PADDY KEENAN (www.paddykeenan.com)

Generally acknowledged as the most accomplished uilleann piper performing today, Paddy has been hailed as one of the most brilliant musicians of his generation. Both Paddy’s father and grandfather were uilleann pipers. Paddy himself took up the pipes at the age of ten, playing his first major concert at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, when he was 14. In the seventies, he was a founding member of the influential and highly successful Bothy Band.

The Bothy Band forever changed the face of Irish traditional music, merging a driving rhythm section with traditional Irish tunes in ways that had never been heard before. Those fortunate enough to have seen the band live have never forgotten the impression they made -- one reviewer likened the experience to “being in a jet when it suddenly whipped into full throttle along the runway.” Paddy was one of the band’s founding members, and his virtuosity on the pipes combined with the ferocity of his playing made him, in the opinion of many, its driving force. Bothy Band-mate Donal Lunny once described Paddy as “the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes”.

“In Irish music there are legends and legends and then there’s Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan’s playing is now at its peak.” - John O’Regan -- Rock'n Reel

Paddy will be accompanied by Pete Grant.

PETE GRANT (www.petegrant.com)

Pete Grant plays dobro, banjo, and pedal steel guitar. He has Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum albums to his credit and has played with people and groups as diverse as the Grateful Dead, Vassar Clements, Tony Toni Tone, Guy Clark, Railroad Earth, Vince Gill, the Incredible String Band, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Persuasions, the Dillards, Gerry O’Connor & Brendan O’Regan, Cathy Jordan, and David Lindley. In the summer of 2005, Pete toured Ireland with Paddy Keenan and Tommy O’Sullivan.

Pete says, “It was an exciting tour. We'd launch into a set of reels that just make you grin from ear to ear, then Paddy would play something so sweet and heart tugging that it would grab you and turn you inside out. At the next moment you'd be awash in a set of driving jigs. The music takes you along for the ride, and you’re so glad you're right there at that time. And at no time does Paddy’s virtuosity outdistance his expressiveness and joy; it’s all part of the same package. And surprises. There were surprises that make me grin just to think of them.”

Pete, Paddy, Matt Malloy, and the capable right hand of Tommy O’Sullivan

Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, June 2005