YARD SAUCE is a Maine-based, acoustic string trio featuring Chris Moore (mandolins and vocals), Jeff Christmas (guitar and vocals) and Callie Brennan (fiddle and vocals). Their dynamic live performances draw from the group’s eclectic musical tastes, diverse regional traditional music influences, and a deep catalog of original songs. Old-time, bluegrass, country and folk traditions (including traditional Shaker music) are all part of the mix in every live set. The trio trades off on lead vocal and harmony duties, delivering arrangements of traditional and original tunes with their distinctive, down-to-earth authenticity combined with virtuosic instrumental skills.
Jeff Christmas (guitar and vocals) began playing music when he was 6 years old. Since then he has made his way from pop guitar to musical theater to jazz bands to opera to Americana and just about everything in between. He is equally at home on the operatic stage and in a smoky bar. He also is addicted to that connected feeling we can find when playing music together in a room and works to find and cultivate that feeling with collaborators. Jeff was raised in Burlington, North Carolina and has lived in California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and South Carolina before moving to Portland in 2015. Jeff brings all of these regional and genre ingredients and eagerly mixes them into the gumbo that is Yard Sauce.
CHRIS MOORE (mandolins and vocals) grew up in Maine. As a youth he studied piano with Naydene Bowder and violin with Ronald Lantz. He graduated from Waynflete School and went on to receive his degree in acting from Skidmore College. After college, Chris moved to New York City, where he worked as a performance artist, musician, puppeteer, and on the staff of the Arts at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn. While in New York, he studied with mandolin master Andy Statman. In 1989, Chris founded the band Rust Farm with guitarist John McGann and released two albums. Maine audiences will also know him as mandolinist with The Fogg Brothers bluegrass band. Chris has composed, performed, and recorded music for dance, film, television, spoken word, theater, and visual art projects. He has performed as a classical soloist and was awarded a Maine Arts Commission Fellowship for songwriting. His songs have been recorded by and performed by many artists. Chris has taught lessons,classes, and workshops in mandolin, songwriting, English Country Dance and traditional Shaker music. He lived in Nashville, TN from 2003-2013, where he founded the band Kindling Stone, featuring original compositions along with 19th century tunes from the Shaker and Sacred Harp traditions. Chris returned to Maine in 2013 to work as the Director of Music Education for 317 Main Community Music Center in Yarmouth. His latest solo recording, “Changing Union” (2025) was produced by folk icon Tim O’Brien.
CALLIE BRENNAN (fiddle and vocals) was raised in Maine, where she spent her childhood writing short stories, practicing fiddle tunes, and tracking mud all through the house.
At 18, she left Maine to pursue degrees in music, and traveled the world studying, performing, and eventually, teaching. She’s appeared in venues including the Sydney Opera House, Barbican Stage, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Abbey Road Studios, Boettcher Hall, and many others. She’s held title positions in ensembles including the Spartanburg Philharmonic and the West Virginia Symphony, section positions in the Colorado Ballet Orchestra and Colorado Music Festival, and appeared regularly with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Opera. Now back in Maine, Callie holds a position in The Portland Symphony Orchestra, is a permanent member of the Portland String Quartet, and performs regularly with celebrated pianist Laura Kargul in their duo (aptly named), the Brennan/Kargul Duo.
Callie joined Yard Sauce 2025 and finds herself in frequent awe of her bandmates’ musical genius. When she isn’t dashing off to rehearsal, she spends her time fretting about the garden, chasing her toddler around the yard, and impulsively signing up for half marathons that she doesn’t have time to train for.
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