Jake is a two–time All-Ireland fiddle champion, bodhrán player, and dancer from New York City. The Irish Echo called his 2018 album Firewood an "outstanding debut solo recording." He has also released In Reel Time with fellow NYC flute player and All-Ireland Champion Brenda Dowling. Over the years, he has shared the stage with Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America, Cherish the Ladies, The McLean Avenue Band, Daniel O'Donnell, Doolin’, Black 47, Runa, The Paul Brock Band, and The Trinity Irish Dance Company—with whom he has toured twice in Japan, performed at The Chicago Auditorium Theater, The Joyce Theater, and on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." He’s performed at other notable NYC venues such as The Irish Arts Center, Symphony Space, B. B. King’s Blues Club, Gracie Mansion, and Carnegie Hall.
Jake is a member of The Consequences who released their debut album "When You Weren't Looking" in the summer of 2023. For details on their upcoming shows and projects, visit https://theconsequencesband.com/
Jake's start in the Irish music and dance community started at the age of three when he began taking Irish step dancing classes with Dublin-born Niall O'Leary. At the age of seven, Jake started fiddle lessons with Niall Mulligan from County Antrim, who instilled a particular interest in tunes from the north of Ireland and fiddle players such as Sean Maguire and Jim McKillop. He also studied bodhrán with Eamon Murray, of Beoga, and won the trophy at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil every year from 2010 to 2017. In 2012 and 2013, he was the fiddler as part of the on-stage band in Larry Kirwan's off-broadway musical Hard Times which eventually went on to become Paradise Square in 2018. Jake would often dance alongside Niall O'Leary with Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America for different performances at Symphony Space, Catskills Irish Arts Week, and other schools and venues in the NYC area. Jake earned a Master's Degree in Composition from the Aaron Copland School of Music, after which he moved to Chicago for two years. He is currently back in NYC and part of the session scene and regularly tours the country with different bands and projects including the Trinity Irish Dance Company, Runa, and The Consequences.