Gabe Hirshfeld grew up in Boston, Massachusetts.  At the age of fifteen, while listening to the NPR show Car Talk, he heard the great banjo player Earl Scruggs for the first time.  The sound of Earl Scruggs’ banjo playing affected him profoundly in a way that no other sound ever had.  To put it simply, Earl Scruggs single handedly changed Gabe’s life.  After playing and obsessing over the banjo for several years, Gabe won the Lowell Fiddle and Banjo Competition Bluegrass division several times and was the last winner of the New England Banjo Championship at the Ossipee Valley Music Festival.  Gabe has played and recorded with many bands in the Boston area and, while at Berklee college of music, became a founding member of the Lonely Heartstring Band.  He has also taught many banjo and music camps including Banjo Camp North, Midwest Banjo Camp.  Gabe has toured and played banjo all over the world and probably needs a nap.