BrushFire

Meet the Members of BrushFire!

Adam Grimshaw was born in Portland, Oregon [awr-i-guh n] in the fall of 1983. His earliest memory is of a Halloween party held in his parents basement where as a two-year-old he was dressed as Satan but was under the false impression that he was some sort of cow. Adam showed interest in music at an early age. At the age of three he discovered his gift as a musical accomponist, improvising obligatos in the upper register of the piano as his mother played classics such as "Claire de Lune", "Take Five", and "On the Wings of Love". Unfortunately, this dynamic partnership proved to be short lived as artistic differences arose and Adam's mother "sent him to bed". Unable to restrain his musical passion, Adam continued to practice the piano, privately and in secret. His debut performance came not quite two years later when in his parents living room he played his first piano solo: Theme from Star Wars. Rumors that a young musical genius had just arrived on the scene soon spread across the nation. Adam, filled with a jealous wrath upon hearing such news, vowed never to play the piano again! Twelve years later he picked up a banjo, and the rest is history.

Jeff Tolsma on the guitar brings the rock n' roll power stance to folk music. Jeff has played the guitar for about 12 years now and brings his Rock N' Roll roots to folk music! He has been with the group for 3 years and isn't just the guitarist on stage but assists with much of the technical aspects and business side of the shows with his sound company JT Entertainment.

Deborah Bailey is a all-star fiddle player who needs no introduction. Her soulful vocals and sassy solos make her an integral part of the band. When she's not playing music, she's off being a graduate student and a French teacher. One interesting fact about Deborah is that she was cloned three times. Her parents have adopted the clones and she calls them her sisters, but when their older, watch out, because all three Deborah's will join forces and take the world music by storm.

Jesse Christopher At the tender age of two years old Jesse captured the hearts of many European audiences while accompanying the Oquirrh Mountain Cloggers on the high class instrument, namely: the silver plated spoons (with a red handle). If the performance went too long for a two year old to stand, he would simply take a short nap on stage and then start playing again. The spoons spawned a love of percussion in the young artist and he soon was asking to buy a drum-set and become a 'real drummer', to which his mother replied "piano first." The two year piano prerequisite became a five year ordeal to start Jesse's training on more percussion instruments. At the ripe age of 12 he officially started drum lessons and bought a drum-set. Jesse eventually worked his way up to the position of center snare on the Spanish Fork High School Drumline, as well as playing on the Bass Drum Line for the BYU Cougar Marching Band. He has also played with rock bands such as: Geezer and Lighting Grey. Playing Folk music takes him back to his roots in the hick town of Spanish Fork, Utah!

Lindsay Griffin grew up in Lund, Nevada and has been fiddling ever since she can remember. She is two time runner-up Nevada State fiddle champion in 2003 and 2005 and is the Nevada State Hot Fiddle Champion in 2003. When Lindsay doesn't have a bow in her hand she likes to replace it with a ball. In her free time she likes to play basketball and volleyball. Lindsay is currently a senior at BYU majoring in Health Science Education.

MacKay Olson, Born in Spokane Washington, started playing bluegrass music in the Olson Family Fiddlers at an early age. He enjoys an eclectic array of styles of music and, though adamantly refuses to dance in public, is famed for his mean in-car dance moves. He's currently a String Bass Performance major at BYU and is currently the reigning champion of the BYU Foosball Club.

Russell Wulfenstein has been playing violin since age 10, and is also an accomplished mandolin player. He recently won 1st place for mandolin in the Utah State Fiddle Championship Contest, and 3rd place in fiddle and guitar. Russell has studied fiddle with Karl Allred, and mandolin with Mark Geslison. Russell is a BYU student studying Business Management. Russell has toured the south-eastern states, Canada, Poland, Germany, France, Holland, Hungary, Romania, Mexico, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Russia.