Frances Cunningham is a native of Southeast Texas and fell into Irish music at an early age. She learned the Irish Bouzouki and became a founding member of the Celtic rock band SixMileBridge which recorded and toured heavily from the late 90s into the 2000s. She then moved to Nashville where she picked up the Tenor Banjo and since then has gone on to be an in demand accompanist and session musician in the Nashville recording scene. She is a winner of the Midwest Fleadh on both the Bouzouki and Banjo.
Frances spent 5 years playing the bouzouki weekly on the Grand Ole Opry in the Mike Snider String Band and was very pleased to be an ambassador for the instrument to country music audiences during those years.
She currently tours with EJ Jones in the Piper Jones Band where she is a composer/arranger and sings, does Scottish step dancing, and, of course, plays. She released her first solo album last year which has been featured on Fiona Ritchie’s ‘Thistle and Shamrock’ as well as other radio shows. In addition to performing for dances or in a concert setting, she enjoys teaching workshops on the tenor banjo, mandolin and on bouzouki accompaniment in her unique chord style.
Instructor – Tenor Banjo, Mandolin
2019