Catherine McEvoy on Flute at Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010

Féile Átha Dá Chab,, Ballydehob Traditional Music, Song and Dance Festival is delighted to have Catherine McEvoy, one of the finest contemporary exponents of the Sligo-Roscommon style of flute playing, on the bill for April 2010. Catherine is quite simply a brilliant player and an experienced teacher to boot, making her a great choice for the fourth year of the festival.


Born in Birmingham to Irish parents, Catherine McEvoy is one of the finest contemporary exponents of the Sligo-Roscommon style of flute playing. Catherine's parents emigrated to England from Co. Roscommon in the 1940s. Her paternal grandfather, Mark McEvoy, was an accomplished flute player in his time, playing at local house dances and fairs for many years. He came from a large family, many of whom were also very fine musicians. Catherine's mother, Sarah, was a very good traditional ballad singer in her younger days.

This great wealth of traditional music from Roscommon was very well reflected among the musicians who played in Birmingham as Catherine was growing up, in particular in the Birmingham Céili Band, the founding members of which came from the Knockvicar area of Co. Roscommon. It was through the Birmingham Céili Band that Catherine, at a young age, was to have her first introduction to traditional Irish music. Catherine played the piano with the band before later taking up the flute. Though she had no formal training, she soon began to master the instrument and built up a large repertoire of tunes. The other flute player with the Birmingham band at that time was Frank Carty from Ballaghadereen. Catherine also played in duets with her brother John, and later teamed up with Brendan Mulvihill, a fiddle player from the Bronx, New York, who was living in Birmingham at the time.

It was in the early 1970s that Catherine met another person who had a lasting influence on her music. That was the great flute player, composer, and singer from Ballyfarnon, Josie McDermott. He was accompanied on his many visits to Birmingham by another famous flute player, Peg McGrath, the first woman Catherine had ever seen playing the flute.

Catherine spent many holidays in Ireland around the Knockvicar/Boyle area of Roscommon and spent many a night playing in Dominic Cosgrove's in Boyle with Patsy Hanly, the flute player from Kilroosky.

Catherine continued to play regularly with the Birmingham Céilí Band and all around England and Ireland at Fleadhanna, Céilis, Fleadh Cheoil and Oireachtas competitions until she eventually moved to to Ireland in 1977. As a going away present, Kathleen Lawrie of the Birmingham Céilí Band gave her a Rudall and Rose flute, which she still plays to the present day. This flute is a rare Rudall and Rose from the early 19th century which has no tuning slide.

Around the same time, Catherine frequently visited "The Four Seasons" pub in Capel Street, Dublin, where John Kelly senior played regularly. Sessions there also included accordion player, Paddy O'Brien, and James Kelly, Daithí Sproule, and John Kelly Jr.

From 1984-1988 Catherine was a member of "Macalla," the first all female traditional group.
In more recent years she has been one of the senior flute tutors at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare.

Catherine will give a flute workshop for intermediate to advanced students at Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 on the morning of April 17, 2010, and also perform at the festival concert in the hall later on that night. Mighty stuff and all in keeping with the fine music and sport that will be had at the fourth Féile Átha Dá Chab. Bígí Linn!

Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 welcomes Tommy Peoples on Fiddle

Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival, has had a great line up of fiddlers since the festival first took place in 2007, including Séamus Creagh (Lord have mercy on him), Jesse Smith and Tony Linnane. So we decided not to break with tradition and have arranged for Tommy Peoples, one of the most renowned fiddlers in Irish traditional circles today to bring his Donegal style of fiddling to Ballydehob for Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010.

A technical master and powerful musician, Tommy is originally from St. Johnston, Co. Donegal, where he learned fiddle, in the distinctive Donegal style, from an early age. He was a member of the famous Kilfenora Band for a while in the 1960s before arriving on the traditional scene in Dublin in the 1970s, where he played with artists such as Matt Molloy, Paddy Keenan and Liam O'Flynn.
Tommy replaced Paddy Glackin in the famous Bothy Band in late 1975, just as the band turned professional. He left the Bothy Band in 1976 after the release of their first album to be replaced by Kevin Burke.

A number of albums with varied other musicians followed in the late seventies, the best known and best regarded of which is probably the Molloy-Peoples-Brady album. His daughter Siobhán, also a fiddler, recorded with him on the Maiden Voyage album. Tommy also produced some solo albums, which have influenced the younger generation of fiddlers.

Tommy is great to come the whole way down to the wilds of West Cork from the wilds of Donegal for Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010. It will be a great opportunity for local and visiting students and fans of the fiddle to hear his distinctive playing.
You can take a fiddle workshop with Tommy on the morning of April 17, 2010 and hear him playing at the festival concert later that night in Ballydehob Community Hall. Bígí Linn!

Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 delighted to welcome master accordion player, John Brosnan, to Ballydehob

John Brosnan, button accordion and melodeon player extraordinaire, will be just one of the many fantastic traditional artists at Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 in Ballydehob County Cork. Anyone who plays any bit of traditional music at all will be familiar with John’s name if not his playing, as there are a good few polkas that bear his name. For accordion players, John will also be well known as a master tuner and repairer of accordions. But, apart from all these things, it is John’s musicianship that really makes him stand out in traditional music circles.
John’s playing is admired all over the world and he features at many events wherever accordion music is to be heard. Widely acknowledged as a master accordionist, he has an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of many different accordion styles.

John is from near Listowel, County Kerry, and his late uncles, Timmy and Dan Brosnan, were well known accordion players in North Kerry and had a significant influence on John’s playing. Timmy was a dab hand at repairing all sorts of implements, including accordions. John’s fascination with the mechanics of the accordion probably stems from seeing them being repaired by Timmy, for both his brother Neilie and himself. Having absorbed considerable knowledge in this area from his uncle, John started to repair and tune accordions himself in the 1980s and still offers this service at his home in Kilcummin. Living near Killarney, John has been lucky enough to play with many of the legendary musicians of Sliabh Luachra, among them, the late Johnny O’ Leary, the legendary and inspirational accordion player.

In 1996, John Brosnan’s classic solo CD, ‘The Cook in the Kitchen’ showcased his great musicianship. John’s awareness of various melodeon and accordion styles is also very apparent on this recording; especially that of players such as P.J. Conlon, Joe Flanagan, Tom Carmody and Billy McElligott, who dominated accordion playing in the dance hall scene of New York in the 1920s and 1930s.

John frequently plays with many of Sliabh Luachra’s finest musicians in Killarney, including his long-time music partners, Timmy Kerins and Paudie Gleeson. Moreover, frequent performances on national radio and television have maintained his high musical profile.
At Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010, John will give an accordion workshop with a difference on the morning of April 17. In addition to the usual few tunes and tips picked up at workshops, students at John’s workshop will learn all about the inner workings of the accordion from John as he takes one apart for them and talks to them about tuning etc. Both teacher and students will then have a bit of a breather before the festival concert later that night, where John will showcase his classic brand of accordion playing for local and visiting audiences.
Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, then don’t miss it and draw a big circle around the weekend of April 16-18 in next year’s calendar, because that’s when all the fun is going to happen!

Line-up for Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival 2010

The fourth annual Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival is slowly coming around the bend again, with plenty to offer lovers of the traditional arts. The 2010 festival will be held on April 16-18, that's two weeks after Easter. The line-up is all sorted already, with some truly great artists all set to take Ballydehob by storm next year.
They include Tommy Peoples, a prime exponent of the Donegal style of fiddling and one of the most renowned fiddle players in Irish traditional music today; master accordion player John Brosnan from County Kerry; the fantastic sean-nós and traditional singer Tim Dennehy from Ballinskelligs; Catherine McEvoy, one of the country's leading flute players; and Edwina Guckian, the widely acclaimed sean-nós dancer from County Leitrim. All of these will be giving workshops and performing at the festival concert. In addition, Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 will have a singers' night and children's session, as well as an all-new session trail that should keep feet tapping well into next summer......
Keep an eye on this blog for profiles of all the above artists in the coming weeks as well as other festival news......
Slán tamaill