Donal Lunny and Friends play a special St Patrick's Day trad session, at The National Concert Hall on the 17th of March
This St Patrick's Day concert in The National Concert Hall is a chance to catch one of the luminaries of Irish folk in a trad session with Roisin Elsafty on vocals and Martin O'Connor on accordion.
Donal Lunny, guitarist and bouzouki player is one of the pioneers of Irish folk music. As a musician, bandleader, arranger and producer he has been at the cutting edge of the evolution of Irish music for the last thirty years.
Donal Lunny started playing folk music in the mid '60s, joining pub sessions in the small town of Prosperous in Kildare. In 1972, Christy Moore came back to Ireland to record an album and assembled a number of musicians for the recording.
The resulting album, Prosperous was a classic and brought Andy Irvine, Liam O'Flynn, Christy Moore and Lunny together as the band, Planxty. Irvine who had just returned from Eastern Europe, introduced Lunny to the bouzouki. With the bouzouki, Lunny would excel as a musician, utilising the bouzouki's rhythmic possibilities and tonal beauty to transform the sound of traditional music.
Lunny's career is littered with groundbreaking groups. After he left Planxty, he joined The Bothy Band, another legendary folk act of the '70s. Lunny recorded four brilliant albums with the group and toured the world. Then he went on to form one of the great folk rock groups, Moving Hearts with Christy Moore. Moving Hearts took the traditional innovations of Planxty and The Bothy Band and added a rhythm section and a little bit of rock & roll. The band proved to be a blistering live act and produced three stunning album, all produced by Lunny.
Lunny had also produced three of Planxty's albums and after he left Moving Hearts his time was mainly taken up with producing. Over the years he has produced some of the best talent emerging from the trad scene. His reputation went beyond Ireland and in the late '80s he began to produce international rock acts. In the last two decades, Lunny has become a world-class producer working with Christy Moore, Elvis Costello, Baaba Maal, Paul Brady and Kate Bush.
His most recent musical project, Coolfin sees Lunny still pushing new musical boundaries. He incoporates elements of world music and Eastern European folk music into his trad mix and delivers the music as a delightful, exciting session. Planxty have recently reformed and are playing for ten nights in Vicar Street.
This concert in The National Concert Hall is a chance to catch a man who is at the heart of all that is good in Irish trad music. It is the perfect way to complement your St Patrick's Day's celebrations.
National Concert Hall
Buy Tickets
Time : 8pm
Tickets : €25, €20 (Choir Balcony €15)
Tickets are available from The National Concert Hall booking office.
National Concert Hall
Earlsfort Terrace
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 (0) 1 4170000
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