john-joe kelly

Birmingham’s traditional Irish music festival returns with their best lineup promising to be bigger, better and brighter than 2014. Including Damien O’Kane, Mary Bergin, Michael McGoldrick, Dezi Donnelly, Jim Murray & John Joe Kelly, Máirtín O’Connor Trio & more!

The Damien O’Kane Trio put on a great performance at The Met, Bury. Damien was accompanied by John-Joe Kelly on bodhran and Ed Boyd on guitar.

This week, we heard about an idea, now in fruition but spawned at Cambridge Folk Festival by Damien O’Kane, David Kosky and Joe Rusby. An Irish instrumental album called The Mystery Inch also feat. John-Joe Kelly, Danny Cameron & Carmel O’Dea.

Given his work with Flook, Shona Kipling and, more recently, his partner Kate Rusby, I expected Damien O’Kane’s debut solo album to be a collection of perfectly executed banjo tunes with the occasional song. Oh how I love to be educated. I was wrong; very, very wrong. In Summer Hill Damien has given us something rather special. Something with astute instrumentation, thoughtful arrangements and contributing musicians of the highest calibre. …