We are delighted again this year to host some fantastic concerts in association with the Regional Cultural Center, Letterkenny.
The Kane Sisters with John Blake
Wednesday 16th July, Regional Cultural Center 7.30pm BOOK NOW
From North Connemara, Liz and Yvonne Kane, known as The Kane Sisters, are much respected musicians. Born in Letterfrack, they were taught music by the great Sligo musician and music teacher, Mary Finn and by their grandfather, local fiddle player, Jimmy Mullen.
From a young age, they have been very influenced by the traditional music of Sligo and East Galway, in particular the music of the master composer and fiddle player Paddy Fahey.
The Kane Sisters have performed in prestigious venues all over the world, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Royal Albert Hall in London and have recorded and collaborated with many well known artists from The Chieftains to Cherish the Ladies to Steve Earle. Following two years of extensive touring with Sharon Shannon as part of her band “The Woodchoppers”, they decided to embark musically on their own and recorded their first album in 2002 entitled ‘The Well Tempered Bow’ to critical acclaim. The Kane Sisters toured Ireland and the United States following the release of their first album and they followed up with a second album ‘Under the Diamond’ in 2004 and third album in 2010 called ‘Side by Side’. In 2022 they released their fourth album ‘In Memory of Paddy Fahey’ featuring 15 of his compositions as well as newly written tunes from both Liz and Yvonne.
The Kane Sisters received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award in 2024 for the Group of the Year, one of the highest awards in traditional Irish music.
Based in Letterfrack they have a solid teaching schedule with a large number of fiddle students both locally and virtually.
John Blake is a traditional Irish flute player, guitarist and pianist. An ex member of traditional group Teada, John has performed and recorded with the cream of Irish musicians including, John Carty, Paddy Glackin, Noel Hill, Liam O’Flynn, Jesse Smith, Harry Bradley, Colm Gannon, The Kane Sisters and James Kelly. Brought up in London, John was immersed in the vibrant Irish music scene at the time, and was tutored by famed teacher Brendan Mulkere. He moved to Ireland in 1998 and developed a reputation as an accompanist of note, racking up several album credits.
He joined traditional band ‘Teada‘ in 2001 and toured with them for 3 years recording 2 albums with them. John released his debut solo album ‘The Narrow Edge‘ in December 2013, and continues to record, produce and play on many albums of note including the recent release ‘The Truckley Howl’ along with his wife Mairead Hurley and Wisconsin native Nathan Gourley. John is also a former board member of the Irish Traditional Music Archive and former member of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil panel.
Sean Óg Graham & Niamh Dunne
Thursday 17th July, Regional Cultural Center, 7.30pm BOOK NOW
Niamh is an accomplished fiddle player and singer, who is known for her unique traditional fiddle playing, her folk-infused fiddle compositions and smoky warm vocal style.She released her first album of self penned songs “Tides” in 2022 to critical acclaim.Niamh was Traditional Artist in Residence in UCC in 2024 and was awarded a residency in the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris in 2025. Niamh has performed with her family the well-known Dunne family for many years.She has performed on the world stage as founding member of the renowned band Beoga. Beoga are best known for their Irish fusion music and 20 years touring and recording experience.Their album ‘How to tune a fish’ was shortlisted for a Grammy nomination in the ‘Best contemporary world music album’ category. In 2017 their profile was elevated through their writing and performances on Ed Sheeran’s ‘÷’ album. They made numerous appearances with Ed, including his headline Glastonbury performance, and were the support act on his 2018. Niamh is along standing member of The Karan Casey Band and has recorded extensively with Casey.Niamh has vast experience as a composer and has performed her own compositions and songs at the The Proms in the Park with The Ulster Orchestra, and with the RTE concert Orchestra in the National Concert Hall,and has written with top Irish song writers including Stefanie Rainey, Foy Vance and Ryan McMullan. Niamh is an activist and a founding member of Fairplé, a grassroots organisation for better gender balance and a fairer workplace for musicians and artists, and a founding member of Irish Artists For Palestine.
Seán Óg has been playing music since the age of 9. Having developed an obsession in high school he went onto study music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, and has been playing professionally since. He has recorded 7 albums as a founder member of the world renowned band ‘Beoga’ and has toured all over Europe, North America and Australasia. Wall Street Journal describes Beoga as ‘… the most exciting band to come out of Ireland this Century’. Beoga recently performed on Ed Sheeran’s latest album ‘Divide’ and Seán Óg’s own composition ‘Minute 5’ was instrumental in providing the musical backdrop to the global hit ‘Galway Girl’ which has been streamed over 800 million times on Spotify alone. Beoga have also performed with the global superstar at Glastonbury festival in front of 100,000 people and more recently on a stadium tour of Ireland. Seán Óg is in high demand as a session guitar player on the folk/traditional music scene and has featured on over 40 albums. He is also widely regarded as one of Ireland’s top button accordion players, and is a prolific composer of tunes. Over 60 of his pieces have been recorded, and feature heavily on Beoga’s award winning albums.He continues to compose, arrange and produce music on a daily basis in his own purpose built recording facility ‘Bannview studios’. His wealth of experience in the recording studio has led to an increased demand in recent years for his engineering and production roles.Graham has performed with The Bothy Band, Lunasa, Liz Carroll, Karan Casey, Maura O’Connell, Flook, Natalie Merchant, Mairtín O’Conor Band, Duke Special, Ed Sheeran and many others.
From North Connemara, Liz and Yvonne Kane, known as The Kane Sisters, are much respected musicians. Born in Letterfrack, they were taught music by the great Sligo musician and music teacher, Mary Finn and by their grandfather, local fiddle player, Jimmy Mullen.
