, Tennessee based multi-instrumentalist. He has performed with Griffin House,^[1][2] Cerys Matthews,^[3] Derek Webb^[4] and Sandra McCracken, Mat Kearney, Taylor Sorensen & the Trigger Code,^[5][6][7][8] and many others including Counting Crows.

Biography

Born in Creve Coeur, Missouri, Irwin grew up in St. Louis County. Growing up he studied piano, violin (learning the Suzuki method), viola, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, contrabass, baritone horn, and various synthesizers. Irwin also received vocal training by participating in various area choirs. He wrote and performed an overture for his 4th grade class' musical production of Magellan.

Inhigh school, he formed his first band, The Mafia. The band was focused on both performing cover songs and writing original music. They sometimes doubled as an instrumental jazz combo, playing parties and corporate functions. This was a catalyst for his involvement in school orchestras, jazz ensembles, choirs, and musical productions.

In college, Irwin performed more as a bassist than as a singer/songwriter. From 1996-1999, while living in Bolivar and Springfield, Missouri, he played in a ska band as well as various jazz groups. In 1999, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Belmont University. He immediately began writing and performing with numerous groups, from rock bands to orchestras.

Current activities

Between 2008 and the present day, Irwin has been working with the following artists; The Deep Vibration, Griffin House, Tristen, The Bittersweets, Roman Candle, The Nashville Jazz Group, Thad Cockrell, Andrew Peterson, Randall Goodgame, Stephen Gordon, and Sandra McCracken, amongst others.

Influences

Irwin cites John Entwistle (The Who), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel), Matt Malley (Counting Crows), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), and Adam Clayton (U2) as the bassists who have most influenced his playing.

Selected recordings

• Taylor Sorensen's The Overflow, 2003
• Griffin House's Homecoming, 2006
• Cerys Matthews' Never Said Goodbye, 2006
• Landon Pigg Coffeeshop',' 2008 ^[9]
• Peter Bradley Adams Leavetaking, 2008^[10]
• Roman Candle's Oh Tall Tree in the Ear 2009^[11]
• Thad Cockrell's To Be Loved LP 2009^[11]
• Griffin House's The Learner 2010

References