When I arrived at Midd, I’d been playing traditional fiddle music since childhood and I was eager to try my hand in a genre more popular with audiences my own age. In an environment as musical as Middlebury’s, it was not long before I found an open-minded guitarist/songwriter who wanted to see what someone versed in Celtic fiddle tunes would bring to his rock songs. His name was James Riley. Little did we know at the time that this casual jam session was the beginning of a friendship and partnership that would last throughout our time at Middlebury and, hopefully, beyond.

Our friend Brian Harris happened to play the bass, and soon, Max Obata was sitting behind us thumping away at the drums. We began playing for various events on campus in addition to my old gigs around New England, and we found with some surprise and much delight that students seemed to really enjoy our odd new genre of Celtic-infused rock and jazz. Other campus musicians and music fans were incredibly supportive of this experiment and soon, we had established ourselves as a band capable of gigging successfully on and off campus under the name Market Zero.

Though we wouldn’t even consider leaving Middlebury any earlier than we have to, we’re now planning to try our luck in the music business immediately after graduation. In addition to interesting classes, challenging theatre, and the other activities that occupy the time of a Theatre and English major like myself, my time with these friends at Middlebury has been the perfect opportunity to learn how to function as a band and allow our music to grow.

Want to hear what we sound like? http://www.myspace.com/MarketZeroMusic