Music

The week’s best trad gigs: Andy Irvine to Aileen Lambert

Catch Planxty veteran Irvine, Wexford singer Lambert and Chieftains fiddler Seán Keane

Andy Irvine. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Siobhán Long's face
Siobhán Long
Sat Feb 15 2020 - 05:00

SATURDAY 15

Andy Irvine
Hot Spot Music Club, Greystones
Andy's songbook and tune collection are wider and deeper than almost anyone else's, and his appetite for live performance has never waned. That voice is ageless, and those fingers that blithely navigate their way around the most complex Hungarian and Bulgarian rhythms are as agile as they were more than five decades ago. Irvine is a veteran of Planxty, Patrick Street and so many seminal ensembles across the tradition, but this is a fine opportunity to catch him solo, in an intimate setting.

THURSDAY 20

Seán Keane
Na Píobairí Uilleann, Henrietta Street
The Chieftains' superb fiddle player, Seán Keane, has never been a man for the spotlight. Self-effacing and low key, his fiddle playing has been a defining force not only in The Chieftains, but also in the tradition. Tonight he will be interviewed by piper Seán Potts, in what promises to be a memorable ramble through the picaresque past of this fine musician.

FRIDAY 21

Aileen Lambert
An Góilín Singers Club, The Teachers Club, Parnell Square
Wexford singer Lambert has been prolific in her song projects, which span The Bird Song Project; the Man, Woman and Child project; and the 1916 Song Project. She also works across Co Wexford, conducting traditional song projects in villages, unearthing and sharing locally penned songs of people and place. Her most recent endeavour involves the production of By Land and Sea, a songbook and double CD featuring more than 30 local singers from the village of Blackwater. Tonight she's the guest of Dublin club An Góilín.

SATURDAY 22

Harry Bradley & Jesse Smith, Eoin & Liam Orr, Maurice Bradley and Clíona Ní Ghallachóir
An Óige Errigal Youth Hostel, Dunlewey, Co Donegal
Na Píobairí Uilleann host an eclectic gathering of musicians in an unusual setting. Belfast flute player Bradley and American-born fiddle player Smith have had a long history of collaboration in The Tap Room Trio, and they'll anchor this session where local musicians include pipes and box duo Eoin and Liam Orr, fiddle player Maurice Bradley and sean-nós singer Clíona Ní Ghallachóir.

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SUNDAY 23

TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards
Waterfront Hall, Belfast
A grand celebration of the musicians, singers, composers, collaborators and lifelong stalwarts who define the heart of our tradition. This year's recipients of Gradam Ceoil awards include musician of the year Laoise Kelly, young musician Sharon Howley, composer Josephine Marsh, singer Lillis Ó Laoire, lifetime achievement Seamus Connolly and outstanding contribution Ned Kelly. Tonight's formidable guest list includes Beoga, and the evening will be hosted by Doireann Ní Ghlacáin and Dónal O'Connor, and broadcast live on TG4.