Brendan Hearn has been playing cello since he was seven years old, when his mother took him to Potter’s Violins in Bethesda, MD to choose an instrument to try. He chose cello mainly because “it was bigger and louder than his sister’s violin.” He was classically trained but soon fell in love with Irish, Scottish, and American folk traditional music. Having siblings who both played violin (and later, Conor on guitar), as well as parents who played the flute (Janet) and guitar (Jim), there was always some type of music being played in the house. Brendan and his sister, Caitlin, started attending classical ensemble classes, which is where they learned to play dynamically with other musicians. After two seasons of these revolving ensemble classes, Brendan, Caitlin, and their friends Julius Bjornson and Misha Enayat formed the Silver String Youth Quartet. Throughout middle school and high school, the quartet played weddings, events, and shows all over the DMV area. 

While Brendan played mostly classical music in the string quartet, he and his siblings started attending weekly Irish sessions at the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton, MD. Those Sunday afternoons spent deciphering how to fluidly accompany traditional Irish tunes on the cello would be the start of Brendan’s passion for cello in traditional music. Following in the footsteps of great folk cellists like Natalie Haas, Rushad Eggleston, Eric Wright, Tristan Clarridge, Mike Block, and so many others, Brendan found his own voice and developed his personal “chop” technique, as many string players do in the folk world. In 2015, Brendan and his siblings recorded an album in their band TriHearn, displaying their years of learning many different traditional styles. Brendan has since performed with dozens of groups across the United States as a freelance cellist, and specializes in tunes and accompaniment of different folk genres. His style of cello playing includes seamless movement from melody playing, chopping, and shuffles.

Brendan currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he enjoys joining other NY-based musicians in Prospect Park to jam, and frequently travels up and down the East Coast for various gigs, recording projects, and workshops with his siblings, duo partner Dakota Karper (Hemlock and Hickory), and other great musicians.