About Sean
Biography
Sean Folsom was born in Berkeley, California, in 1949. He studied clarinet and saxophone in high school. In the mid-sixties, he learned how to play the oboe, the flute and the guitar, with which he performed in a baroque ensemble and in jazz and rock'n'roll groups
His love of traditional folk music led him to the Scottish bagpipes in 1969-70 and to England, Scotland and Ireland. Later on he discovered the Northumbrian and Irish bagpipes, in 1973. Since then he has collected more than 30 bagpipes (all of which he plays) from Europe and the Middle East. In addition, he performs music on the hurdy-gurdy, flutes, reed pipes, Asian harmonica (Chinese sheng), and a host of other rich and varied instruments also in his extensive collection. To foster the understanding and similarities of peoples of the world, as well as to pass to othershis love of music in all its rich and varied forms, he performs for schools, festivals and at corporate meetings; throughout the US, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.
He is married to his musical collaborator of nearly three decades, Sharon Devlin Folsom. They have four grown children, and two cats. They live in southern Illinois.
Sean recorded Holy Well (1985), with the Celtic group "Sheila na Gig"; Beautiful Vision (1982) with rock'n'roll celebrity Van Morrison; Surfaris: Lost It in the Surf (1987) with Ron Wilson; and the soundtrack ofr the film Northern Lights, winner of the Best New Film Prize at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. His current album is called Bagpipes of the World.