Oona Grady

Upstate NY based duo, soaring vocal harmonies, fiddle, guitar/banjo,‬‭ Irish and American old-time tunes and songs, contemporary traditionalists.‬

‭ 2023 Folk/Traditional Artist of the Year at the NY‬ Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards.‬

‭ “At times, they dived into the track of the moon in‬‭ the dark sea water and opened their mouths to‬‭ swallow the silver. At times, they plunged into‬‭ the path of the sun in the green-blue ocean and‬‭ opened their mouths and‬‭ drank the gold‬‭ .”‬

‭ — Pat O’Shea, The Hounds of the Morrigan‬

‭ Oona Grady (fiddle/viola/vocals) and James‬‭ Gascoyne (guitar/banjo/vocals) play and sing‬‭ North Atlantic dance tunes and folk songs as well‬‭ as their new songs and tunes based on these old‬‭ traditions.‬

‭Steeped in Irish music for as far back as she can‬‭ remember, Oona spent many years living in‬‭ Cork, Ireland, where she honed her skills as a‬‭ fiddle player and Irish music specialist. Upon‬‭ moving back to her hometown of Ithaca, NY,‬‭ Oona immersed herself in the local traditional‬‭ music scene and incorporated old time and Cajun tunes into her repertoire.‬

‭Growing up outside Louisville, KY, James was surrounded by music from an early age; radio,‬‭ vinyl records, church music, and live concerts were a part of daily life. Finding his own musical‬‭ style as an adult, James always keeps his ears open for sounds – new, old, familiar, or‬‭ strange. While singing and playing guitar and banjo with Drank The Gold, he delves into the‬‭ traditions of American old time and Irish dance tunes, while keeping true to his borderless,‬‭ experimental musical roots.‬

‭Now based in Saratoga Springs, NY, Oona and James collaborate as Drank The Gold. With‬‭ the release of their latest single (May 2025),‬‭ The Song of Wandering Aengus‬‭ [‬‭“Impeccable‬‭ harmonies", "that fiddle is just pure serenity", and "10/10, no notes"‬‭-‬‭ TJ Foster, Metroland‬‭ Now‬‭ ] they continue to bring new perspectives and innovative arrangements to the music they‬ love.‬

private and group offerings for all ages

The Millstone Rounders sing and play a unique blend of Americana, incorporating country, gospel, blues, trans-Atlantic fiddle breakdowns, and proto rock & roll; creating a sound that is both timelessly classic and thoroughly contemporary.  They perform on acoustic instruments around a single microphone, capturing a natural sound that is both sonically compelling and visually interesting.

James Gascoyne and Oona Grady have been collaborating with like minded friends playing folk styles and acoustic genres since the early days of their duo, Drank The Gold.  Growing out of their desire to expand their sound beyond Irish and old time roots music, they began playing classic country, bluegrass, and blues with fellow instructor at the Caffe Lena School of Music, Matt Griffin (Blue Ranger, Let’s Be Leonard).  The group is rounded out by banjo virtuoso Scott Hopkins (The Scott Hopkins Trio, Ashokan Banjo Weekend director) and the deep tone and swing of bassist Dylan Perrillo (Dylan Perrillo Orchestra, The Hot Club of Saratoga).  

The sound that The Millstone Rounders seek to create harkens back to a not-so-distant musical past where musicians played acoustically, standing close to one another balancing their voices and instruments using their ears and technique. Until the widespread use of amplification, this would have been the norm everywhere.  Furthermore, prior to the advent of the recording industry the idea of musical genres was much less of a thing than it is today.   When groups of performers from different regions got together it was truly an event.  Because music wasn’t widely disseminated through recordings or the internet, folks from divergent backgrounds would bring together songs and tunes from a wide variety of traditions.  Perhaps a gospel hymn might be followed by an old English ballad, a jug band breakdown, an Irish pub song, some country blues, and then a rollicking Scottish fiddle tune.

The Millstone Rounders were born in 2017 at a recording session with Chris Carey (Millstone Studios), when gathered around a single microphone, James exclaimed, “Hey, we’re The Millstone Rounders!”

Everything good comes back ‘round again and again!

credits include strings on What a Night'll Do, Dr. Dog