The traditional music world contains two types of musicians: the ones that stick to the good old ways (“trad to the bone”) and the ones that push the limits. Matching Orange is one of the rare groups that is deftly able to walk this line. Due to hard work and dedication, after just two years this band has emerged as "one of the best the East Coast has to offer" (zickets.com). Distinguished by their high energy playing and brightly colored music folders, the sound they create is interesting and unique while maintaining a familiar feeling of age-oldness. The result is an alluring complexity. Wherever these three musicians travel, they are greeted with acclaim. Whether playing for the contra dances they cut their teeth on, jamming at a local pub, or bringing the house down at a formal concert, audiences are always excited to hear such a refreshing approach to traditional fiddle music. The band boasts an impressive repertoire of traditional and original material, both tunes and songs. Combine this with a brotherly stage prescence and you have the character that makes up Matching Orange. Featuring Eric McDonald (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Eric Eid-Reiner (piano), and Brendan Carey Block (fiddle), the band creates a swirling level of intensity, sometimes gritty, sometimes pure, and always engaging. Matching Orange players take full advantage of diverse musical backgrounds, with extensive training in folk, classical, jazz, and other traditions. The band released their debut, self-titled CD in January of 2011.

BRENDAN CAREY BLOCK has been compiling honors on the fiddle since he was 10 years old. For five summers he received scholarships from the New Hampshire Highland Games and the Saint Andrews Society of New Hampshire enabling him to travel to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to immerse himself in Cape Breton music. In 2001, he became the US National Junior Scottish Fiddle Champion, and he is a three time New England champion. He has been a member of the renowned Glengarry Bhoys and currently performs with the Boston based Annalivia and his own duo project with Flynn Cohen. In May of 2009, Brendan was selected by the New Hampshire Council of the Arts to represent the state at the Library of Congress and The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington DC. The concert series was put on by the American Folklife center. They produce eight concerts a year, each performer representing a different state. Brendan was one of the youngest performers selected. Brendan has performed with countless notable artists, including Natalie MacMaster, Jerry Holland, The Battlefield Band, John Whelan, Alasdair Fraser, Cherish the Ladies, Brenda Stubbert, Gaelic Storm and Jay Ungar.

At 17, ERIC MCDONALD picked up the mandolin and burst onto the Boston folk scene. He was a founding member of Jaded Mandolin, a teen string band that became a local phenomenon. He spent two years touring with the Dave Rowe Trio, a Maine based folk powerhouse. As a mandolin accompanist, Eric has performed with songwriters including Raymond Gonzalez, Chris O’Brien and Thea Hopkins. Guitar credits include Katie McNally and Ari and Mia Friedman. In addition to Matching Orange, Eric performs with Pesky J. Nixon and Murphy's Shadow (alongside Brendan). He appeared on the new album by Rebecca Wudarski, and they continue to perform. He can also be seen playing for contra dances with his band Scoot! Mandolin instruction credits include Maine Fiddle Camp, alongside Glen Loper and David Surrette and the Passim School of Music. In 2008, he served as music director for The Actors' Shakespeare Project’s production of "The Tempest." The Wall Street Journal said “Eric McDonald performs his incidental music in full view of the audience, rattling a thunder sheet and tootling on a slide whistle with the flair of an old-time radio sound-effects man.” Eric studied at Berklee College of Music, under the tutelage of John McGann, Eugeine Friesen and others.

ERIC EID-REINER began playing fiddle when he was very small, proceeding to win multiple youth fiddle contests. At seven, he discovered the piano and didn't look back. Now, he performs throughout New England with numerous groups, including the Reiner Family Band, and the Rachel Cole Band. He grew up listening to fiddle music and attending camps from Vermont to Cape Breton. In late 2007, Eric was invited to perform with Ashley Macisaac, Tony Demarco and John Doyle. Next, in early 2009, he appeared on Brian O’Donovan’s “Celtic Sojourn: A Boston Session,” where he performed with fiddler Oisin Mc Auley, The band The Hay Brigade and other performers. Eric has two CDs under his own name. His first CD, “Grand Tour: Traditional Music on Piano” received great praise from Dirty Linen Magazine and Celtic Beat, and his just-released CD marks a new frontier in creative growth. On “On a Meadowlark Night: Dance Music from New England, Ireland, Scotland, Québec, and Cape Breton,” Eric plays with friends and family including fiddlers Andy Reiner, Dave Reiner, and Kimberley Fraser, hammered dulcimer player Ken Kolodner, flutist Anna Grosslein, clarinetist Billy Novick, and bassist Will Lydgate