Stuart Mason is known in the California traditional music community for his driving, rhythmic guitar, melodic mandola picking, traditional singing style, and inability to hold his whiskey. Born Stuart Mason Helmintoller in Buckhannon, West Virginia, he spent his early years in West Virginia and southern Ohio. After high school, he supported himself playing bluegrass and country music. He graduated from Ohio State in 1981 and returned to West Virginia, where he lived in Upshur County, worked as a park ranger and traveled to local fairs and festivals from the eastern panhandle to the Kentucky border. While living in the mountains in the old family house, he was exposed to the oldest forms of Appalachian fiddle music, which led him directly to traditional Irish music. From then on, he was hooked.
Stuart currently performs regularly with Molly's Revenge and moonlights as an artist, blogger, and web designer.
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