ALTAN (Ireland) With a career in Irish music for 35 years, Altan has achieved legendary status in a genre that has been equally shaped by the band’s influence and genius. Audiences from Ireland to Japan to Australia to Europe have embraced their heartwarming, dynamic live performances and their exquisitely produced, award-winning recordings. Over a dozen releases to date, ranging from the most touching old Irish songs to hard-hitting reels and jigs. Altan’s newest release,The Gap of Dreams(©2018 Compass Records), follows thier acclaimed 2015 release The Widening Gyre.
LIZ CARROLL (USA) an Irish fiddler, composer, and recording artist. She is the first Irish-American musician to be nominated for a Grammy, and the first American-born composer honored with the Cumadóir TG4, Ireland’s most significant traditional music prize. Liz has toured as a solo artist and with the Greenfields of America, Trian, as the duo Liz Carroll & John Doyle, String Sisters, and now as a duo with guitarist and pianist Jake Charron. She is featured on fourteen albums and has appeared on many more, and her duet album with Jake Charron, Half Day Road, is to be released in February, 2019. Liz was born in Chicago of Irish parents, and still lives just outside her hometown.
BRIAN MCNEILL - (Scotland) 2019 marks a musical half century for Brian McNeill in a career that has established him as one of the most acclaimed forces in Scottish music. Brian was born in 1950 in Falkirk and has been described as ‘Scotland’s most meaningful contemporary songwriter’ (The Scotsman). Add to that his work and influence as performer, composer, producer, teacher, musical director, band leader, novelist and interpreter of Scotland’s past, present and future and you have a man who has never stood still. Brian is a multi instrumentalist – chiefly fiddle, bouzouki, mandocello, guitars and concertina – and the importance of his songwriting has long been recognised with such songs as The Yew Tree, The Lads O' The Fair, The Snows of France and Holland, Strong Women Rule Us All With Their Tears, Any Mick'll Do and No Gods and Precious Few Heroes.
TONY MCMANUS (Ontario, UK) has come to be recognized throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. From early childhood his twin obsessions of traditional music and acoustic guitar have worked together to produce a startlingly original approach to this ancient art. In Tony's hands the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes are accurately transferred to guitar in a way that preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music. Self taught from childhood, initially through listening to the family record collection, Tony abandoned academia in his twenties to pursue music full time. The session scene in Glasgow and Edinburgh provided the springboard for gigs around Scotland and a studio set for BBC Radio began to spread the word. Tony's first self titled recording in 1996, followed by Pourquoi Quebec in 1999 led to worldwide recognition. However, it was with the release of Ceol More in 2002 that Tony's stature as a first class musician reached a new level. In a relatively short time Tony's music has come to define a new role for the guitar in Celtic music. He has come to represent Celtic music in the guitar world. Tony now makes his home in Ontario
RUNA (USA, Ireland, Canada) “Best of all, RUNA sounds like no one else!” – Travis Rogers, Jr., Music Life & Times Quickly gaining recognition as one of Irish music’s new “super-groups,” RUNA has been en- chanting audiences by pushing the boundaries of Irish folk music into the Americana and roots music formats since their formation in 2008. Interweaving the haunting melodies and exuber- ant tunes of Ireland and Scotland with the lush harmonies and intoxicating rhythms of jazz, bluegrass, flamenco and blues, they offer a thrilling and redefining take on traditional music. The group has been honored internationally, winning Top Group and Top Traditional Group in the Irish Music Awards and four Independent Music Awards including Best Live Album, Best World/Traditional Song and Best Bluegrass Song.
SHANE COOK & THE WOODCHIPPERS (Ontario) is a collection of multi-instrumentalists, singers and Canadian National Champion step dancers whose performances thrive on an exciting mix of dynamic musicianship, high energy and engaging stage presence. This four-member group’s superbly crafted arrangements are a modern and exhilarating approach to fiddle tunes and dance. Led by Canadian and US National fiddle champion Shane Cook, The London Free Press says their music “takes the spirit of traditional music from Canada’s past into 2017 and beyond.”.
ARROWSMITH: ROBB TRIO (UK, Ontario) is a transatlantic collaboration between UK-based Jess & Richard Arrowsmith (Melrose Quartet, Hekety) and Canadian folk music veteran Ian Robb (Finest Kind. Jiig, Friends of Fiddler's Green). The combination of fine vocal and instrumental talents and an immediate musical chemistry quickly produced some great song and tune arrangements, and after a couple of tours the trio decided to record a CD. All the Salt was recorded in January 2018 at James Stephens's studio in Chelsea, QC, and released the following August.
CAROLINE KEANE & TOM DELANY (Ireland) Playing Irish traditional music on concertina and uilleann pipes, this young, energetic duo boasts musical expression beyond their years. Their playing stands as a powerful embodiment of tradition, coupled with sheer musical passion. Caroline and Tom both grew up in houses filled with traditional music. From a young age, Caroline was exposed to the richness of West Limerick and Sliabh Luachra traditional music, an influence which has become the cornerstone of her uniquely vibrant, passionate and emotive style of concertina playing. With an Irish father and French mother, Tom gained his musicality through osmosis, born and raised in a rich environment of Irish music. Inspired by the traveling style of piping, his rhythmic playing is powerful and daring.
SEAMUS EGAN PROJECT (Ireland, USA) It’s hard to think of an artist in traditional Irish music more influential than Seamus Egan. From his beginnings as a teen prodigy, to his groundbreaking solo work with Shanachie Records, to his founding of Irish-American powerhouse band Solas, to his current work as one of the leading composers and interpreters of the tradition, Egan has inspired multiple generations of musicians and helped define the sound of Irish music today. As a multi-instrumentalist, he’s put his mark on the sound of the Irish flute, tenor banjo, guitar, mandolin, tin whistle, and low whistle, among others. As a composer, he was behind the soundtrack for the award-winning film The Brothers McMullen, co-wrote Sarah McLachlan’s breakout hit, “Weep Not for the Memories,” and has scored numerous documentaries and indie films since. As a bandleader, Solas has been the pre-eminent Irish-American band of their generation for the past 20 years, continuously renewing Irish music with fresh ideas, including a collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens on their 2015 album. As a performer, few others can make so instruments or such wickedly complex ornaments seem so effortless.
MATT & SHANNON HEATON (USA) With engaging stage presence and masterfully-crafted music, Boston-based Matt and Shannon Heaton offer well-travelled Irish music from the heart. The Heatons blend traditional tunes on flute, accordion, guitar, and bouzouki with sweet husband-and-wife harmony singing. It’s the duo that sounds like a band. The Heatons are an integral part of Boston’s vibrant Irish music scene. (Shannon co-founded the Boston Celtic Music Fest in 2003 and was named 2016 Massachusetts Cultural Council Traditional Artist Fellow). In addition to his acclaimed work as an Irish accompanist, Matt has also received multiple Massachussetts Cultural Council Grants for his work with kids. Matt and Shannon are comfortable onstage and have a warm connection with their audiences. They are world class American performers with Irish roots and universal appeal.
MICHAEL ROONEY & JUNE MCCORMACK - (Ireland) Together as Draíocht, Michael Rooney and June McCormack have recorded two CDs: ‘Draíocht’ and ‘Land’s End’. June Mc Cormack comes from Ballintogher, Co Sligo and was recipient of the TG4 Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award in 1998 and has published two Irish flute tutorials in recent years. 'Fliuit' and 'Fliuit 2'. Michael Rooney is a prolific composer and is widely regarded as one of the foremost players of the traditional Irish harp. Michael is the 2017 TG4 Composer of the Year.