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Benefit Events for CelticFest Mississippi The Celtic Heritage Society |
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Performers
Jimmy Crowley Jimmy Crowley is a musical icon in Irish tradition. The lift and lilt of his voice is the listener's joy. Randal Bays and Dáithí Sproule “We enjoy performing, and our concerts are where we bring together the many strands of our musical selves – fiddle tunes, sad songs, funny songs, guitar duets. We try to blend it all together into something like a friendly musical visit, and we’re happy when our audiences feel the same joy in the music that we do ourselves.” – Randal Bays www.RandalBays.com Tim Britton
Regional Music Performers
Dance Groups and Performers
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Jimmy Crowley has been a central figure in the Irish folk scene since the enthusiastic reception of his debut album The Boys of Fairhill in 1977. With his band Stokers Lodge their mission was to present the street ballads of Cork city complimented by the ornate folk songs of the rural hinterland of Cork and Kerry in an exciting orchestration of traditional instruments. Crowley's Foley bouzouki inlaid with his Freestate logo is as distinctive as its owner, and the sound he draws from it is magic. "Jimmy is a living legend in Irish Folk music. He comes from Cork, in the south of Ireland, a city whose musical richness mirror's the city's diversity - a great trad music and song heritage as well as a legacy from music-hall vaudeville and high art musical traditions. Crowley draws on all of these traditions in fashioning his own unique performance style and repertoire and has collected extensively in the south of Ireland both as a ballad singer and as part of his academic degree.” -- Mick Moloney.
From the many fine musicians who are actively engaged in continuing the musical traditions of Ireland comes a remarkable partnership of warmth, humour and good music in Randal Bays and Dáithí Sproule. Randal, a self-taught American born musician, has been playing Irish fiddle for thirty years, and through his recordings and performances has built up a reputation as a master fiddler. He’s also well-known for his fingerstyle guitar playing, including his landmark recordings with Clare fiddler Martin Hayes. Dáithí, a member of the world-renowned band Altan, is considered to be one of the top guitarists in the world of Irish music and is a pioneer in the use of DADGAD tuning. Dáithí is a native of Derry, Ireland, and is a fluent Irish speaker with a wealth of rare songs in both Irish and English. 
Rounding out this year’s musical headliners, Tim Britton is among
the foremost of a generation making innovative contributions to
the Irish tradition. A virtuoso on the rare Uillean pipes (a sophisticated Irish bagpipe, pronounced ILL-in), Tim has been touring, teaching and recording over the last thirty years. In 1989 he was designated a master artist by the Iowa Arts Council and was nominated for a Best of Philadelphia Music Award. From 1997 to 2003 he toured with Chulrua (with Paddy O'Brien and Pat Egan). When not traveling, Britton makes uilleann pipes and does audio engineering and sales in Fairfield, Iowa. Tim has been the recipient of five Iowa Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants to teach Irish music and Uillean pipe making and playing.