Traditional Irish Music on Whistle, Fiddle & Bouzouki
Seán & Kathleen were teaching in the Boston Comhaltas and playing a lot, and Seán says, “having a good time in general, really. We have a similar musical instinct, the same kind of influences and approach and with John with us, well, we just found it to be a really good time.” Or as Coyne put it, “it just clicked with the three of us.” They found all sorts of opportunities to play together, at sessions and parties, but also mentioned that the three also did gigs for things like the Cranston Ceili Club in Rhode Island and at Blue in Portland, Maine and found that their chemistry worked in front of audiences as well. Then, things changed: Conneely’s decision to move to Chicago mid-pandemic challenged the trio’s regular good times. So, Clohessy raised the idea of recording something, if only just for posterity. “The idea was to capture the feeling we shared for ourselves,” he told me. “We were doing kind of nothing else over the pandemic and it was an an opportunity to play tunes and put some stuff together.” Coyne pointed out that since there weren’t a lot of fiddle and whistle albums it might even find an audience. -excerpt from The Irish Echo magazine, Daniel Neely Feb 2022
Kathleen Conneely – Whistle -Born in Bedford, England, to Irish parents from Galway and Longford, Kathleen Conneely began playing Irish music at age twelve, along with her siblings, Bernadette, Michael & Pauline. She studied with Brendan Mulkere (Co. Clare), a well-regarded teacher in London. Her father Michael is a fiddle, accordion, and tin whistle player from Errislannan, Co. Galway, and their home was always filled with music from records and live sessions with visiting musicians. Kathleen has lived in London, Dublin, Chicago, Rhode Island & Boston, and she has taught for Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann in Dublin and Boston, at the Boston College Irish Studies program, Gaelic Roots, Catskills Irish Arts Week, Swannanoa Gathering, and at various traditional music festivals throughout the U.S. In 2012, she released her first solo CD, ‘The Coming of Spring’, and has just released a new CD, ‘All Jokes Aside’, (2022) with fellow musicians and friends: Seán Clohessy and John Coyne.
Seán Clohessy – fiddle -Seán comes from Co Limerick and was raised in a musical family that includes his brother Cathal and sisters, Catherine and Maureen. He has been playing fiddle since his early teens, with much of his early influences coming from musicians in his native Limerick and the neighboring Co. Clare. He spent time living and playing music in London where his music was heavily influenced by the Clare fiddle player, Brendan Mulkere. For the past several years he’s been based in Boston where he has been a key contributor in both performance and teaching. His collaboration with Sean McComiskey and Kieran Jordan in their CD entitled ‘Cover the Buckle: A Collection of Irish Set Dances for Listening and Dancing’ was widely acclaimed.
John Coyne – bouzouki, song- Originally from Limerick, Ireland, John Coyne is a Boston-based bouzouki player and singer. His natural setting is playing sessions at the Druid with many of the local musicians, especially whistle player Kathleen Conneely and fiddle player Sean Clohessy. John has toured across the US with fiddle and guitar player Randal Bays. He plays with his son Rory, a fantastic young accordian player and Sean Clohessy as The Treaty Trio. John has performed at many festivals including CelticFest Mississippi, North Texas Irish Festival, and others, often performing with friends Larre Reeves and Joey Abarta. In addition to the recording, ‘All Jokes Aside’ with Kathleen and Sean, John has a duet recording ‘Coyne and Reeves’, performed on ‘Live at the Druid’ recording, and produced the live recording ‘From Tulla to Boston: Live at the Burren’.
