Three of the biggest giants on the Irish traditional music scene have joined forces to become, what promises to be, one of the musical highlights of 2012. Martin Hayes (fiddle, viola), Kevin Crawford (flute, whistles, bodhrán) and John Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandola) have formed a band called The Teetotallers. It’s difficult to guage the permanence of this trio with all their other musical commitments but dates have been booked well into 2012 already, making them a must see act before it’s all too late.
Martin Hayes was born in Feakle, Co. Clare (1962); his father PJoe was a fiddler with the Tulla Ceili Band for fifty years. He was exposed to tradtional music from a very young age and managed to see many live performances by some of the biggest names, including Seamus Ennis who he saw perform at Galligan’s bar at Crusheen. It wasn’t long before he was good to enough to play to audiences and he began playing with the Tulla band at the age of 14 in Ireland, England and America. By 19 he had picked up six all-Ireland championships! His repertoire was by no means all tradtional, he played Celtic rock with guitarist Denis Cahill before reverting back to traditional music. His style of playing is far from that of the flying bow, instead he uses ‘a slow-fuse technique to develop sensory structures in ornament and stylistic, melodic and dynamic variation’. He has an undying passion for passing on the tradition and teaches at the Willie Clancy Summer School every year…entirely unrelated to his musical talents but he also recently got married!
Kevin Crawford is a high calibre multi-instrumentalist also in demand. He has collaborated with many other artists including Joe Derrane, Natalie Merchant and Susan McKeown. He is best known for playing the flute and tin whistle and has released may great solo albums including ‘In Good Company’ (Green Linnet/Orchard 2001) as well as the ever popular duo with Cillian Vallely ‘On Common Ground’ (on Copperplate 2009) which also featured Donal Clancy & Paul Meehan. He is probably best known for being a member of the the mighty bands: Moving Cloud and Lúnasa.
Many of you will be familar with Dublin born John Doyle whose unique left handed guitar finger-picking style places him in high demand as a backing guitarist. As well as being a founding member of Solas he has collaborated with the likes of Kate Rusby, Susan McKeown, Karan Casey and Heidi Talbot. Most recently he released a grand solo album: Shadow and Light (Compass 2011) which we reviewed back in November. His talents don’t stop at the guitar, as a vocalist he has a great passionate style and presence that really shines through on his latest album as well as the Grammy nominated duet with Liz Carroll, Double Play (2009).
Video:
Their first TV appearance on Geantraí as part of The Chieftains 50th Anniversary with two jigs by Sean Ryan starting with ‘The Green Fields of Woodford’ followed by a set of reels.
Début Tour Dates
TUESDAY 17 JAN, DUBLIN 2
The Coach House, Dublin Castle
8pm, SOLD OUT
WEDNESDAY 18 JAN, MAIN ST, NEWBRIDGE, CO, KILDARE
Riverbank Arts Centre
8pm, €18 / €16
FRIDAY 20 JAN, MITCHELL STREET, TIPPERARY TOWN
Tipperary Excel Centre
8pm, €15 / €10
SATURDAY 21 JAN, MAIN STREET, BRAY, CO. WICKLOW
Mermaid Arts Centre
8pm, €16 /€14 (part of 2 for 33)
SUNDAY 22 JAN, TEMPLE STREET, SLIGO
Hawk’s Well Theatre
8pm, €15
MONDAY 23 JAN, CLIFDEN, CO. GALWAY
Station House Theatre
8pm, €12 / €10
TUESDAY 24 JAN, LINENHALL STREET, CASTLEBAR, CO. MAYO
Linenhall Arts Centre
8pm, €16 / €14
WEDNESDAY 25 JAN, ST. GEORGES TERRACE, CARRICK ON SHANNON, LEITRIM
The Dock
8:30pm, €15 / €12
FRIDAY 27 JAN, ENNIS, CLARE
The Great Hall @ The Templegate Hotel
9pm (Door 8:30pm), €15
More dates to follow
References:
Companion to Irish Traditional Music, Cork: Cork University Press, 2011