This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #98 (February / March 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription.

Tania Opland and Mike Freeman describe their musical alliance as an "Anglo-Alaskan, cross-cultural, multi-instrumental, polyrhythmic duo," and that's a good synopsis of their diverse, upbeat sound. American singer and multi-instrumentalist Opland (whose tools include violin, hammered dulcimer, guitar, Native American flute, and recorders) and English percussionist/guitarist/cittern player Freeman bring a sense of discovery and fun to their repertoire, which comes largely from American and British Isles sources, with traditional tunes from places like Norway, Russia, and Macedonia mixed in. "I've always thought of it as a collection of souvenirs," Opland said in a phone conversation last October, "because the music has been mostly gathered in my travels or from people I've met along the way."

Opland grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, as the youngest of four musically inclined children. "I've more or less been directed at music all my life," she said. As a child she took lessons on piano, cello, violin, and guitar, "all classically oriented except for guitar. I also listened to many different types of music. Classical was my main influence when I was growing up, but with any instrument I came across, I'd pick it up and try doing things with it." Told in high school that music wasn't a practical career choice, she instead studied aeronautical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where for several years academics left her with little time to play. "I found myself with the violin just parked in the closet," she continued, "but I still really wanted to do music. I was listening to a Danny Carnahan tape that someone had passed on to me, and I suddenly had this revelation about fiddle tunes sounding perfectly good without an orchestra. And so I started sitting down with that tape and learning fiddle tunes. And ballads were the songs that I was originally deeply attracted to. The lyrics are what speaks to me in a song. I want a song that tells a story."

Opland began performing as a solo artist and released her first recording in 1987, a collection of traditional music from American, British, and French sources called Renaissance Fair. Four more solo projects followed. Remixed selections from two of these early works, with instrumental and vocal overdubs added by Freeman, appear on the CD Choice Fare.

Freeman, who grew up in Manchester, England, was likewise immersed in music. "In my teens I spent a lot of time working at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester," he recalled, "which was one of the big classical and rock venues. It was home to the Hallé Orchestra, the best provincial orchestra outside London, so I got to watch them on a regular basis, and oddly enough the same venue was being used in tandem for rock concerts. I ended up spending four or five nights a week out there listening to the likes of Genesis, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and progressive artists like Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. So it was a very, very wide set of musical influences. But I wasn't playing an instrument; I was absolutely a listener."

This is an excerpt from an article in Dirty Linen #98 (Feb/Mar. '02). Read the full text in the magazine, available via subscription or on newsstands and in bookstores.