Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 welcomes Tommy Peoples on Fiddle

Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival, has had a great line up of fiddlers since the festival first took place in 2007, including Séamus Creagh (Lord have mercy on him), Jesse Smith and Tony Linnane. So we decided not to break with tradition and have arranged for Tommy Peoples, one of the most renowned fiddlers in Irish traditional circles today to bring his Donegal style of fiddling to Ballydehob for Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010.

A technical master and powerful musician, Tommy is originally from St. Johnston, Co. Donegal, where he learned fiddle, in the distinctive Donegal style, from an early age. He was a member of the famous Kilfenora Band for a while in the 1960s before arriving on the traditional scene in Dublin in the 1970s, where he played with artists such as Matt Molloy, Paddy Keenan and Liam O'Flynn.
Tommy replaced Paddy Glackin in the famous Bothy Band in late 1975, just as the band turned professional. He left the Bothy Band in 1976 after the release of their first album to be replaced by Kevin Burke.

A number of albums with varied other musicians followed in the late seventies, the best known and best regarded of which is probably the Molloy-Peoples-Brady album. His daughter Siobhán, also a fiddler, recorded with him on the Maiden Voyage album. Tommy also produced some solo albums, which have influenced the younger generation of fiddlers.

Tommy is great to come the whole way down to the wilds of West Cork from the wilds of Donegal for Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010. It will be a great opportunity for local and visiting students and fans of the fiddle to hear his distinctive playing.
You can take a fiddle workshop with Tommy on the morning of April 17, 2010 and hear him playing at the festival concert later that night in Ballydehob Community Hall. Bígí Linn!

Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 delighted to welcome master accordion player, John Brosnan, to Ballydehob

John Brosnan, button accordion and melodeon player extraordinaire, will be just one of the many fantastic traditional artists at Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 in Ballydehob County Cork. Anyone who plays any bit of traditional music at all will be familiar with John’s name if not his playing, as there are a good few polkas that bear his name. For accordion players, John will also be well known as a master tuner and repairer of accordions. But, apart from all these things, it is John’s musicianship that really makes him stand out in traditional music circles.
John’s playing is admired all over the world and he features at many events wherever accordion music is to be heard. Widely acknowledged as a master accordionist, he has an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of many different accordion styles.

John is from near Listowel, County Kerry, and his late uncles, Timmy and Dan Brosnan, were well known accordion players in North Kerry and had a significant influence on John’s playing. Timmy was a dab hand at repairing all sorts of implements, including accordions. John’s fascination with the mechanics of the accordion probably stems from seeing them being repaired by Timmy, for both his brother Neilie and himself. Having absorbed considerable knowledge in this area from his uncle, John started to repair and tune accordions himself in the 1980s and still offers this service at his home in Kilcummin. Living near Killarney, John has been lucky enough to play with many of the legendary musicians of Sliabh Luachra, among them, the late Johnny O’ Leary, the legendary and inspirational accordion player.

In 1996, John Brosnan’s classic solo CD, ‘The Cook in the Kitchen’ showcased his great musicianship. John’s awareness of various melodeon and accordion styles is also very apparent on this recording; especially that of players such as P.J. Conlon, Joe Flanagan, Tom Carmody and Billy McElligott, who dominated accordion playing in the dance hall scene of New York in the 1920s and 1930s.

John frequently plays with many of Sliabh Luachra’s finest musicians in Killarney, including his long-time music partners, Timmy Kerins and Paudie Gleeson. Moreover, frequent performances on national radio and television have maintained his high musical profile.
At Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010, John will give an accordion workshop with a difference on the morning of April 17. In addition to the usual few tunes and tips picked up at workshops, students at John’s workshop will learn all about the inner workings of the accordion from John as he takes one apart for them and talks to them about tuning etc. Both teacher and students will then have a bit of a breather before the festival concert later that night, where John will showcase his classic brand of accordion playing for local and visiting audiences.
Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, then don’t miss it and draw a big circle around the weekend of April 16-18 in next year’s calendar, because that’s when all the fun is going to happen!

Line-up for Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival 2010

The fourth annual Féile Átha Dá Chab, Ballydehob Traditional Music Song and Dance Festival is slowly coming around the bend again, with plenty to offer lovers of the traditional arts. The 2010 festival will be held on April 16-18, that's two weeks after Easter. The line-up is all sorted already, with some truly great artists all set to take Ballydehob by storm next year.
They include Tommy Peoples, a prime exponent of the Donegal style of fiddling and one of the most renowned fiddle players in Irish traditional music today; master accordion player John Brosnan from County Kerry; the fantastic sean-nós and traditional singer Tim Dennehy from Ballinskelligs; Catherine McEvoy, one of the country's leading flute players; and Edwina Guckian, the widely acclaimed sean-nós dancer from County Leitrim. All of these will be giving workshops and performing at the festival concert. In addition, Féile Átha Dá Chab 2010 will have a singers' night and children's session, as well as an all-new session trail that should keep feet tapping well into next summer......
Keep an eye on this blog for profiles of all the above artists in the coming weeks as well as other festival news......
Slán tamaill

Photos from Féile Átha Dá Chab 2009

Well, it's all over now for another year, but Féile Átha Dá Chab 2009 was definitely one to remember. Here are some great pictures taken by Declan Waugh over the weekend.



Mary Bergin's Tin Whistle Workshop

Conal Ó Gráda's Flute Workshop

Tony Linnane's Fiddle Workshop


A few tunes in the calm of Levis Bar with Nell


Róisín Ní Mhainín's Sean-nós Dance Workshop


The Large Crowd Attending the Dance Workshop


The Sonnay Fiddlers from Massachusetts Opened the Concert on Saturday Night.


BreannÍn and Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich Play a Few Tunes for Róisín Ní Mhainín to Dance to at the Concert


Gearróid Ó Duinnín, Tony Linnane, Conal Ó Gráda, Mary Bergin and Breannín and Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich Delight the Audience with a Few More Tunes at the End of the Night

Róisín Ní Mhainín Shows Off Some Sean-nós Dancing for centenarian Nell Levis after the Concert