Clare music greats head to Temple Bar

ONE of Clare’s acclaimed artists, Ennis man Kieran Hanrahan will be playing two key roles in the 2013 Temple Bar TradFest in Dublin later this month.

He has once again programmed the festival, putting together an unique musical gathering and this year will also perform in a special commemorative concert Remembering Barney McKenna on January 27.

The evening concert will celebrate the unique contribution made by Barney McKenna to Irish traditional music. Barney was one of the founding members of The Dubliners with whom he played with since they started in O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin in 1962. Barney is widely acknowledged as one of the most important figures in the development of the tenor banjo in traditional music. In the 1960s, he popularised the instrument and inspired a whole generation.

Kieran told The Clare Champion that he is thrilled at how the TradFest has grown over the past eight years and has become a firm fixture on the Irish festival calendar.
“The 2012 festival was attended by over 44,000 people who we hope to see increase this year. The 2012 edition of the festival saw a huge increase of international visitors from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain and Germany, who we look forward to welcoming once again in 2013. Already this year, we have also seen bookings from the US, Canada and throughout Europe.

“Year on year, the festival has presented some of the biggest names in Irish music alongside many exciting new performers and musicians. In our headline concerts, we have assembled a line-up of some of the most iconic figures in Irish traditional music coupled with some of the most exciting names in emerging Irish talent. Families will not be disappointed either, with outdoor stages with an emphasis on young Irish music and dance talent; street entertainment and a children’s club are just some of the many free events taking place during the festival. I have no doubt that people will enjoy a truly exciting celebration of our culture,” he maintained.

There will be a strong Clare influence at this year’s festival. Singer Maura O’Connell will return from Nashville to perform, while others to feature during the six-day festival are famed Feakle fiddle player Martin Hayes and accordion player Sharon Shannon from Ruan.

Sharon will celebrate her 21st anniversary and her outstanding contribution to traditional Irish music with two special concerts on January 25 and 26 in St Patrick’s Cathedral. She will be joined on the night by members of her family and friends.

The Clare musician has achieved legendary status throughout the world and has made the much-maligned accordion ‘cool’ in her home country. Sharon is renowned for her collaborations in Irish traditional music but her input to other musical genres, including hip-hop, Cajun, classical and rap are lauded internationally.

Maura O’Connell will perform on January 24 in Christchurch Cathedral. From her first recorded appearance as a lead vocalist with the celebrated traditional Celtic group De Dannan in 1981, to her 11th album, Naked with friends, O’Connell has married an unmistakable deep, rich, flexible voice and her signature talent for finding what’s most potent in the work of a select but broad array of genre-jumping songwriters, to pull the listener right along with her–to the heart of a song.

She recorded three acclaimed albums for Warner Bros, including the Grammy-nominated Helpless Heart, before moving to Joe Boyd’s Hannibal imprint and then to Sugar Hill, for whom she made the rattling, guitar driven Walls and Windows, produced by Ray Kennedy, and the more introspective Don’t I Know, the fourth O’Connell album to produced by dobro maverick Jerry Douglas.
Her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music have captivated listeners for years.

Martin Hayes is regarded as one of the most extraordinary talents to emerge in the world of Irish traditional music. Playing alongside Martin next Wednesday in the iconic Christ Church Cathedral will be master guitarist Dennis Cahill.  
Martin has a unique sound, his mastery of his chosen instrument – the violin – his acknowledgement of the past and his shaping of the future of the music, combine to create an astonishing and formidable artistic intelligence.

He is the recipient of major national and international awards and although he has been living in Connecticut for the past 23 years, he visits home are frequent.

Martin has drawn musical inspiration from sources as diverse as the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, the Spanish viola da gamba master, Jordi Savall, and the jazz genius, John Coltrane, but remains grounded in the music he grew up with in his own locality in Maghera, where the music which he learned from his late father, P Joe Hayes, the legendary leader of the long-lived Tulla Céilí Band, profoundly influenced his musical accent and ideas forever after.