Jackie & Co take Sliabh Luachra music on tour
THE music of Sliabh Luachra is hitting the road and travelling all over Ireland with the Living Stream tour featuring Matt Cranitch (fiddle) Jackie Daly (accordion) and John Faulkner (guitar) also stopping off in Cork in September.
Presented by Music Network, the tour provides a wonderful opportunity to see some of the world's foremost music ensembles at affordable prices in venues all over Ireland, and are presented in association with RTE Lyric FM.
Famed for spell-binding sessions that delve into the musical trove of the Sliabh Luachra region, squeezebox maestro Jackie Daly and acclaimed fiddler Matt Cranitch will be joined by the much-lauded singer and composer John Faulkner.
Described by The New York Times as 'probably the best accordionest in Ireland', Jackie Daly was born in Kanturk where he grew up surrounded by the rich music tradition of Sliabh Luachra.
Multi-award winning Jackie was a central figure in some of the most dominant groups playing Irish music in recent times. His performances with bands such as De Danann, Patrick Street, Buttons and Bows, Arcady, Reel Union and Kinvara all attest to his wonderful music and versatility.
However, it is the style and repertoire of Sliabh Luachra music that has made the most significant impression on his accordion playing, a fact well exemplified through his various solo recordings.
He has toured extensively and in 2005, he received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil (National Music Award) and the Kanturk Arts Festival Award in 2009.
Former Fleadh Cheoil winner and master fiddler Matt Cranitch is a founder member of the group Sliabh Notes, as well as a highly respected authority on and teacher of Irish traditional music.
Matt is renowned as a fiddle-player and teacher, both at home in Ireland and abroad. He has performed extensively at concerts and festivals, as well as on radio and television, and has presented lectures, master-classes and workshops on various aspects of Irish music.
Currently, he plays with Sliabh Notes, with whom he has recorded three highly-acclaimed albums. An authority on the Sliabh Luachra fiddle-style, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Limerick in 2006. In 2003, he received the 'University College Cork Hall of Fame Award' in recognition of his contribution made to Irish traditional music.
For more than 25 years, John Faulkner has enjoyed a career as an acclaimed musician and singer/songwriter. His keen interest in ethnic music of all kinds eventually drew him to the strong living tradition of music in Ireland.
Ancestrally from Dublin and Kildare, he has lived in the west of Ireland for many years, collaborating with the finest singers and musicians of the Irish tradition.
He has performed extensively throughout the world, sharing the stage with many other musicians, among them Kevin Burke, Arty McGlynn, Nollaig Casey, De Dannan as well as US legend John Prine.
See the lads live on Saturday, September 18 in Ionad Culturtha, Baile Bhuirne at 8.30pm. Tickets are €20 / €15 and can be booked by calling 026 45733.
- SHARON WHELTON SWHELTON@CORKMAN.IE
