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The Coreys
A new fusion of fiddle and pipes, The Coreys bring Celtic tribal beats to audiences at Faires and Festivals, sprinkled with good old fashioned rock and roll. Supported by drummers and sometimes guitar, the dynamic duo proves that two Coreys are ALWAYS better than one!
Corey Walden, fiddle
Originally from Oakville, ON, Canada, Corey Walden started violin lessons at the age of five through the Suzuki Violin Method. As a student he performed with multiple youth orchestras and was a guest violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Corey studied Applied Music at Mohawk College (ON, Canada) as well as receiving his Suzuki teaching certification from Queens University (Kingston, ON, Canada), after which he began his career teaching private classical violin lessons in the Greater Toronto Area. During this time he also performed with various string quartets and chamber orchestras, and soon started to explore different styles of performance including fiddle, rock and electric violin.
Corey has toured with Celtic rock group Hunting McLeod, which he co-founded, The American Rogues (in such places as: Japan, Bermuda, Italy, Spain, Guantanamo Bay, Las Vegas, and Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. along with the U.S. Air Force Orchestra) and most recently, with the hit production Rockin’ Road to Dublin, directed by Broadway director and choreographer Jeff Whiting. He
As an experienced session musician, Corey has contributed to the work of multiple recording artists including Boston based Irish group Boxty, as well as Eddie Mottau (guitarist for John Lennon and Yoko Ono). He is also the founder or the Celtic rock group Waking Finnegan which can currently be heard aired internationally on several radio stations, including in Scotland.
Corey immigrated to the US and has been teaching private violin lessons in southern New Hampshire since 2013 as well as running the Strings program at Pine Hill. He is a performer known for his polish and high energy antics on stage.
Coreyanne Armstrong, bagpipes
Bagpiper Coreyanne Armstrong's dream since picking up the pipes 20 years ago was to make amazing music with an incredible group of musicians. She has played in competitive Pipe Bands, and as a solo piper, and sharing the circle with friends and family in bands from Hawaii to England, California to South Carolina, and most recently, in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; within that community, she fulfilled her desire to create something awesome with kindred spirits.
The desire to bring bagpipes to larger audiences by fusing epic pipe tunes with popular melodies drove her to explore performing for festivals and faires. Joining The Rogues, a Celtic tribal band formed in 1994, followed by teaming up with the Dame of Drones (Chelsea Wells) and Jesse Ofgang for a rock band startup, propelled her to the stage and spurned her onwards to create The Coreys, as well as her other tribal/rock fusion groups Pipe Dream, Femme Celtique, and Rogue and Raven. Coreyanne's husband Bob joins these groups with guitar and vocals, and they form another group as a due, Hunter and Thistle.
Coreyanne has played the piano since age 4, the flute since age 10, and the pipes since the RIPE OLD AGE of 30! She is a 1998 graduate of the US Naval Academy and served as the Communications Officer aboard a destroyer, and as Reactor Controls officer on the USS Eisenhower. She dotes on her 8 kids, 3 of whom are Pipe Band drummers, as well as 2 highland dancers. Raised in Texas and now settled in Connecticut, she considers herself to be currently living the dream, traveling the country making music.
<ROTATING DRUMMERS>
Randy Wothke, percussion
Andrew Adams, perscussion
Andrew got his percussion start in high school (1990) when the band director told him that he could get him out of social studies class every other day. That was it, he was hooked.
A New Hampshire native, Andrew started his Celtic music journey in 1995, when he joined his first pipe band. He got his start in Celtic rock as the original drummer for the band Prydein in 2006, and after leaving, took a 19 year hiatus from rock to focus on teaching pipe bands. He is now the drummer for the Celtic rock band Waking Finnegan as well as a professional pipe band drumming instructor. He teaches bands and students from all over North America and regularly competes at highland games around the world, including the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
In his spare time, he produces and co-hosts the largest traditional martial arts podcast in the world, and holds black belts in 3 different disciplines.
Bob Hunter, guitar
Bob brings his Bass/Baritone voice in addition more than 30 years playing Fingerstyle guitar, and now adds rhythm guitar to the band on the electric. Singing from an early age and tutored by his mom and aunt (both singers in their own right), Bob has been a solo performer on and off for the past 40 years. Later in life he found a home on stage, performing in the musicals “Let It Be (Bill Martin),“ “Jesus Christ Superstar (Caiaphas),” “White Christmas” (Ralph Sheldrake), and “Beautiful: The Carol King Musical” (Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers, Nick, chorus, and closing scene announcer).
In 2023 and following his marriage to Coreyanne, Bob became exposed to the world of Celtic Music where he set aside the music of his past to learn and perform music by Stan Rogers, Dick Gaughan, Dougie MacClean and a host of modern Celtic artists. Under tutelage of Tony McManus, Bob has further developed his prowess as a Fingerstyle guitarist and broadened his use of alternate tunings.
Bob, a member of Pipe Dream, augments The Coreys and Coreyanne's other musical ensembles (including their duo Hunter and Thistle), manages sound, and contributes on-stage with his instrumental, vocal talents, and often self-deprecating Plebeian humor.
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys perform a medley of reels at KRF with Randy Wothke drumming, including Farewell to Decorum and Spanner in the Works both by Hamish Moore (a Rogues medley)
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, with Randy Wothke drumming, playing a mashup of The Handclap Song by Fitz and the Tantrums, Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, and Andy Renwick's Ferret by Gordon Duncan (full version can be found on the Pipe Dream page.)
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, with Randy Wothke on keyboard, play Bonny Portmore, a traditional Irish folk tune as arranged by The Rogues.
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, along with Randy Wothke on percussion, covering the famous Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes, sprinkled with The Korgi by John Walsh
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, with Randy Wothke drumming, perform a medley of reels at KRF with Randy Wothke drumming, including Farewell to Decorum and Spanner in the Works both by Hamish Moore
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, with Randy Wothke drumming, perform a medley of reels at KRF with Randy Wothke drumming, including Farewell to Decorum and Spanner in the Works both by Hamish Moore
Pipe Dream with Special Guest Corey Walden playing at the Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival
This video is included to showcase our version of The Gael from Last of the Mohicans, played by both Pipe Dream and The Coreys.
The Coreys at King Richard's Faire
The Coreys, with Andy Adams drumming, performs part of The Gael from Last of the Mohicans by Dougie MacLean