Herb Smooth, (A.K.A. Herb Broadbent) plays fiddle, concertina and flute in O’Carolan Etcetera; in other bands including the Jolly Rogues, Sweet Loretta’s Snake Oil Jug band, and the Breakheart Ramblers. He also plays banjo, guitar, and pedal washboard (The Amazing Cacophone).

Herb is a product of the great folk scare of the sixties, and came of musical age under the influence of the likes of Ian & Sylvia, PP&M, Tom Paxton (and yes, Bob Dylan) on up through the eighties; Stan Rogers, Richard Thompson, Eric Bogel, et al.

He became interested in the fiddle later in life, influenced by several local players. An interest in learning the traditional fiddle tunes was nurtured by various living room get-togethers, and by the opportunity to play contra dances with the Salem Country Orchestra in Salem, Massachusetts. Jigs, reels, and hornpipes of Ireland, Canada, New England and Old-Timey (Appalachian) tunes form the core of his traditional fiddle style.

Anyone immersed in the realm of Irish fiddling will sooner or later come upon the works of O’Carolan; Sheebeg & Sheemore and Fanny Power are two of O’Carolan’s tunes that show up in almost every fiddler’s repertoire. An interest in the larger body of O’Carolan’s works led Herb to seek out a group of musicians who shared his interest in playing and arranging these compositions. He has found it in O’Carolan Etcetera.