• NATIONAL
• FEATURED
• URCHIN STREET
• DANCE
• STORYTELLERS
• CULTURAL
• HORSES

NTIF 2011 Headline Performers

Altan

Over 25 years of playing together, Altan have established themselves as one of the most important live acts to play traditional Irish music in Ireland and on the World stage. The Boston Globe has described them as "The hottest group in the Celtic realm!" Altan has toured all over the USA and Europe. They also enjoy popularity in Japan where they frequently tour and have hosted Altan festivals in the middle of Tokyo to thousands of enthusiastic fans.

In recent years Altan have been exploring and experimenting with their music using orchestral arrangements of their most popular pieces. The arrangements have been scored by the highly respected arranger, Fiachra Trench and have been performed with the Ulster Orchestra, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and with the Royal Scottish Opera Orchestra.

In 2010 Altan released a new album; a celebration of their 25th anniversary a mixture of songs recorded over the last 25 years accompanied by the RTE Concert Orchestra. The band is currently touring their 25th anniversary show taking in Asia, America and Europe.

Brock McGuire Band

Moving Cloud founding members Paul Brock and Manus McGuire front an impressive group, the Brock McGuire Band. Residing in County Clare, button accordionist and melodeonist Paul Brock and fiddler Manus McGuire are two of Ireland's most celebrated traditional musicians and have been at the forefront of Irish music for many years through their joint work with Moving Cloud. Manus is also a founding member of Buttons and Bows, and both bands, ranking among Ireland's finest, have helped to introduce international audiences to the virtuosity of their playing.

Performing with the Brock McGuire Band are two outstanding musicians: Galway player Enda Scahill, a multiple All-Ireland champion on tenor banjo and a senior All-Ireland champion on mandolin; and Denis Carey, an acclaimed pianist, composer and arranger who hails from Newport, Country Tipperary.

Passion and precision, authenticity and diversity: these are the hallmarks of the Brock McGuire Band in concert. They are steeped in tradition and perform it with abiding respect and creativity. The band's repertoire runs wide and deep; their tight, tenacious blend of instruments emphasizing mostly Irish music but also sprinkling in impressive arrangements of American Old Timey, French-Canadian, and other Celtic traditions. Described by the Irish American News as the "Best Instrumental Band in the Business", the Brock McGuire Band brings a wealth of experience and expertise to their performances. It's a sound and style which continues to excite audiences everywhere.

Cathie Ryan

Irish American Cathie Ryan, with her crystalline vocals and insightful songwriting, is an original and distinctive voice in Celtic music. Since her acclaimed seven year tenure as lead singer of Cherish the Ladies, the Detroit born Ryan has established herself as one of Celtic Music's most popular and enduring singer-songwriters. The Boston Globe recently wrote, "Cathie Ryan is a thrilling traditional vocalist whose honey-pure soprano is equally at home on probing original ballads about a woman's place in the modern world."

Cathie is a captivating and deeply affecting performer. "There is nothing like a live show, being with an audience, sharing the music. That is the best part of being a singer and writing songs." she says. She has built a loyal following throughout Europe and North America by touring steadily and singing "songs of the heart." At a live performance The Irish Echo observed, "Cathie Ryan certainly knows how to communicate with her audience. And what she communicates through song are the enduring values of home, family, memory, and spirit..."

In 2003 Cathie was included in the famous Irish music collection, A Woman's Heart - A Decade On, placing her amongst Irish music's finest female vocalists and songwriters. It was the first time Americans were featured in the series and she shared the honor with Allison Krauss, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. In recent years, her original songs have been recorded by such distinguished Irish vocalists as Frances Black and Mary Black among others.

Dervish

From the Great Wall of China to packed auditoriums in the Holy Land and more recently being the first Irish band to perform at the greatest music festival in the world, "Rock in Rio" on front of an estimate audience of two hundred and forty thousand people, Dervish have come a long way in seventeen years. Formed in 1989 by a group of five musicians, Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin Mc Ginley, Brian Mc Donagh and Michael Holmes who came together to record an album of local music which was released as The Boys of Sligo. Inspired by the project they decided to develop this informal gathering (which gathered weekly to play sessions in local pubs) into a working band under the name Dervish which was chosen as it related to any group of spiritual people who become enraptured by music.

It's now nearly 18 years since first coming together and with four of the original members still at the helm, Dervish are more in demand than ever. Their colorful career has taken them to every corner of the globe and has seen them share centre stage with such names as James Brown, The Buena Vista Social Club, Oasis, Sting, REM, Beck and many more. Dervish are one of the most respected acts of modern time in World/Roots music worldwide. Their musical genius and innovative approach will ensure that they will be always be a leading force in Irish music bringing the world the joy and excitement and fun that is, traditional Irish music.

Ed Miller

Ed Miller has been hailed as "one of the finest singers to come out of the Scottish Folksong Revival" and as "one of Scotland's best singing exports." Originally from Edinburgh, he has for many years been based in Austin, TX where he gained graduate degrees in Folklore and Geography at the University of Texas. Ed is available for concerts, clubs, house concerts, festivals, Highland Games and Burns Suppers, as well as for lectures and workshops and has recorded 8 CD's of Scottish songs.

For a number of years now Ed has also been leading tours through the lowlands and highlands of his Scottish homeland.

"The aim of the tours," says Ed "is to give people the chance to enjoy and learn about Scotland through experiencing its music and landscape. You will meet and hear performers and songwriters on their home ground, visit the contexts from which the songs and music have come, and have the chance to enjoy occasional hikes in both the Lowlands and the Highlands. This is NOT a search for the Scotland of Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Loch Ness Monster - rather it is a unique opportunity to learn about the music, people, history and landscape of this amazingly varied country in an interesting, personal and entertaining way."

Ed will be joined again by two great friends/musicians from the Alabama band Henri's Notions - Scooter Muse on guitar and Jil Chambless, vocals and flute - they've been playing as a trio whenever possible at festivals in the southeast, and performed at the Mull of Kintyre Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Jil has recently released her first solo album, "The Ladies Go Dancing", produced by Brian McNeill.

The Elders

Take a group of Kansas City musicians with a passion for Celtic music, an Irishman with a love of all things American, and you get a cross-pollination of elements that is high octane and progressive, yet rooted in tradition. What they have come to discover is something unaffected by fads, trends and the giant maw of mind-numbing commercialism. Some call it arsekickin music from the heartland.

Since forming in 1998, The Elders have brought their musical mix of amped-up roots rock, powerful vocals, blazing instrumentals and top-notch songwriting to festivals, pubs and theaters across the United States and Ireland. Through it all their four studio albums, two live albums and DVD have become sales staples at festivals and gift shops across the US.

The Elders are fronted by charismatic Irishman, Ian Byrne from County Wicklow, and backed by a group of wicked-fine Kansas City musicians. Band members include guitarist Steve Phillips (The Rainmakers), bassist Norm Dahlor (Tommy Shaw Band), violinist Brent Hoad, drummer Tommy Sutherland, and keyboardist Joe Miquelon (Asleep at the Wheel). All are well-known veteran musicians having played in numerous recording and touring bands before forming the Elders.

Glengarry Bhoys

Described as bold, unorthodox, vibrant, and evocative, the Glengarry Bhoys hybrid of Canadian Highland Scots and French Canadian musical idioms has evolved into a sound that is weighty, authoritative, and extremely entertaining.

Their energy and good humor, as much a part of the show as their musicianship, crosses all cultures and ages. Many things have been written and reported about this world renown Canadian alt-celt group over that last decade, all depicting their musical and entertaining prowess with varied audiences the world over, but their ability to marshal large enthusiastic audiences show after show is legion and recognized.

From a small Scots-French-Canadian enclave in Eastern Ontario, these Celtic-Stompers, always pushing the musical envelope but never straying too far from the traditional whence they came, have earned a reputation as entertainers that challenge you to sit still during their engaging performances.

Jed Marum and Lonestar Stout

Jed Marum albums play regularly on Folk/Bluegrass and Celtic radio programs around the world. His music is also distributed widely on all the major MP3 services. Throughout the US each year Jed plays over 150 shows at festival, club and concert venues.

Reflected in his song writing and song selection is a keen interest in history and the passing of culture from generation to generation. Jed performs traditional songs and contemporary songs in musical style that is both Celtic and American, with strong Bluegrass roots.

Nicky Rossiter is host of STORIES on Irelands South East Radio says, "Jed Marum has his genetic roots in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Those genes must come from a long line of bards and storytellers to judge from his recorded output. I have collected a number of albums from this troubadour and he never fails to deliver."

James P. Gannon former Wall Street Journal editor and author of "Irish Rebels, Confederate Tigers" writing about one of Jed songs said, "Prayer from Little Round Top is the song one of the great Irish poets might have written had he marched to Gettysburg with Jeds Irish immigrant from Alabama. The melody seems to well up from some misty glen in Connemara, wrapping the soldiers sad story in a teardrop. It may mark me as a sentimental Irish man to say this, but if you can listen to this haunting song without finding your eyes moistening, then somewhere along lifes way, youve lost your soul."

Jed is known as a gifted singer, a unique and talented player and an accomplished songwriter. He is a warm and comfortable performer with a story to tell and gift for the telling.

Tommy Sands

Tommy Sands, County Down's singer, songwriter and social activist has achieved something akin to legendary status in his own lifetime. From the pioneering days with the highly influential Sands Family, sharing Irish Music from New York's Carnegie Hall to Moscow's Olympic Stadium, he has developed into one of the most powerful songwriters and enchanting solo performers in Ireland today. He enjoys celebrity status in his homeland and elsewhere, tempered by artistic integrity and the sorrow of personal tragedy in his war torn homeland.

Walking the road between Protestant and Catholic, he dreams of improving that reality. As part of the acclaimed Sands family, one of the most important traditional groups in the early years of Ireland's folk revival, Tommy has worked to add beauty to the world and to point out where it still needs improvement.

His songwriting, which draws the admiration of Nobel Poet Laureate Seamus Heaney and father of folk music Pete Seeger, prompts Sing Out! Magazine to regard him as "the most powerful songwriter in Ireland, if not the rest of the world". His songs, like There Were Roses, and Daughters and Sons, have been recorded by Joan Baez, Kathy Matthea, Dolores Keane, The Dubliners and many others. Tommy's songs have been translated into other languages and are currently included in the English language syllabus in German secondary schools.

McPeake

McPeake began life as nothing more than a group of musicians who came together for special gigs and occasions. Francis McPeake first brought the band together for a stage show based on the Titanic, that he co-wrote in 2003. Since then they have worked with many prominent Irish artists including Brian Kennedy, Finbar Furey, Kieran Goss, Juliet Turner, and Ralph McTell.

No musical borders are left uncrossed - the refreshing, varied sound of McPeake organically grows from its members. Each McPeake member is an artist in their own right. Each has performed with many international artists including Van Morrison, Mary Black, Ronan Keating, The McPeake Family, Riverdance, John Hurt, Denis Hopper, The Chieftains and more. Their experiences bring a twist to McPeake

A series of one-off performances over the last 4 years has generated widespread interest from their audiences. McPeake has a creative approach to music, blending influences from Irish traditional, folk, acoustic and country genres to create their own unique sound that is an experience for the ears and soul.