Celtic Music Performer Bios
For those musicians needing their own web page, but don't have one.
Aidan Brennan
Dublin native Aidan Brennan has fast become one of the most sought-after Irish guitarists in the United States. Back and forth between Portland Oregon and Dublin, he is constantly on tour with any number of Irish instrumentalists and is a wonderful vocalist in his own right. Check out the web page for more info.
Liz Carroll
Liz Carroll is one of the masters of traditional Irish music living in America today. A recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship Award and an All-Ireland Senior Champion on the fiddle, Liz Carroll has honored the roots of the music by mastering the many time honored fiddle tunes of Irish musicians from both here and abroad. Liz has gone on to compose many of her own tunes which mark part of her unique contribution to the traditions of Irish music.
She has recently unveiled her own website at: www.lizcarroll.com as she has just released her most recent CD "lost in the loop".
Laurence Nugent
Larry Nugent was born in Co. Fermanagh listening to traditional music. His father, Sean, was a champion fiddle player and had his own ceili band for years. At age 8, Larry started playing the tin whistle and he picked up the flute at 13. One of his early influences was Cathal McConnell (of the Boys of the Lough) who played with his father’s ceili band during the 60’s. In 1988 Laurence emigrated to the US and now lives in Chicago with his family. But he went back in 1994 and again in 1995 to win first place twice in the senior Comhaltas competitions. His new album has been a the top of the traditional music charts in Ireland and America and is a showcase of his virtuosity on both whistle and flute. He has two CD's out - one of my favorites is "Two for Two", named after his twins.
Peter Gilmore
Charlie Piggott
Charlie Piggott from Cobh, Co. Cork has been playing traditional music from a young age. He is one of the founding members of De Dannan with whom he toured extensively and was involved in several recordings. He was also a member of the Irish musical group invited by the Smithsonian Institute to participate in the festival of American Folk Life in (1976) as part of the Bicentennial celebrations. More recent recordings include The Lonely Stranded Band (1996) and The New Road (2000) with Kerry fiddle player Gerry Harrington. Charlie works as a professional musician in Galway and is featured regularly on television, radio and at traditional music festivals. Here's a review of his recent CD "The New Road" with fiddler Gerry Harrington.
Gerry Harrington
Gerry Harrington is a Kenmare, Co. Kerry fiddler who is well-known in Kerry and Cork music circles and to the Irish-American music fraternity. Gerry started on the box, then went to mandolin, which he got from Joe Thoma, his Art teacher at the time, but eventually settled on fiddle., Gerry's music was brought to a wider audience during the nineties through the release of two exquisite albums with accordion-player Eoghan O'Sullivan, The Smoky Chimney and Scéal Eile and most recently with Charlie Piggot on the CD "The New Road".
These bios offered courtesy of the Alaska Folk Music Webpage