MIKE FLAHERTY, drums and percussion. Mike holds a Masters degree in Special Education from the George Washington University. He studied music at the University of Central Florida, as well as George Mason University and Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. Mike enjoyed a long military career, including over twenty years as a drummer with the famed Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, before retiring from the Army in 2003.

In 1993, Mike founded Dixieland Direct, a combo that performs every Sunday at the Market Inn in SW, DC for their New Orleans jazz brunch and the first Thursday of every month at the 219 Club in Old Town, Alexandria. Mike currently teaches in Alexandria, Virginia. Mike joined Peabody Ragtime Ensemble in 2005.