'Tom Fahy' was an assemblage of musicians headed by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and author Tom Fahy, born Quinn McCarthy, a.k.a., Russell Huggins. Core members included Jiang Dan, Rachael Eisley, Zhang Li, Liu Kaige and Emer Mulholland, while other players were drafted for the requirements of particular pieces. Their 50+ album catalogue was the fr'Tom Fahy' (pseudonym: Quinn McCarthy) is an assemblage of musicians headed by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and author Tom Fahy. Core members include Jiang Dan, Rachael Eisley, Zhang Li, Liu Kaige and Emer Mulholland, while other players, including Alvaro Macaya, Thomas Byrne, Vicente Labarca, and Marco Falabella, are drafted for the requirements of particular pieces. Their 60+ album catalog is the fruit of a nearly two-decade collaboration initiated while the core members were in residence in Honolulu, Hawai'i. To each album, the members bring a myriad of musical competencies.
Jiang Dan (born Jiang Daoming), an only child, was born in Honolulu on 12 June 1971. A master stone-mason, Dan did not assume the role of chief percussionist with Tom Fahy until 1999. However, with his mother, a classically-trained pianist, Dan studied counterpoint, music theory and harmony throughout his childhood. The self-described avant-garde drummer utilizes custom-modified Pearl drum kits.
Rachael Eisley, (b. 24 December 1974), is the only child of Lionel William and Vera (née Spence) Eisley. She was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, but spent her early years in Montreal, Quebec, where her father was a financier. When Eisley was four years old, her father died of a heart attack while driving in a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1986, when her mother remarried, the family returned to their native St. John's.
As music was an early passion of Eisley's, Vera encouraged her daughter to experiment liberally with many instruments, and so it is little wonder that Eisley developed proficiency with the guitar, keyboard, French horn and harp. Eisley cites Lonnie Mack, Link Wray and Duane Eddy as early influences on her development as a guitarist. It was chiefly as a guitarist that Eisley approached Fahy; later, emphasis was placed on her synthesizer work. Eisley was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus in 2002 and was absent from the group until 2007, although she recorded her parts in-absentia.
Zhang Li, (b. 1 September 1976), a first-generation Chinese-American, is the daughter of inventor Sammo Li. Upon graduation from the University of Hawai'i in 1999 where she was studying archaeology, she began her collaboration with Fahy, writing parts for bass, electric xindi, oboe, flute, zither and upright bass. Like Dan and Eisley, Li is a self-trained musician.
Liu Kaige, (b. 8 April 1968), a San Francisco native, not only plays the bass cello, violin and gehu, but also serves as the group's chief technologist and sound engineer. Kaige, once a renowned North Shore pipeline surfer, was introduced to Fahy through his cousin, Jiang Dan. It was Kaige that developed the group's first sound-stage in Haleiwa on Waialua Bay. There, the group in its infancy began to flesh out the sounds that would inform their later works.
Classically-trained Stag Records session musician and Gaillimh native Emer Mulholland joined Tom Fahy in 1991 as a lead guitarist. In 2008, Mulholland returned to Gaillimh where she runs Bookmakers Studio East. She married bandmate Alvaro Macaya in 2009.
The group records from their Conception Bay studio (Bookmakers Studio West, Portugal Cove), approximately 20 minutes north of St. John's, Newfoundland, and from Bookmakers Studio East, Gaillimh, IE.uit of a 9-year collaboration initiated while the core members were in residence in Honolulu, Hawai'i. To each album, the members brought a myriad of musical competencies.
Jiang Dan (born Jiang Daoming), an only child, was born in Honolulu on 12 June 1971. A master stone-mason, Dan did not assume the role of chief percussionist with Tom Fahy until 1999. However, with his mother, a classically-trained pianist, Dan studied counterpoint, music theory and harmony throughout his childhood.
Rachael Eisley, (b. 17 July 1971), is the only child of Lionel William and Vera (nee Spence) Eisley. She was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, but spent her early years in Montreal, Quebec, where her father was a financier. When Eisley was four years old, her father died of a heart attack while driving in a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1986, when her mother remarried, the family returned to their native St. John's.
As music was an early passion of Eisley's, Vera encouraged her daughter to experiment liberally with many instruments, and she soon developed proficiency with the guitar, keyboard, French horn and harp. Eisley cites Link Wray, Lonnie Mack and Duane Eddy as early influences on her development as a guitarist and it was chiefly as a guitarist that Eisley approached Fahy; later, emphasis was placed on her synthesizer work. Eisley was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus in 2002 and was absent from the group until 2007, although she recorded her parts in-absentia. Today, Eisley lives on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and is working on a memoir of her experiences with Tom Fahy.
Zhang Li, (b. 1 September 1976), a first-generation Chinese-American, is the daughter of inventor Sammo Li (the group's 2005 album, 'Inventor!' was inspired by the life and work of Mr. Li). Upon graduation from the University of Hawai'i in 1999, where she was studying archaeology, she began her collaboration with Fahy, writing parts for bass, electric xindi, oboe, flute, zither and upright bass. Like Dan and Eisley, Li is a self-trained musician.
Liu Kaige, (b. 8 April 1968), a San Francisco native, not only played the bass cello, violin and gehu, but also served as the group's chief technologist and sound engineer. Kaige, once a renowned North Shore pipeline surfer, was introduced to Fahy through his cousin, Jiang Dan. It was Kaige that developed the group's first sound-stage in Haleiwa on Waialua Bay. There, the group, in its infancy, began to flesh out the sounds that would inform their later works.
The group recorded from their Conception Bay studio (Bookmakers Studio West, Portugal Cove), approximately 20 minutes north of St. John's, Newfoundland; 'My Story' was their last album.
