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Cathie Whitesides is a master fiddler specializing in Irish and Contra Dance music. After a few years playing in bands with Joe Cooley and Kevin Keegan in San Francisco, Cathie gained popularity in the Bay Area contra dance scene, playing several dances a month until moving to Seattle in the 1990s. There she has played contras for decades with Laurie Andres, WB Reid, and the late Bob McQuillen as The Rhythm Rollers; with Laurie and Sandy Bradley as The Fixations; and previously with Anita Anderson, Nova Devonie, and Joanne Lauterjung as Zollo and The Beat Queens and with Laurie Andres and WB Reid in Armonikos, with Frannie Leopold in The Balkan Kafe Orchestra, the Balabustas, and in the Bay Area band Hatsegana with Nada Lewis.

Joe Cooley, (1924-1973) was an Irish musician known for his traditional accordion music. Cooley was born in Peterswell, County Galway. As a teen, Joe played in the Midlands area and eventually found himself in Dublin in 1945, where he joined the Galway Rovers Band. He was one of the earliest members of the Tulla Céilí Band. He played with the Tulla on and off throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In 1954 Cooley left for the US, where he traveled around the country. In New York, he was involved in the Joe Cooley Ceili Band and the Joe Cooley Instrumental Group. In San Francisco, Cooley formed the Gráinneog Céilidh band which included accordionist Kevin Keegan, fiddlers Sue Draheim and Will Spires, Eric Thompson, and others. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential Irish button accordionists.