This past summer I spent some time in Ireland studying Irish fiddle in the Donegal tradition. It was such an amazing experience as it was my first excursion to the emerald isle, and really my first true taste of Donegal fiddle music.
I fell in love with this particular style of traditional music because it encompasses so many different types of tunes outside of just your traditional jigs and reels. There are all sorts of tune types like highlands, barn dances, mazurkas, polkas, and waltzes and they all actually sound pretty different. It’s beautiful music. And it’s coming to Vermont!
Next weekend, Donegal Fiddler, Oisin McAuley, will be sharing the stage with one of my all-time favorite Irish musicians, John Doyle, in the Middlebury After Dark Series. John is one of the most rhythmic guitar players I know with sweet vocals and Irish charm. Trust me when I tell you this is going to be an amazing show.
Concert Details:
Where: Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, VT
When: Friday, October 4, 2013
Time: 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30)
Cost: $25 in advance ($28 at the door)
Here is some info on both musicians taken from the Middlebury After Dark Series website:
John Doyle
“John Doyle is one of the most influential and important musicians in Irish music today. Impossibly in demand in the studio and on the road, immensely talented and blessed with an acute ear, a wicked sense of rhythm and seemingly endless stream of magic in his playing, composing, performing and producing. John Doyle is solidly establishing himself as one of the most versatile, creative and prolific voices in folk and traditional Irish music.”
Oisin McAuley
“Without a doubt, Donegal fiddler Oisin McAuley, is one of the best new fiddlers to come out of Ireland in some time. He’s toured for years with a number of groups including well-known Danu – Mr. McAuley’s new CD “Far From the Hills of Donegal” represents his arrival as a solo artist. Oisin McAuley was raised in Carrick, County Donegal an area in rural North Western Ireland renowned as having one of the finest fiddle traditions of the 21st century. He also lived a short time in Brittany studying the indigenous traditional Celtic music in that peninsular region of North West France. In 2001 Oisín joined the traditional Irish band Danú with whom he performs to the present day. These days, McAuley works at Berklee College of Music and lives in Holliston, Massachusetts.”
Hope to see you at the show!
Session Obsession 
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