Kevin Burke is known for being one of the most lyrical fiddle players in Celtic music. He was a founding member of seminal groups such as The Bothy Band, Patrick Street, and Celtic Fiddle Festival and is prized as a solo and duet player.
In 1992, Burke assembled his band, Open House. Made up of Burke, Paul Kotaphish. Mark Graham, and Sandy Silva, Open House developed organically out of jam sessions between Burke, Kotapish and Graham. Silva was invited to join and the new group focused on mixing traditional music from multiple cultures.
Open House stayed together for some years, made three recordings and disbanded in 1999.
Growing up in Sligo in the 1960s when fiddle music had regained popularity in its native home, the Northwest of Ireland, Manus McGuire was ideally placed to carry on a tradition made legend by fiddlers Michael Coleman, James Morrison, and Paddy Killoran thirty years previously. From an early age he learned various dance tunes by his father’s knee and followed his older brother, Seamus, into the national traditional music arena that was steadily gathering momentum. In 1970, at the young age of 14, Manus won Sligo’s prestigious Fiddler of Dooney competition. Since then, he has toured extensively in North America and Canada.
Manus has recorded eight albums, including The Humours of Lisadell (Folk Legacy, 1980), and Carousel (Gael Linn, 1984),with Seamus; Buttons & Bows (Green Linnet, 1983), First month of Summer (Green Linnet, 1987) and Grace Notes (Gael Linn, 1991), all with the group Buttons & Bows; Moving Cloud (Green Linnet, 1994) and Foxglove (Green Linnet, 1997), with the group Moving Cloud; and a solo debut, Saffron & Blue (Green Linnet, 2000) This last recording was placed in the Top Ten polls of the Boston Globe and Irish Echo newspapers. It was also named Best Album of 2000–and Manus, Best Male Musician of the same year–by the Irish American News.
Joe Burke, East Galway accordion player, has influenced box players worldwide through his illustrious career.
From his first public performance in 1955 and his first albums (released on 78rpm, the last 78’s to be released in Europe!) to current recordings and tours, Burke has held a special place in the rolls of Irish traditional musicians. Known for his stylish use of triplets and rolls, he was been the recipient of awards such as the AIB Traditional Musician of the Year Award 1997and Gradam An Chomhaltais 2003.
A well-loved and respected teacher, Burke has offered his expertise to students from Co. Leitrim, Ireland to Paris, France, Dallas, Texas and various logging and fishing towns in Alaska.
He frequently performs with his wife, accordion and guitar player Anne Conroy Burke and has recorded with many musical greats including Andy McCann and Felix Dolan, Sean Maguire and Josephine Keegan, Michael Cooney and Terry Corcoran, Charlie Lennon, Frankie Gavin, Kevin Burke, Brian Conway, Noreen O’Donoghue and Mike Rafferty.
Scottish Fiddler, Johnny Cunningham was widely regarded as one of the world’s best. A founding member of Silly Wizard, Relativity, and Celtic Fiddle Festival, Cunningham was known for his lightning-fast reels and hauntingly beautiful Scottish airs.
Throughout his career, Cunningham also was a member of Nightnoise his own alternative band, Raindogs, and various theatrical productions.
“Veterans of Planxty, the Bothy Band, De Dannan and more, Patrick Street represents the distillation of a crucial new strain that emerged in traditional Irish music some twenty-five years ago.” – Tim O’Brien
Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, Jackie Daly and Ged Foley – collectively known as Patrick Street – are known throughout the Irish music world as four of its most brilliant players. On a repertoire steeped in traditional music, the band’s tightly executed arrangements and unparalleled musicianship know no equal. Beginning as a one-time tour of four recognized masters, nearly two decades and eight albums later this “supergroup” has reached legendary status. “Mesmerizing,” says Billboard, “…a must for those who love Irish music.”
Patrick Street adds a new lane this year with the addition of multi-instrumentalist John Carty. Known for his sensational fiddling, John will add double fiddle with Kevin as well as exciting variety to the band with his talents on banjo, flute and tenor-guitar.
Patrick Street was launched in 1986 as a one-off tour de force called Legends of Irish Music. Living up to its name, it featured fiddler Kevin Burke (veteran of The Bothy Band), singer/bouzouki player Andy Irvine (Planxty), and accordion player Jackie Daly (De Dannan), along with acclaimed guitarist Arty McGlynn. With the success of the tour, the quartet released an album that year named Patrick Street (after a road or avenue found in towns across Ireland) and a band was born. The line-up of Burke, Irvine and Daly has remained constant through the years, with other distinctive artists passing through the ranks including guitarist Gerry O’Beirne, fiddler James Kelly, and uilleann piper Declan Masterson. Ged Foley, a highly-skilled guitarist from England with past stints in the Battlefield Band and House Band, came on board in 1996. This year the Street widens it’s talents with John Carty.
The consummate Irish fiddler, Kevin has given to the band’s sound and repertoire the highly ornamented Sligo style for which he’s known. Jackie brings his wide repertoire of Kerry music to the fore with dazzling slides and polkas, and his seamless accordion-and-fiddle duets with Kevin are a highlight of the band’s shows. Andy Irvine is one of the great balladeers of Irish music, and his bouzouki playing has long been a standard by which others are judged. He brings his shared passions for Eastern European rhythms and American folksinger Woody Guthrie to the band. Ged’s inventive guitar licks provide ideal underpinning for Andy’s intricate songs and the group’s blistering sets of reels and jigs. With new recruit John Carty, Patrick Street brims with the spirit and sensitivity of Irish music at its best.
Band Members
Kevin Burke (fiddle)
Kevin Burke was born in London, England to Irish parents who came originally from Sligo, an area renowned for its traditional music, particularly that of the fiddle. As a teenager he played in music clubs throughout England and Ireland, but in 1972 a chance meeting with Arlo Guthrie brought him to the USA to play on Arlo’s album, Last Of The Brooklyn Cowboys. At Christy Moore’s beckoning, Kevin moved for a period to Ireland to join what would become one of the most influential Irish groups of the 1970s, The Bothy Band. After the band’s breakup, he recorded two classic duo albums and toured with Bothy Band guitarist Míchéal O’Domhnaill. He is also a member of The Celtic Fiddle Festival. In 2002, Kevin was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. “My style is a definite composite,” he says. “The old Sligo players provided the building blocks but I’ve borrowed bits and pieces from all sorts of musicians along the way.” Kevin now makes Portland, OR his home.
Andy Irvine (vocals, bouzouki, mandolin)
Andy Irvine is one of the great Irish singers, his voice one of a handful of truly great ones that gets to the very soul of Ireland. He was a member of two other groundbreaking groups, Sweeney’s Men and Planxty (which has recently reformed), and has worked closely with Paul Brady. Album collaborations include work with the likes of De Danann, Maddy Prior, June Tabor and Dick Gaughan. If his voice explores an aching Irish romanticism, his sprightly bouzouki playing has brought a Balkan edge to his musical collaborations. Andy was one of the first to bring bouzouki and Bulgarian music to the Irish tradition. His collaborative album ’East Wind’ with Riverdance composer Bill Whelan featured Hungarian singer Marta Sebestyen. His latest project is the group Mozaik with Donal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm.
Jackie Daly (accordion)
Jackie Daly comes from North Cork and plays in the style of Sliabh Luachra, the area bordering Kerry and North Cork and encompassing such towns as Castleisland and Jackie’s home, Kanturk. Sliabh Luachra is a regional musical style known for its lively slides and lovely, spirited polkas, of which Jackie is a master. He was a member of the famous Irish group De Dannan and has toured or recorded with the likes of Dolores Keane, Buttons And Bows, Kevin Burke (as a duo), John Faulkner and Seamus Creagh.
Ged Foley (guitar, vocals)
Ged (pronounced “Jed”) was born in County Durham in the North East of England. Ged is a superb guitarist, a singer of distinction with a spare, unornamented style and a player of both the fiddle and the Northumbrian smallpipes. A one-time member of Scotland’s The Battlefield Band and a founding member of The House Band, Ged also worked in a duo with the excellent English singer/songwriter Jez Lowe. He replaced original Patrick Street member Arty McGlynn in 1996, and joined the Celtic Fiddle Festival after an initial tour with the band in 2001. He lives in the USA.
John Carty (fiddle, banjo, flute, tenor guitar)
Born in London, England and now residing in Co. Roscommon, Ireland, John plays in the Roscommon and Sligo styles of his family roots. He was recently named Traditional Musician of the Year for 2003 by Irish Television TG4. He has released a number of well-regarded albums and also plays with his band At the Racket.
Quotes From the Press
“With the relaxed grace of masters, Patrick Street use their breathtaking virtuosity to display this ancient music at its wild and humble best.” – The Boston Globe
“An overall joy…Irish traditional music performed with fervor and fidelity.” – Irish Echo
“With the possible exception of the Chieftains, there’s no better Celtic music group in the world right now than Patrick Street!” – The Washington Post
“Mesmerizing…a must for those who love Irish music.” – Billboard
In the northwest of France lies the province of Brittany, where a unique Celtic culture has flourished for centuries. Kornog merged traditional Breton tunes with the Scottish vocal repertoire, creating an exciting new acoustic music. The quartet’s complex arrangements result in a style quite unlike any other, at once graceful and thrilling, ancient and contemporary.
1980 saw the creation of the trio Kornog (meaning “West” in Breton) with vocalist, bouzouki, mandolin, and cittern player Jamie McMenemy, Breton guitarist Soïg Siberil, and French-born Breton fiddler Christian Lemaître. Soon flautist Jean-Michel Veillon joined the band, and the formula was complete.
Their unique sound, created by a focused unison of flute and fiddle, a complex bouzouki and guitar rhythm section, and complex arrangements, was ideal for the Western Europe concert circuit. When Kornog toured the United States for the first time, they had such an enthusiastic public response that they recorded a live album in Minneapolis, Premiere, released on Green Linnet.
In 1986, Soïg Siberil left the band, and guitarist Gilles Le Bigot joined in order to record the album Kornog IV. After a Yugoslav tour and a stint with the Irish traditional powerhouse the Chieftains, Kornog disbanded. Veillon and Le Bigot founded Barzaz, Lemaître joined Storvan and then the Celtic Fiddle Festival, and McMenemy took a nine-year break before guesting in several recordings throughout the 90s.
Then, in 1999, Kornog reformed with the addition of guitarist Nicolas Quemener. After the reformation, they toured the United States and recorded Korong, 2000.
“Andy M. Stewart is among the finest interpreters of Scottish Folk songs and a wonderful songwriter.”
The Boston Globe
Recognized as one of Celtic music’s most talented vocalists and songwriters, former lead singer of Irish band Silly Wizard, Andy M. Stewart has captivated audiences through his talent and humor for over thirty years.
Born into a family famous for their traditional singing, Stewart gained his first notoriety through leading the Wizards through eight albums and a few worldwide tours, and later through an extensive solo albums career that included four albums: By the Hush (Melody Maker Magazines Folk Album of the Year) Songs of Robert Burns, Man in the Moon, and Donegal Rain. Stewart also recorded three duet albums with Manus Lunny: Fire in the Glen, Dublin Lady, and At it Again.
The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland’s premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies. Their music demonstrates to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recording efforts that seemingly can’t get better…yet continue to do just that.
The Tannahills have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with an electrifying effect. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment, and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Winnipeg Free Press noted, “The Tannahill Weavers – properly harnessed – could probably power an entire city for a year on the strength of last night’s concert alone. The music may be old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll.”
Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland and named for the town’s historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. The Tannahill Weavers began to attract attention when founding members Roy Gullane and Phil Smillie added the full-sized highland bagpipes to the on-stage presentations, the first professional Scottish folk group to successfully do so. The combination of the powerful pipe solos, Roy’s driving guitar backing and lead vocals, and Phil’s ethereal flute playing breathed new life into Scotland’s vast repertoire of traditional melodies and songs.
Three years and a dozen countries later, the Tannahills were the toast of Europe, having won the Scotstar Award for Folk Record of the Year with their third album, The Tannahill Weavers. Canada came the next summer, with thousands at the national festivals in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto screaming an approval that echoed throughout the Canadian media. The Regina Leader-Post wrote, “The Tannahill Weavers personify Celtic music, and if you are given to superlatives, you have to call their talent ’awesome’.”
Since their first visit to the United States in 1981, the Tannahills’ unique combination of traditional melodies on pipes, flute and fiddle, driving rhythms on guitar and bouzouki, and powerful three and four part vocal harmonies have taken the musical community by storm. As Garrison Keillor, the host of “Prairie Home Companion”, remarked, “These guys are a bunch of heroes every time they go on tour in the States”.
Over the years the Tannies have been trailblazers for Scottish music, and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. The Ithaca Journal writes, “Traveling overseas to perform always thrusts the artist into the role of cultural ambassador. If that is the case, the Tannahill Weavers make Scotland out to be a country to desire, one with an appreciation of the old, an acceptance of the new and a quick and playful wit.”
1994 saw the release to critical acclaim of Capernaum, which won the Indie Award in the USA for Celtic Album of the Year from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufacturers. Now with their 15th album, Alchemy (2000), the Tannahill Weavers are firmly established as one of the world’s premier Celtic artists. From reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm and lively Scottish spirit.
Quotes From the Press
“These guys are a bunch of heroes every time they go on tour in the States” – Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion
“…world class musicians with passion and a healthy sense of fun, keeping alive and making accessible the very heart of the tradition itself.” – Mojo Magazine
“…as close to perfect as it gets in an imperfect world…there is no Celtic group which can match the enigmatic Tannahill Weavers for pure excitement.” – R. Weir, Sing Out
“…no band of their ilk has performed with more energy or authority than the Tannies, who blend guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, fiddle, whistles, bodhran and pipes into a lilting product as fine and enduring as the textiles woven by namesake weavers of their Scottish hometown, Paisley.” – Westword, Denver, Colorado
“…the Weavers’ unpretentious manner and superlative playing set them apart from most other Celtic groups. In a world where good taste has become a scarce commodity, the Tannahill Weavers are a wealthy bunch.” – Michael Lipton, The Charleston Gazette
“Versatility is their strong suit, backed up by instrumental brilliance and on-stage high spirit.” – Vancouver Press
“Past meets present for a heckuva future!” – St. Paul Pioneer Press
“If you haven’t yet discovered the emotional power and beauty of Celtic music, then you owe it to yourself to see firsthand one of the best traditional Celtic folk bands in the world – The Tannahill Weavers. No other group comes close to matching their musical style and breathtaking harmony. Whether they’re performing an a cappella ballad with beauty and precision, or a hard-driving Gaelic battle tune, this band is one of a kind, featuring stunning vocals, as well as the best guitar, pipes, fiddle, bodhran, and tin whistle players anywhere.” – Miami Valley Guide to Musical Diversity
“If it’s music you want,” Christy Moore sang, “then go to Clare.” In 1989, flute, tin whistle, low whistle, and bodhrán player Kevin Crawford heeded those words. He left his hometown of Birmingham, a bustling industrial city in west central England, for rural West Clare. “One reason I moved was to up my game musically and get a bigger exposure to the tradition where it originated,” he explained. “I never intended tomake it a permanent move, but I’ve been living here ever since.”
What made Kevin’s decision to stay easier was the welcome he received from other musicians. “I knew I had been accepted into the traditional world of music,” he recalled, “when Conor Tully phoned me up and asked me to play in a session with him.” Kevin performed regularly with him at the Hill Bar in Kylebrack, East Galway.
Conor isn’t the only fiddler on Kevin’s new CD, the aptly titled In Good Company (GLCD1211) , who valued Kevin’s participation in sessions. For a couple of years, he played with Tony Linnane throughout Clare. Kevin also performed with James Cullinan in sessions in Lissycasey and Doolin. And for nearly five years, Kevin played beside Tommy Peoples in a Sunday morning session at Cruise’s Pub in Ennis.
“When I first moved to Clare,” Kevin said, “Tommy was doing a regular Tuesday night session at Brogan’s Pub in Ennis. I used to go in and listen, not play. At that time I was living in O’Callaghan’s Mills, East Clare, and I felt I needed to move into Ennis. I wound up staying in Tommy’s house. He actually gave me my first car, a Ford Cortina that hehad. ’You’ll need it for the sessions you’ll be playing,’ he told me. In every respect, Tommy is the most generous musician I’ve ever come across.”
Such musical friendships formed for Kevin almost from the moment he showed a singular talent for playing in Birmingham, where he was born on December 6, 1967. Both his parents had immigrated from Miltown Malbay, Clare, bringing with them an ardent love of traditional music. Kevin’s father, Patrick, often sang songs and whistled tunes around the house, while Kevin’s mother, Mary, would whisk him, his two brothers, and his sister back to Miltown Malbay for music-filled summers. There he heardsuch masters as P. J. Crotty on flute, Seán Talty on pipes, and Eamonn McGivney on fiddle.
While on holiday in West Clare, Kevin also heard a duo that profoundly shaped his outlook on Irish music and, not coincidentally, this album. “The first memory I have of Irish traditional music being played live featured a flute player and a fiddle player: Josie Hayes and Junior Crehan. It was a sound I always associated with Irish music, and Ithought it was the perfect instrumental combination.”
Josie Hayes came from Coore, not far from the home of Kevin’s mother, while Martin “Junior” Crehan hailed from Bonavella, near the Crosses of Annagh. Both had played together in the famed Laictin Naofa Céilí Band, who included legendary piper Willie Clancy. The inspiration of this Miltown Malbay-based céilí band can be heard in Kevin and Martin Hayes’s rendition of The Bag of Spuds, a reel Kevin learned from the Laictin Naofa’s 1960 LP, Come to an Irish Dance Party.
Back in Birmingham, Kevin was additionally influenced by the harmonica playing of his uncle Michael, the fiddling of Pat Molloy from Connemara and Tony Neylon from Clare, the accordion playing of Brendan Boyle from Fermanagh, and the flute playing of Patsy Moloney from Limerick. Later on, Kevin played Irish music with Joe and Enda Molloy, Pat Molloy’s sons, and with Mick Conneely, a fiddler born in Bedford, north of London. Kevin, Mick Conneely, Brendan Boyle, banjoist Joe Molloy, Cork-born vocalist Bernadette Davis, and transplanted Parisian guitar and bouzouki player Ivan Miletitch eventually founded a group together, Long Acre. They performed at folk clubs throughout England and also cut an album. The band grew out of the many marathon music sessions organized by Miletitch. “He had this old van we’d all pile into, and asmany as twelve of us would get in,” Kevin remembered. “We never knew where we’d wind up: Newcastle, Scotland, Belfast. The sessions would often last for days on end.”
The music itself was of a high standard. “When you’re born and living in England, you sometimes feel your music may be a bit inferior to what’s coming out of Ireland, and you may not think you’re as good as the musicians there. But, funny enough, one of the reasons the music is so strong in England and in the U.S. is that you work twice as hard atit because you feel you have to.”
After relocating to West Clare, Kevin’s musical work ethic remained just as strong. At one point, he played seven nights a week and twice on Sunday in sessions. In Clare, he formed the group Grianán with button accordionist P. J. King, fiddler Siobhán Peoples (Tommy’s daughter), bouzouki player Pat Marsh, bodhrán player John Moloney, guitarist Paul McSherry, and singer Niamh De Burca. Subsequently, Kevin, P. J., and guitarist-singer Martin O’Malley formed the trio Raise the Rafters. Each band recorded an album: Maid of Erin in 1991 and Raise the Rafters in 1995.
Kevin also appeared on such albums as Maiden Voyage (1991), recorded at Pepper’s Bar in Feakle, Clare; The Sound of Stone: Artists for Mullaghmore (1993); The Sanctuary Sessions (1994), recorded at Cruise’s Pub; Seán Tyrrell’s Cry of a Dreamer (1994); and Musical Travel Ireland (1994) on the French label Silex. More recently, he’s guested on Joe Derrane’s The Tie That Binds (1998).
In 1993 and 1998, Kevin joined, respectively, two of Ireland’s most celebrated instrumental bands, Moving Cloud and Lúnasa. With the former, he made two exceptional albums for Green Linnet: 1995’s Moving Cloud (GLCD1150), named best recording of the year by New York City’s Irish Echo newspaper, and 1998’s Foxglove (GLCD1186). With Lúnasa, he made another superb Green Linnet release, 1999’s Otherworld (GLCD1200) , also singled out by the Irish Echo as that year’s most outstanding album; plus the Lúnasa recording The Merry Sisters of Fate (GLCD1213). His involvement with each group has brought him the wider international recognition he richly deserves.
Following his acclaimed solo debut in 1994, ’D’ Flute Album (GLCD1162) , also available on Green Linnet, Kevin has now made his most personal, heartfelt recording to date, In Good Company. “I wanted to reintroduce myself to the musicians I played with when I first came over to Clare and to the tunes we used to play,” he said, describing the album’sgenesis. “When I’m away from home, these are the musicians I miss the most, the ones I sit on the tour bus or the plane wishing I was back in Clare playing tunes with.”
To satisfy his longing, Kevin recorded some old CDs, LPs, and session tapes onto mini-discs and brought them on tour. “I’d be sitting in the back of the tour bus playing along with the mini-discs,” he said, “but I knew there couldn’t be any integration or sparks flying compared to actually being in a session. That’s when the notion of this album really took root. I thought the only way to get the job done was to find some of the old material I used to play, draw on some of the new tunes I liked, and try to get together some of the musicians I’ve always loved playing with. In many ways, this is an album of heroes of mine.”
Those heroes represent the cream of Irish traditional fiddling: Tommy Peoples, Tony Linnane, Frankie Gavin, Martin Hayes (playing viola here), Conor Tully, James Cullinan, Mick Conneely, and two band colleagues, Seán Smyth of Lúnasa and Manus McGuire of Moving Cloud. With these nine string virtuosos Kevin plays D concert, E-flat, or B-flat flute, adding low whistle to one track. He also delivers two impressive solos, expertly backed by Moving Cloud pianist Carl Hession and a chamber orchestra consisting of four violins, two violas, and one cello. The impeccable rhythm supplied by Carl Hession on keyboards, Arty McGlynn on guitars, Jim Higgins on bodhrán, and Mick Conneely on bouzouki elicits the best from the melody players. (Mick actually pulls double duty on John Carty’s/The Stolen Reel/Feeding the Birds, playing both fiddle and bouzouki.)
Altan is one of the most iconic bands in Irish music. The band delivers on their reputation as among Ireland’s most important cultural ambassadors with their new release DONEGAL. Irish-language songs and dynamic twin-fiddling, both hallmarks of Altan’s sound, framework the new album which tributes Altan’s native County Donegal and its rich musical heritage, breathtaking landscapes and vibrant culture.
Bandleader, lead vocalist and fiddler Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is in fine form thoughout, lending her angelic voice to “Liostáil mé le Sáirsint” and “The Barley and the Rye” and contributing “Port Árainn Mhór/Port Kitty Rua Mooney”, an outstanding set of jigs, to the project. Altan’s newest member, Clare Friel, shares vocal duties with Ní Mhaonaigh, most notably on the track “Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa” and adds her fiery twin fiddle playing to great effect. Accordionist Martin Tourish brings his formidable chops and compositional sense to the medley “The House of Baoithín” which pays homage to the mid 6th century Saint Baoithín. Dáithí Sproule (guitar), Mark Kelly (guitar, harmony vocals) and Ciarán Curran (bouzouki, mandolin) round out the band which is augmented by special guests Jim Higgins (percussion), Steve Cooney (bass) and Graham Henderson (keyboards) on select tracks. Taken as a whole, the music transports listeners to a bygone time in rural Ireland while simultaneously forging a connection between the past and modern times.
Recorded by Manus Lunny at Stiúidió na Mara (“Seafront Studio”) in County Donegal, DONEGAL captures the essence of the region which has inspired Altan since the band’s inception and further cements Altan’s legacy as one of the great cultural treasures of Ireland.
No Irish traditional band in the last thirty years has had a wider impact on audiences throughout the world than Altan. Formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her late husband Frankie Kennedy, the group’s music is influenced by traditional Irish language songs and tunes from Donegal. Over the course of their career, Altan has sold over a million records.
Tommy Sands was born, reared and still lives by the foothills of the Mourne Mountains in the North of Ireland. As a child he heard the lively fiddle and accordion, and the traditional songs and stories of his mother and father welcoming neighbours into the small farmhouse kitchen. Later with his brothers and sister, The Sands Family, he would travel the world bringing these same songs and stories to stages as far apart as Moscow’s Olympic Stadium and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
After the tragic death of his youngest brother Eugene in a car accident while on tour in Germany, The Sands Family toured less together. Tommy eventually set off in a more solo direction, writing new songs, recording albums of his own material and producing a weekly programme on Downtown Radio. Twenty years on, “Country Ceili” is still as popular as ever.
His first solo album, Singing of the Times (GLCD3044), released in 1985, is now regarded as a classic. Two songs from this collection, There Were Roses and Daughters and Sons have already passed into the Irish tradition and are currently included in the English Language syllabus in schools in Germany. Ireland’s Nobel winning poet Seamus Heaney spoke of “the airiness and heartsomeness” of Sands’ work. “You feel you can trust the singer as well as the song”, he says, “his voice is at ease, it is not drawing attention to itself and yet, for that very reason it demands attention naturally.”
Down By Bendy’s Lane (GLCD1085) came next, a charming collection of songs and stories. It consolidated Tommy’s wit and charm with children of all ages. In 1992 he released Beyond the Shadows (GLCD3068), a collection that reflected the changes in Tommy’s life as well as in the world. This included the remarkable Dresden and The Shadow of O’Casey, the title song from a stage musical written by Sands and playwright Sean O’Casey’s daughter, Shivaun.
Autumn 1995 brought the release of The Heart’s A Wonder (GLCD1158), a look at the tremendous changes that have occurred in Tommy’s homeland and around the world. It includes the song The Music of Healing co-written and performed with his good friend Pete Seeger and described by John Hume MEP as “a new anthem for our times”. The album also features the accompaniment of the famous Sarajevo cellist Vedran Smailovic.
In August 1996 he organized the historical “Citizens Assembly” in Belfast where, in a climate of “neighbourliness and humanity” created by Ulster’s finest artists and literary figures, all warring political parties sat down together for the first time this century. The Music of Healing was the anthem sung by all.
In January 1997 he recorded the title track for the tribute to Pete Seeger album with Dolores Keane, Liam O’Flynn and Co. The blockbuster album, entitled Where Have All the Flowers Gone? also features Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Nanci Griffith and many others. Kathy Matthea from Nashville has also recorded a great version of the Sands classic There Were Roses on the American Narada Label.
In September 1997 he was invited to address a special study of UNESCO in Paris on the subject of the culture of peace.
March 1998 he completed the new Sarajevo to Belfast album with cellist Vedran Smailovic. Also in March he was asked by Irish Republic President Mary McAleese to organize and take part in a special North-South TV cultural concert programme in Aras an Uachtarain, Dublin.
In 2000 Tommy recorded To Shorten the Winter (GLCD1212), an album of original songs based on the winter season and Christmas, with Dolores Keane, Liam O Flynn, Steve Cooney, Arty McGlynn and others.
A master of the Sligo tradition of flute and tin whistle playing, Matt Malloy has played a vital role in the evolution of Irish music. A charter member of the Bothy Band, Malloy has continued to bring a modern sensibility to Ireland’s traditional music. In addition to recording four memorable solo albums, Malloy has applied the warm, airy tones of his flutes to the music of Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples, Michael O’Suillabhain, Donal Lunny, Planxty, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Malloy has been one of two non-Dubliners in the Chieftains since 1979.
A native of the small County Rosecommon village of Ballaghadereen, Malloy represents the third generation of flute players in his family. Starting to learn the instrument at the age of eight, he won the All-Ireland Flute Championship nine years later. An invitation to join the National Fleadh Cheoil And Oirechta followed shortly afterwards. Moving to Dublin in the early ’70s, Malloy quickly established himself as one of the city’s leading traditional musicians. When his busy schedule allows, Malloy can be found at the pub that he owns in Westport, County Mayo.
-->
