Larry Chung – Banjo, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Acoustic and Electric Fiddle, Mandolin, Resophonic Guitar, Tenor Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Vocals

Bandleader, Cabin Fever founder, and multi-instrumentalist Larry Chung has always loved playing music. Born and raised in rural Illinois, Larry played classical violin and piano and eventually moved to the Bay Area to attend college at Stanford University. Over the next several years, he taught himself the guitar, the banjo, the mandolin, the Dobro, and the double bass. He has lived, worked, and performed in Germany, South Korea, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. For the past several years, he has been concentrating on fiddle and pedal steel guitar.

An eclectic musician and listener, Larry has played a host of different musical styles from bebop to Bach to Afro-pop. His bluegrass influences include Flatt and Scruggs, Tony Rice, and especially Joe Stewart (who played every instrument with the Bluegrass Boys, including mandolin!). Larry currently plays with several other groups, including the bluegrass band Bound to Ride, singer/songwriter Sonya Greta, and Richie and the Rocketdogs.

When not fronting Cabin Fever, Larry is also a talented music instructor and dedicated arts administrator. He currently teaches all of the instruments he plays, and has over 70 students ranging in age from 3 to 75. He is presently writing a series of instructional books for kids and is actively involved with putting together a community music program in the Bay Area. Larry also serves as the Executive Director of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, a highly-acclaimed, Bay Area-based music competition for the finest young classical musicians from around the world. A dedicated tai chiplayer, Larry can often be seen onstage breathing deeply and bending his knees.

Larry's musical life is brimming with beautiful-sounding instruments... My main banjo is an RB-4 banjo ("Phyllis") by Larry Cohea, my backup banjo is a 1978 Gold Star GF-11W archtop (paint peeler); my main guitars are an '59 Martin D-28, a '40 Gibson J-35 and a ‘57 Fender Telecaster (I likes 'em played-in); my fiddle is a late 1700s Stainer-style fiddle (it's really OLD); my electric fiddle is a 5-string honeycomb model by Phil Barbera; I use a gorgeous snakewood bow crafted by Jack and Dennis English of Santa Cruz; my mandolin is a 1985 Carlson-signed Flatiron F-5 (thanks, Ed!); my resophonic guitar is 30s Regal-built Dobro/Nioma (thanks, Todd!); my tenor guitar is a '62 Martin 0-18T; and my pedal steel is a double neck 1970 ZB Custom model that was generously and unexpectedly donated to me. I feel very fortunate to have such beautiful-sounding instruments - I just wish I could play ‘em all at the same time!

Yvonne Walbroehl – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Vocals

Yvonne is originally from northern Virginia, near the bluegrass hotbed of Washington, DC. Despite this advantage, she took a rather circuitous route to becoming a bluegrass musician. Captivated by the folk-rock and country-rock sounds of the 60’s and 70’s, Yvonne took up guitar at the age of 11. While in college, she was introduced to the music of Emmylou Harris, particularly the album "Roses in the Snow", which sparked an interest in bluegrass. However, Yvonne remained focused on her studies and eventually earned a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina. She then moved to Midland, Michigan to pursue a career in chemistry.

Ultimately, it was the boredom of life in a small town that drove Yvonne to explore bluegrass music more seriously. She started attending the local folk jams and being the only guitarist at the jam who could play a solid G-run, she was recruited to fill the guitar slot in the Midland County Chicken String Band. During her years with the Chicken String Band, she developed a powerful and unique vocal style, based on the traditional sounds of Hazel Dickens, Bill Monroe, and the Stanley Brothers, but with strong rock, blues, and country influences.

After moving to the Bay Area in 1994, she spent a few years in the woodshed focusing on her lead guitar playing, becoming one of the few women lead guitar players in bluegrass. She eventually joined forces with Larry Carlin and Claudia Hampe to form The Warblers. After short stints with the Twisted Oaks and the Prune Rooney Band, Yvonne became a founding member of Cabin Fever. When not making music, Yvonne works as an analytical chemist at Roche Pharmaceuticals in Palo Alto. She currently resides in Mountain View with her very special diabetic cat, Clyde.

Yvonne loves old “broken-in” guitars. Among her collection of acoustic guitars are a very well-worn 1947 Martin D-18, a recently acquired 1958 Martin D-28, and a 1940 Martin O-18 with sunburst finish. She can also be seen from time to time playing a 2000 Santa Cruz Tony Rice Custom D, which she bought from Cabin Fever bassist Steve Swan. When playing plugged-in, she usually plays a 1950 Gibson ES-350 through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp.

Bryan McClenahan – Fiddle

Bryan is a true, home grown Californian, in fact he’s lived his entire life on the SF Peninsula, and if he can at all help it, he plans to stay here – The weather is just too good.

His parents started him off camping at a very young age (6 months!), and at that very campground he was blessed with the fiddle music of Neil Thompson around the campfires that Neil and Edith would often have for all their guests.  This was Bryan’s inspiration – He wanted to play music like Grampa Neil.  So at 10 years old he started taking classical lessons (the only thing available to him at the time) from his grade school band instructor. 

Very early on the instructor started teaching Bryan the few fiddle tunes he knew, but Bryan needed a fiddle instructor.  So the search was on, and we found bay area’s well known teacher, Jack Tuttle.  Bryan’s playing evolved under Jack, and he went on to become the California State Junior and Men’s champion.  He also finished 7th in the men’s division at the nationals in Weiser, Idaho.

You may notice Bryan’s fiddle – It’s his most recent purchase, and it’s a beauty.  It was actually made for Ron Coles back in 1998 by Frank Daniels.  Bryan was lucky enough to wander through the luthiers hut at the Grass Valley Bluegrass festival last year and notice it was for sale.  Long story short it’s been an outstanding acquisition.  It’s far from typical, in that the back is made out of quilted maple and is exquisite.  If you get a chance to look at the back you might be able to see an owl or an angel in the extremely figured grain.  He also has several bows from Jack English, and he’s currently contemplating re-learning his mandolin chops as he owns a pretty special Flatiron F5.

Bryan’s had tons of hobbies over the years when not playing music, including mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, motorocycle riding, rock crawling (4-wheeling).. The list goes on and on.  His current passion however is golf.  When he isn’t working as a network engineer, or playing music, it’s a pretty safe bet he’s either practicing or playing golf.