Felicia Dale

Felicia Dale performs vocals, hurdy-gurdy, whistles and fiddle with her partner William Pint in Pint & Dale.  She grew up in an environment steeped in the traditional lore of the sea. Born on New Year’s Day 1958 and raised on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound, she spent her childhood sailing Northwest coastal waters and cruising Canada’s “inside passage.” Her father was a sea captain who brought back tales and treasures from exotic ports of call. Her mother is a transplanted Parisian; Dale learned French as her first language and acquired a lifelong love for the songs of the French seafaring tradition.

Felicia’s first musical venture was a duet act with Waterbug recording artist Kat Eggleston when they were both sixteen.

Her exposure to the vielle-à-roue or hurdy-gurdy was first through several Seattle area players and then from a performance by the French group Cabistan while on tour at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. Upon her return to Seattle she immediately commissioned an instrument from California luthier Michael Hubbert.

Felicia’s striking vocal harmonies are matched by her creative use of the hurdy-gurdy and Irish pennywhistles, taking these traditional instruments far beyond their usual roles as she blends them into the texture of a song or departs on improvisational romps with equal ease.