If you’ve ever heard Celtic tunes reverberating through Wachenheim’s second floor, you’re not going crazy — it’s just the faculty and student band, Knotwork, rehearsing.

The band, started by Academic Technology Consultant Trevor Murphy this past summer, meets weekly in Professor of Geology and Mineralogy Rónadh Cox’s lab. The band jokes that they’re making “rock” music while surrounded by geodes and minerals. Cox plays the bodhrán, a traditional Irish drum, for Knotwork. Other members include Alex Moon ’27, Jazmin Morenzi ’27, Research and Instruction Librarian Irene Tournas, and retired Office of Information Technology staff member Robert Bruce Wheat.

Knotwork was founded in the summer of 2025 when Murphy began playing the mandolin outside of the Zilkha Center for the Environment during his lunch breaks. “I decided to bring my mandolin with me to work two days a week, and call it ‘having mandolin for lunch,’” Murphy said in an interview with the Record.

Murphy hoped playing outside would attract company to jam with — and it worked. Soon, Tournas took interest in his ‘mandolin lunches’ and started bringing her fiddle to work. “We would each bring tunes (mostly Irish) and play them until we could launch into them from memory,” Murphy wrote in an email to the Record.

Although ‘mandolin lunches’ were a new development, this was not the first time that Murphy led the charge for Irish tunes on campus. Starting in 2004, Murphy, Cox, and Wheat played together in Inish, an Irish dance and music ensemble under the College’s dance department, according to Murphy. The ensemble parted about ten years later, due to a lack of department resources.

In a long-awaited reunion, Cox and Wheat answered a call for new musicians in the fall, and the four began playing together regularly. The band’s student members, Moon and Morenzi, joined soon after by responding to a Daily Message issued by the band.

Moon plays the whistle, metal spoons from Driscoll that he keeps in his hat, and an old Irish flute lent to him by Wheat. Morenzi is currently abroad, but intends to continue playing the fiddle when she returns, according to Cox.

This collaboration between different members of the College community gives Knotwork its unique sound. “It’s pretty special that we have [students], staff members, faculty members, someone who’s retired,” Murphy said. “We’re missing an alum.”

This sense of unity is present even in the band’s name. “It was well-liked because it sounds like, ‘not work,’ but also references the [Celtic] tradition of using decorative knots to symbolize various meanings,” Murphy said.

The band specializes in trad music, a folk genre rooted in Irish tradition. For Murphy and Tournas, the genre’s accessibility for beginners makes it a valuable medium for community building. “What’s always drawn me to folk music is there isn’t this obsession with perfection that there is in some other musical traditions that I’ve been a part of,” Tournas said. “I don’t want to think about being perfect when I’m playing music. I want to have fun and connect with people.”

Murphy noted that members improvise within the songs to keep them fresh. “You don’t see it, but we don’t play the notes as they’re written,” Murphy said. “You play the notes with a heavy lilt, so the rhythm is off, and you emphasize certain notes because it’s dance music.” Murphy’s sheet music is marked up with improvisational ornamentation, reminding him of which notes he’s stressed in the past.   

The Town has welcomed the band with open arms; they’ve played six gigs so far in 2026, in venues such as the Boba Tea Shop, Images Lounge, and Maple Fest in Hopkins Forest. They’ve also performed at Studio 9’s open mic nights at the Porches Inn in North Adams.

Murphy said that the band was met with particular warmth at the Harper Center, the Town senior center located on Church Street, where they were invited by Murphy’s neighbors to perform on March 17. “You just can’t find a more enthusiastic audience,” Murphy said.

This is Murphy’s 25th year at the College, and he said that the closeness of the local community has come in handy when looking for gigs: Opportunities have appeared through word of mouth and by reaching out to small establishments.

As one of the only students in the group, Moon said that being a part of the band has helped him connect with the local community. “It definitely feels like I’m getting more of a view of what Williamstown and North Adams are about culturally, when it comes to the folk tradition,” he said. “You know how much the College likes to emphasize the whole small town vibe. I feel it the most when engaging with the folk music in the area.”

While Knotwork is off to a strong start, they have big aspirations for playing future venues. Murphy said that they hope to perform at The Log, Tourists, and establish a monthly gig at a nearby bar soon.