Andrew is from Tulla in East Clare and has played the accordion since he was a child, he played with the Tulla Céilí band as a youth and did many tours with them.
This contains 20 Tracks with his group the Lahawns, Featuring Anne-Maire McCormack, Joan Hanrahan, Jimmy Higgins, Jim Corry, Breda Smyth and many others…
The Lahawns are at present (slightly different line-up than on their first album) Andrew MacNamara (accordion), Anne-Marie McCormack (of the Kilfenora Ceili Band) and Joan Hanrahan on fiddles, and Jim Corry on keyboards, and this is their second release, recorded during a Clare ceili at the famous Feakle bar, for which they are also joined by drummer Jimmy Higgins. The band plays straight-ahead dance music with great lift, to the delight of the audience and the dancers, some of whom can be heard singing along on some of the old-time waltzes. This kind of music-making is what the tradition is all about, and a recording like this one, while not reproducing the experience exactly, conveys it remarkably well. Lovely stuff.
Lau is a formidable union of three of the finest and most innovative exponents of modern traditional music: Kris Drever (guitar and vocal), Martin Green (piano accordion) and Aidan O'Rourke (fiddle). Together, their explosive live performances have been generating a major buzz around the UK folk circuit that has now become a world-wide party. The summer of 2007 saw them take festivals by storm across Europe and North-America; the Fall to Japan and Cape Breton. They kicked off 2008 at the BBC Folk Awards where they gave what was widely regarded as the performance of the night, went on to win BEST GROUP award and Bob Hoskins was last seen bowing down to the band proclaiming `I am not worthy'!
Lia Luachra are an exciting young band who first formed in 1997, attending the Inter Celtic Festival in Lorient, Francewhere they were so well received by the enthusiastic audiences that they were immediately invited back in 1998. That year at Lorient, however, they went one better, by winning the prestigious "La Bolée des Korrigans" best band Competition at the Festival. They also released their debut C.D. The album, titled simply Lia Luachra, is the third offer in quick succession from the new, enterprising Irish owned Record Company, Malgamú Music.
Although the C. D. has two fine songs, sung by guitarist Jon Hicks, the tracks are mostly instrumentals, combining skilful playing with brilliant tunes, some very unusual and some original. Voor trackinfo klik op foto
Reissue of the legendary “mostly live” album, with remastered sound, new notes, and bonus tracks.
All the elements of Lúnasa’s intricate, rhythmically sophisticated vision of traditional Irish instrumental music are already in place.
“This is the hottest Irish group on the planet.” The Irish Echo
Otherworld, their first worldwide release, introduces this band with eleven tracks of instrumental fire, brilliant solo playing over intense guitar and bass grooves. Already acknowledged as the hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet, Lúnasa has set new standards for the music in the next millenium with Otherworld, one of the most important recordings of any year.
"Redwood was conceived during a band break at Matt Greenhill’s ranch near Occidental, California in October 2001. We wanted to capture the live impact of Lúnasa, without losing the sonic quality that we always endeavor to achieve on our albums. We checked out a few studios in the area and happened upon the renowned Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati. We booked ourselves in for ten days in the middle of our February 2002 U.S. tour. It was a wonderful and unique experience and we hope you enjoy the result." Lúnasa : Seán Smyth, Kevin Crawford, Donogh Hennessy, Trevor Hutchinson and Cillian Vallely.
Lúnasa's sixth studio outing is, lamentably, bereft of guitarist Donagh Hennessy's ever-challenging rhythms, but, with the void filled by not one but two guitarists (Tim Edey and Paul Meehan), the band have introduced a fifth (and sixth) dimension to their trademark sound. Their repertoire bristles and sparks with original material, and pipes and flute continue to define their shape with a refreshing cosmopolitanism. Their bulging passports yield all manner of riches, from the grand landscapes of Midnight in Avilés to Kevin Crawford\'s Absent Friends. The ensemble spirit that drives Glentrasna is at the heart of what Lúnasa do best: celebrating the crosscurrents of their own imagination with the best tunes the tradition has to offer.
The Kinnitty Sessions, their fifth album, returns the band to that immediate style of recording. Cut before a live audience at Kinnitty Castle in Ireland and then refined in a Dublin studio, the recording blends the best elements of a studio recording with the energy and spontaneity of a live album. Building on the rock-solid rhythmic foundation of double-bassist Trevor Hutchinson (ex-Waterboys, Sharon Shannon Band) and guitarist Donogh Hennessy (Sharon Shannon Band), piper Cillian Vallely, flutist Kevin Crawford, and fiddler Sean Smyth ride the surging rhythms with impeccable grace – alternating blistering unison passages with episodes of deft counterpoint. Four years of constant touring has elevated the band’s already-formidable skill to peak brilliance, perfectly captured by the unique setting of The Kinnitty Sessions.
The Merry Sisters of Fate is another jewel in Lúnasa’s crown. A fantastically inventive and supremely talented group of musicians, fiddler Seán Smyth, flutist Kevin Crawford, bassist Trevor Hutchinson, guitarist Donogh Hennessy, and uillean piper Cillian Vallely have earned rave reviews worldwide. Lúnasa has been dubbed by The New York Times as "a jam band for Irish music lovers" and as noted by The Boston Globe, "they bring a fiery, almost rock-like energy to their alluringly complex arrangements."
