James Keane - Born to a musical family in Dublin, he took up the button accordion at age six and spent his youth surrounded by the giants of Irish traditional music; Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Sonny Brogan and many more. As a teen he co-founded the Castle Ceili Band, which won the All-Ireland ceili band competition and played to sold out dance halls all over Ireland. James went on to win four All-Ireland championships on the accordion before emigrating to America, performing in Carnegie Hall and building a worldwide reputation as one of the finest Irish accordion players of our time. James lives in New York.
Randal Bays - Fiddler Magazine called Randal “one of the best Irish style fiddlers of his generation,” and his recent live album, “House to House” was picked by the Irish Times as one of the “Top Five Traditional Recordings of 2005”. This self-taught American has been playing Irish fiddle for thirty years and through his recordings and performances has built up a reputation as a master fiddler. He’s worked with many of the great Irish musicians of the day, including James Kelly, Martin Hayes, Michéal O’Domhnaill and many more. Randal lives in Whidbey Island, Washington.
Dáithí Sproule - (“DAH-hee Sprole”) is from the city of Derry, a fluent speaker of Irish Gaelic, with a remarkable repertoire of songs in both Irish and English which he delivers with a wealth of interesting lore. Dáithí is a longtime member of the famed Donegal band Altan. He’s generally considered to be among the top guitarists in the world of Irish music, and was one of the pioneers of DADGAD tuning for the guitar; the Rough Guide to Irish Music calls him “a seminal figure in Irish music.” Dáithí lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Fingal: Randal Bays, Daithi Sproule, James Keane
James Keane - Born to a musical family in Dublin, he took up the button accordion at age six and spent his youth surrounded by the giants of Irish traditional music; Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Sonny Brogan and many more. As a teen he co-founded the Castle Ceili Band, which won the All-Ireland ceili band competition and played to sold out dance halls all over Ireland. James went on to win four All-Ireland championships on the accordion before emigrating to America, performing in Carnegie Hall and building a worldwide reputation as one of the finest Irish accordion players of our time. James lives in New York.
Randal Bays - Fiddler Magazine called Randal “one of the best Irish style fiddlers of his generation,” and his recent live album, “House to House” was picked by the Irish Times as one of the “Top Five Traditional Recordings of 2005”. This self-taught American has been playing Irish fiddle for thirty years and through his recordings and performances has built up a reputation as a master fiddler. He’s worked with many of the great Irish musicians of the day, including James Kelly, Martin Hayes, Michéal O’Domhnaill and many more. Randal lives in Whidbey Island, Washington.
Dáithí Sproule - (“DAH-hee Sprole”) is from the city of Derry, a fluent speaker of Irish Gaelic, with a remarkable repertoire of songs in both Irish and English which he delivers with a wealth of interesting lore. Dáithí is a longtime member of the famed Donegal band Altan. He’s generally considered to be among the top guitarists in the world of Irish music, and was one of the pioneers of DADGAD tuning for the guitar; the Rough Guide to Irish Music calls him “a seminal figure in Irish music.” Dáithí lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
# Posted on November 11th 2006 by Frank Dalton