John Liestman

John Liestman has been playing Irish traditional music on the tenor banjo, mandolin, and uilleann pipes for over 30 years. He taught mandolin in 2011, 2012 and 2015 at the prestigious O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, at the 2015 St Louis Tionol, and is an instructor with the Houston School of Irish Music.

Over the years he has been a member of Terry and the Pirates, Claddagh (featuring Olcan Masterson), Fish and Chips, and the Texas Chainsaw Ceili Band, and is the loudest mandolinist in the Houston Irish sessions. John also plays the uilleann pipes, with which he opened the 2009 Houston International Festival (celebrating Ireland) and played for the Mayor’s Black Tie Gala while various Irish and American dignitaries sipped their tea. He incorporates his own piping experience and the sounds of fiddles, harps and banjos into his mandolin and tenor banjo playing at every opportunity.