The Chieftains Shows
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March 2019
About The Chieftains
Six time Grammy winners, The Chieftains, are now recognised for bringing traditional Irish music to the world’s attention. They have uncovered the wealth of traditional Irish music that has accumulated over the centuries, making the music their own with a style that is as exhilarating as it is definitive.
The Chieftains were formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, from the ranks of the top folk musicians in Ireland. Paddy brought together musicians such as fiddler Martin Fay, flautist Michael Tubridy, tin whistle virtuoso Seán Potts, and bodhrán player David Fallon. They recorded a supposedly one-off instrumental album but five years later were reunited with some additions – fiddler Seán Keane, and Peader Mercier replacing Fallon. Derek Bell, harpist came on board in 1973. It wasn’t until 1975 that The Chieftains began playing together full time and they marked the event with a historic performance in Albert Hall in London. The following few years saw the departure of Mercier, and the addition of bodhrán player and vocalist Kevin Conneff, and another lineup change in ’78/79 with the departure of Potts and Tubridy and a new flautist, Matt Molloy.
Although their early following was purely a folk audience, the range and variation of their music very quickly captured a much broader public, making them today the best known Irish band in the world.
Never afraid to shock purists and push boundaries, in their 40 years together The Chieftains have amassed a dizzingly varied cv. They have been involved in such historic events as a tour of China (the first Western group to perform on the Great Wall), Roger Waters’ “The Wall” performance in Berlin in 1990, became the first group to give a concert in the Capitol Building of Washington DC, (at the invitation of former Speaker, Thomas “Tip” O’ Neill), and more recently, Paddy performed a memorial service in October in New York for the victims of September 11th 2001. They have performed with many symphony and folk orchestras worldwide, and have broken many musical boundaries by collaborating and performing with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and traditional music in Ireland and around the world.
On top of their six Grammy awards, they have been honoured in their own country by being officially named Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors, perfomed during the Pope’s visit to Ireland in 1979 in front of a 135,000,000 strong audience, and were the subject of a tribute Late Late Show in 1987, their 25th anniversary.
The trappings of fame have not altered The Chieftains’ love of, and loyalty to, their roots – they are as comfortable playing spontaneous Irish sessions as they are headlining a concert at Carnegie Hall. After all these years of making some of the most beautiful music in the world, The Chieftains’ music remains as fresh and relevant as when they first began.
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