Musicians of Ireland

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Through my music course, I have had the opportunity to become acquianted with many phenomenal Irish musicians that I probably would not have heard of otherwise, so I've decided to share the wealth!

Emer Mayock is a fantastic flute/uilleann pipes/fiddle player and composter from Co. Mayo. I got to see her in a concert on 14th September at the Ionad Cultúrtha in Baile Mhúirne with another wonderful flautist, Jean-Michel Veillon, I believe of Brittany and Donal Siggins on guitar and mandola. You can visit her site to listen to some of her music. I like 'Nearly Blue' from the playground album.

Lúnasa! I believe I wrote about the concert of their's I went to weeks ago. They are a fantastic group and I haven't yet gotten tired of listening to their album. The line-up as I saw them is: Seán Smyth - fiddle; Kevin Crawford - flute; Trevor Hutchinson - bass; Cillian Vallely - uillean pipes, whistles; and Paul Meehan - guitar and banjo. I love their music so much, I can't even pick out a favourite player, although Kevin is very funny, and Trevor is pretty impressive with his rock-star background. I would recommend going to their website, clicking 'Listen' at the top and checking out 'The Dingle Berries' although my favourite is 'Kalyana' from their Sé album - sadly not available on their website.

Altan, a group that has been around for a while but is fantastic. I haven't seen them perform live (yet!) but a video I saw in class was absolutely stunning. The group grew out of a couple, Frankie Kennedy and Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. Sadly, Kennedy passed away in the early ninties. I would recommend watching this video to see Mairead sing and play fiddle. It's just beautiful. See this one for some of the more traditional Donegal style - quick and rhythmic.

We had the pleasure of having Norah Rendell as a lecturer on more than one occasion. She is from Vancouver and plays the whistle, flute, recorder and sings beautifully. And she's also funny and cute!

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is another great singer from West Kerry who, like Norah, got a MA in Irish Traditional Music from the University of Limerick (the only uni in the world to offer this degree!). I don't like her as much as Norah, but then I'm biased. She has some Irish songs on her profile though, so that's a plus.

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