Pádraic Keane hails from Maree, Co. Galway and was born into a great musical family in 1991. His father Tommy is a well known piper, originally from Waterford who was taught by the legendary piper Tommy Kearney. His mother Jacqueline McCarthy is a very respected concertina player and is the daughter of the late Tommy McCarthy from…

Detailed below are the Top 10 traditional Irish albums for April 2015.  Each month we feature the top 10 albums and write follow up articles and present sounds from all new releases. If you have a new album on release send us a copy to these contact details.

Why not also add a track to Soundcloud and…

This Thursday a newly formed group will take to the stage at the Roscommon Arts Centre featuring some household names.  Gatehouse are a newly formed traditional group that include musicians John Wynne (flute), John McEvoy (fiddle), Jacinta McEvoy ( guitar,concertina) and Rachel Garvey (vocals).

John Wynne and John McEvoy released a duet…

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2014 Robyn Stapleton launches her debut album at this year’s TradFest in Edinburgh on Tuesday 5th May. She will be joined by three of Scotland’s finest folk musicians: Kristan Harvey (fiddle) and Alistair Paterson (keys), and Aaron Jones (guitar & bouzouki).



Robyn will be sharing the songs from her…

Inspired by Damien Connolly is a tour de force of an album. It shines with an energy and hunger that sets it apart from many other releases.  On first listen, the mix of instruments and harmonies gives quite a full sound, but it quickly finds its stride and tempo.  The inclusion of Oisin Mac Diarmada and Sean Earnest push it to a level that a…

Martin & Dennis return to America next week! Their Western swing starts in Canada on May Day (Qualicum show is already sold out!) then drops down into California for a few concerts -- including one of their favorite haunts, Freight & Salvage -- before they round up in New Mexico and Colorado, where they'll do workshops too.…

This is a set of tunes that appear on a new album called Bright and Early.  

Its the long-awaited recording features an accordion/fiddle duet of Paddy O’Brien and Nathan Gourley with Dáithí…

The young traditional music group, ‘Glór Mhaigh Eo’ , from Davitt College, Castlebar, are the Siansa Gael Linn 2015 winners! At the Grand Finale concert held in the National Concert Hall on Sunday, 26 April 2015, they were chosen from among eight finalists of a high standard for this prestigious award. Siansa is a competition for young…

Following the huge response that we received to our recent Songwriter Showcase with Christy Moore, we are going to continue with a series of articles that will showcase artists and their songs.

These…

Stepping off the trad track to hail the arrival of another outstanding Irish group that are creating some wonderful music on the folk, country and roots circuit.  Like NoCrows or The Henry Girls that we have covered previously they hail from the north west Sligo area.  They released an EP called “Irish Boys” in 2014 which was critically…

This is the final episode of the new season of DCTV's traditional Irish music series "Coppers and Brass". Presented and researched by Tommy Fegan - a trad scholar and musician himself - the series showcases the music, the players and the issues that often don't get discussed in the world of Irish traditional music. Featuring interviews in studio, as well as from the Willie Clancy week in…

This is quite an exceptional album from London based musician Brendan McAuley. Brendan, one of seven children was born in west Belfast, in 1953. His mother Margaret and father John travelled around Ireland in the 40s and 50s, performing in variety shows and in the 50's they settled in Belfast.

His Mum, a singer and…

TradAsh Irish Music Festival 2015 starts this Thursday April 23rd and runs until Sunday 26th.  TradAsh is a non-commercial weekend of Traditional Irish Music across various venues in Ashbourne, Co Meath. On their website they state that "We are all fortunate enough to be steeped in so many traditions and one of these is our love for traditional Irish music. This annual…

Last night Dublin band The Jeremiah's picked up their award as winners of the Tradconnect Songwriters Showcase.  The occasion was Christy Moore's concert in Vicar Street, Dublin. We ran the Songwriters Showcase on the…

Tonight Christy Moore will perform his second night in a row at Vicar Street in Dublin.  Joining him onstage will be Declan Sinnott and Jim Higgins. It is one of his rescheduled gigs following some cancellations due to illness earlier in the year. Its also a special night for Tradconnect and Dublin band The Jeremiahs as we will be meeting up with Christy to…

Welcome to the Tradconnect Official Album Launch Series.  For members and readers this series of articles will introduce you to a new traditional album for the first time. We are working with artists to bring a little bit more excitement to the “online launch”.  The first time you share a track from a new recording…

This is Track 1 from the debut album by Scottish band Dallahan.  The track and album is called When the Day is on the Turn. Its an outstanding album of high energy music and it has been receiving rave reviews. Folk Radio UK said “this is truly something special...Dallahan call on their mixed Irish, Scottish and Hungarian heritage to create a unique and seamless…

It is often said that you can tell a lot about a man by his nickname.  And so it is with legendary Clare Fiddler Bobby Casey whose sobriquet “Maestro” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “A title or form of address designating someone (originally esp. an Italian) who is a master of or who has achieved eminence in a skill or profession, esp.…

The London Lasses and Chris O’ Malley have announced the release of their 5th album called The One I Loved The Best.  We hope to get to an Official Online Launch of the album shortly.  In the meantime here is their press release.

“Over the past fifteen years The London Lasses have been delighted to bring…