Tom Lockney is a native of Wisconsin who came to University of Texas Austin to get warm in the 60s and then, was, as Karma would dictate, punished by 39 years as a college teacher at the University of North Dakota. His music started at age 18 with guitar and he was a member of the top bluegrass band in North Dakota in the 70s (the other one wasn’t very good). He fell in love with Irish dance music in the 80s, starting with tenor banjo and then deciding fiddle tunes were better on the fiddle, adding that in late middle age. He is a founding member of the Twin Cities Ceili Band, has taught banjo at the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul, Minnesota and lead a weekly learners session in Minneapolis for four years. Four years ago, he moved to Austin, but returns to Minnesota in the summer. He enjoys sessions and playing for dancers.