The Syncopaths
House Concert
Thursday, October 1st, 2026
Co-sponsored by the Folklore Society of Greater Washington (FSGW.org).
Admission: Suggested donation $20-25 cash.
From dance floors to concert halls, the Syncopaths bring a fresh, contemporary spin to tunes and songs rooted in the Scottish, Irish, and American folk traditions. Evolving through their contradance origins, they are creating a “chamber folk” sound, characterized by the compelling rhythmic interplay of fiddle and mandolin, rich vocals, and unexpected colors and rhythms of the piano and bodhrån. The exuberant joy they derive from the music and each other is palpable and contagious.
Founded in 2002 as a backup band for bluegrass fiddler Richard Greene, the Syncopaths stepped out on their own shortly thereafter to rave reviews from audiences who delighted in the band’s improvisational and playful style. At the heart of the band’s sound are Ryan McKasson’s dynamic Scottish-based fiddling, Jeffrey Spero’s wonderfully inventive and expressive piano accompaniment, and the driving power of Christa Burch’s inventive bodhrån. Christa also lends her singular voice as lead singer – warm, supple, expressive, and intimate – to the band’s songs. On this tour, Eamon Sefton will be joining them on mandolin. Born and raised on traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, and Cape Breton, Eamon Sefton has established himself as one of the top fretted instrument players in the American Celtic music scene. In addition to being a master of several acoustic instruments, Eamon is a heartfelt singer/songwriter. He has performed both locally and internationally with some of the top traditional musicians inside and out of the US, including Liz Carroll, Alasdair Fraser, John Doyle, Hanneke Cassel and many others. For those have attended our concerts previously, Ryan McKasson performed with Kalos in May 2024.
Each member of the band is also an accomplished tunesmith, with recordings of original compositions on each of the band’s CDs (available for sale). All in all, the Syncopaths are equally at home with pulsing, high-energy dance tunes, and beautiful, contemplative songs. They ably stretch melodic boundaries while keeping a steady, compelling, danceable beat. In this regard, they will be playing for FSGW’s Contrastock on October 3rd at Glen Echo Park (https://fsgw.org/contrastock)
Check out their albums at: https://www.syncopaths.com/albums/
____________________________________________________