At the age of ten, Chad began playing the violin in Raleigh, North Carolina after hearing a friend of the family play at his home.  Chad played classically until graduating from the University of Kentucky where he received a music scholarship.  It was after graduation and relocating to East Tennessee that Chad discovered his love for Irish music.

After being invited to a house session by Tom Swadley, Chad became a member of Sigean, a traditional Irish band based in Bristol, Tennessee.  Chad then began traveling to Chicago, New York, and Ireland to seek out the best musicians and began developing his own style within the Irish tradition.  A move to Knoxville, Tennessee ended Chad’s tenure with Sigean, but it wasn’t long until he became a founding member of Four Leaf Peat.

Chad has become known as one of the Southeast’s finest Irish fiddlers.  He has developed a distinctive voice through years of seeking out the best traditional music sessions and fiddle players, then bringing those lessons home to East Tennessee.  Currently Chad splits his time between Knoxville and New York City. Chad co-hosts the bi-monthly session at Boyd's Jig & Reel and he is a regular in the New York Irish session scene where he co-hosts and plays at various sessions. Chad’s biggest influences come from the lessons he has learned through playing music in sessions all along the East Coast as well as seeking instruction and inspiration from some of his favorite fiddlers such as Tony DeMarco, Brian Conway, Liz Knowles, and Martin Hayes.

Gil started playing the guitar at the age of ten and played bass guitar in a rock n’ roll band during his teenage years while growing up in Cookeville, Tennessee.  He soon developed a passion for traditional acoustic music and was influenced by Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Bill Monroe, Tony Rice and many other traditional bluegrass and old time musicians.  He was especially fond of the mandolin playing of David Grisman, and thus was inspired to learn how to play the mandolin. 
 
Gil moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 2003 and became involved with various bluegrass and old time bands, playing mandolin and acoustic rhythm guitar.  One summer’s eve in 2007, he stumbled upon a traditional Irish session taking place at Patrick Sullivan’s pub and noticed the similarities of traditional Irish music to bluegrass and old time.  Gil instantly developed a passion for the more complex and lively melodies of traditional Irish music and thus began a journey of learning and understanding the music of Ireland.  He gave up bluegrass and old time music to focus his efforts exclusively on traditional Irish music. 
 
Gil joined Four Leaf Peat in the spring of 2008 and adds driving rhythm and depth to the band’s sound with his powerful DADGAD guitar playing.  He also on occasion plays the ten string bouzouki and flat-picks tunes on various fretted instruments including the mandolin and the tenor banjo. 
 
Gil is one of the key session leaders at the bi-monthly traditional Irish session at Boyd’s Jig and Reel pub in Knoxville.

Rick Hall is a self-taught player of the hammer dulcimer.  He fell in love with Irish music and the hammer dulcimer in 1976 when he first heard Guy Carawan at the Jubilee Festival at the Laurel Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee.  The Laurel Theater was, and continues to be a source of inspiration for his interest in Irish, Old Time, and regional music.  It was where he gained early inspiration and tuition from Guy and Candie, and their son Evan Carawan along with John McCutcheon, and Malcolm Dalglish.  Today, he plays a Dalglish hammer dulcimer which was crafted about the year Rick first began playing.

In 1985, he was playing at Silver Dollar City theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  It was rumored that Dolly Parton was buying Silver Dollar City and might be there for the announcement. While Rick was performing on the front entrance stage, Dolly, along with her entourage walked by in front of the stage.  Knowing that she was disrupting the performance she looked at him apologetically and mouthed the words, "I'm so sorry!"  She was indeed there that day working out a deal to acquire the park which eventually came to be known as Dollywood.  Some 22 years later, he was playing there again along with Four Leaf Peat in the Irish village for the Festival of Nations in 2007 and 2008.

The same year he heard the hammer dulcimer, he also first heard and became enamored of the Irish uilleann bagpipes on a recording of Seamus Ennis.  Due to the scarcity of the instrument, it would be decades later before he first acquired a set and began to learn how to play them.  He continues to learn from players such as Kieran O'Hare, David Power, Mick O'Brien, Cillian Vallely, and Paddy Keenan.

Rick was a pillar of the Knoxville Irish music session for many years, helping to keep it going through several different venues as well as hosting monthly house sessions.  It was out of this environment that the members of Four Leaf Peat came together.

Jason got his musical start as a self-taught flute/whistle player and Sean Nos singer.

As a professional bladesmith/blacksmith, Jason toured the United States with Renfairs, Highland Games, Civil War reenactments, Irish Music festivals, and SCA events which allowed him to meet and play with a wide variety of musicians from around the world.

After leaving the festival circuit to continue his blacksmithing trade, Jason began to play with a few local sessions and small Celtic bands before becoming one of the founding members of Four Leaf Peat. 

A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Jason has been playing flute, whistle, bodhran, and bones for about 20 years around the southeast, at venues ranging from private parties and weddings to homecoming festivals and fairs.  In 2008, Jason was hired to teach Irish percussion at Dollywood during their Festival of Nations and has since taught bodhran and Irish song classes at various regional festivals.

Now going on 15 years with Four Leaf Peat and helping shape the unique sound the band has made for itself, Jason says, "It's great to play with people who can listen and react to what you play and sing with the same groove and feeling.  These guys are great for that."