Biography

Fiddle player Django Amerson and guitarist/singer Brian Miller are 5 Mile Chase; a high-energy Irish music duo based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Melding Irish traditional jigs, reels and songs with 21^st century musicianship they make a sound that uses its firm traditional base as a launch-pad for tight knit grooves and thoughtful expression.

Django grew up across the street from the annual Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington. There he got his first lessons at a young age from such Irish fiddle gurus as Liz Carroll, Dale Russ and Brendan Mulvihill. His deep grasp of the style also reflects time spent living and playing in Boston’s thriving Irish music scene. Rambles magazine praises Brian as a guitarist “who really understands the music” and doesn’t “just play the chords”. This understanding is reinforced by the fact that he is also an accomplished player of the Irish flute. Brian has been performing Irish music since, as a high schooler in Bemidji, Minnesota, he left garage rock to start the popular group The Gaels. Both Django and Brian make regular visits to Cork, Ireland having both studied Irish music at University College Cork.

Since they began in 2002, 5 Mile Chase have toured extensively in the Midwest and beyond, bringing their music to audiences from Seattle to Boston to Cork. Highlights have been performances at the Milwaukee Irish Fest, Boston Celtic Music Fest, the Minnesota Folk Festival and The Sioux River Folk Festival (SD). They have been featured on Minnesota Public Radio and their infectious “charm and energy” (Rambles) has made them a magnetic act in the Twin Cities.

October 2005 sees the release of 5 Mile Chase’s second CD, Your Town. Building on the emerging creativity of their eponymous debut album, Your Town ranges from straight ahead driving reel medleys to hornpipes that deviate into quirky bossa novas and songs from such non-Irish sources as Tom Waits and The Replacements. Both Django and Brian contribute original compositions (both instrumental and vocal) based on traditional styles.

In addition to 5 Mile Chase, both Django and Brian perform with The Doon Ceili Band led by legendary County Offaly accordion player Paddy O'Brien. Django is in high demand as an Irish fiddle teacher and he has traveled to his hometown to act as a fiddle tutor at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. Brian has become the top choice accompanist for many premiere Irish musicians passing through Minnesota. He has performed with such world-renowned musicians as Paddy Keenan, Frankie Gavin, Aoife Clancy and Laurence Nugent and he tours nationally with Laura and the Lads.