The Gordon Stobbe Trio is a group of multi-instrumentalists with a wide interest in musical genres, specializing in North American traditional music. Each member is an active freelance musician involved in performing, touring and recording. The rich diversity of Fiddle music in North America is the inspiration for this Trio. Their repertoire begins with the fiddle's Scottish and Irish roots and ranges across many of the styles which grew out of this tradition. These include the music of French Quebec and New Brunswick, Down-East dance music of Atlantic Canada, Metis music from western Canada, southern styles from Old-Timey to Bluegrass to Texas and includes many original compositions.

The band members are:

Gordon Stobbe on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and clawhammer banjo.

Skip Holmes on guitar and banjo. Skip has played with Gordon for many years, beginning in 1978 with the Ladies ChoiceBluegrass Band. He has collaborated with Gordon in a number of musical projects including the Up Home Tonight Show, Those Fabulous Cliches and several recording projects. Skip recorded and toured Canada and Britain with fiddler Richard Wood, teaches at the Canadian Conservatory, and is in demand as an accompanist for Maritime fiddlers at concerts, dances, contests and recordings.

Greg Simm plays acoustic and electric bass and guitar. Greg has experience as a player in many musical styles ranging from country to traditional folk. He has also appeared in productions at Neptune Theatre and the Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia where he is musical director. He has been involved in many recording projects as a player, composer and producer. He has performed with many notable Maritime performers including Laura Smith, Natalie MacMaster, Lenny Gallant, Kendra MacGillvary and Richard Wood.

 The Gordon Stobbe Trio often adds vocals to the band with Jimmy Sweeney.

Jimmy grew up in Ireland surrounded by traditional music, from a family with a long line of musicians. He was one of the founding members of Barley Bree which toured the USA and Canada for almost twenty years. He has a vast repetoire including Celtic as well as Canadian ballads.

 "One of my personal faves of the classical stage was Bow Ties. This hybrid mix features the classical pianist/violinist husband and wife team Timothy Steeves and Nancy Dahn (a.k.a. Duo Concertante) with Nova Scotia fiddler Gordon Stobbe and guitarist Greg Simm. Imagine, if you will, a program where these four musicians trade songs ­ a snippet of classical violin followed by a snatch of a 15th century Irish jig. Add in a line of witty repartee and you've got a little musical magic ­ especially when they tag team on a bluesy/trad rendition of a Ravel work segueing smoothly into the real McCoy classical version a heartbeat later."
--Mark Vaughan-Jackson, The Telegram, St. John's, NL

  The group Bowties is made up of :
two performers from the traditional world in N. S.
ECMA 2003 Roots nominee Gordon Stobbe, and Greg Simm

together with classical musicians and ECMA 2003 Classical nominees,
Duo Concertante - Nancy Dahn and Timothy Steeves.

The violin and the piano. The fiddle and the guitar. These two pairs, one classically trained (Duo Concertante), one folk-oriented (Stobbe/Simm), come together to juxtapose, contemplate, and explore with the audience their seemingly disparate (or similar?) traditions and artistry. With virtuosity, insight, imagination and humour they present a thrilling musical experience spanning Bach to Benoit. Between the Duo Concertante's ravishing renditions of the traditional classics, and Gordon Stobbe's toe-tapping Metis fiddle tunes, maritime airs and his own heartwarming compositions, all musical possibilities are open to discovery.