Twilight Music presents an evening of traditional Irish music with a modern edge by McAuley, Horan, O’Caoimh at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Friday, May 31 at 7:30 pm. Accordionist/vocalist Mick Mcauley and fiddler Winifred Horan are both long-time members of Irish-American supergoup Solas, which has recorded ten albums to worldwide critical acclaim and been praised by the Boston Herald as “the best Irish traditional band in the world.” Guitarist Colm O’Caoimh is a founding member of the counties Kilkenny, Carlow and Waterford-based Irish group Caladh Nua.
After meeting and playing together in Dublin in the early 1990s, Winifred Horan and Mick McAuley joined forces in Solas, a band that Winifred founded in 1994 with Seamus Egan, John Doyle, John Williams and Karan Casey. The sound of Winifred’s fiddle and Mick’s accordion have become an integral part of the Solas sound, while the quintet has become one of the most widely successful and highly respected bands in Irish music. Winifred and Mick’s first duo album “Serenade” was named one of the Top 5 Irish music albums of 2006 by the Irish Times. Their latest CD with Colm O’Caoimh, “Sailing Back to You,” is a collection of traditional and original songs and airs and high-octane reels and jigs.
Mick McAuley was born into the well-known musical family from Kilkenny, Ireland, and began playing Irish music at a very early age. By his late teens, he had toured extensively throughout Europe as part of the family group, other ensembles and as a soloist. Since then he has recorded or toured with Ron Kavana, Paddy Keenan, Patti Griffin, Susan McKeown, Karan Casey, Paul Brennan of Clannad, and Eurovision winner Eimear Quinn. One of the best accordionists and finest singers in Ireland, Mick is regularly invited to appear as a special guest of the European touring production “Celtic Legends”.
Having grown up in the bustling New York City Irish scene in the 1970’s, and then earning a degree in music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Winifred Horan draws on her background in both classical and traditional music to create her own distinct fiddle style. She has worked with many of the finest musicians on the Irish music and contemporary folk scenes, including Cherish the Ladies, Sharon Shannon, Belinda Carlisle, Richard Shindell and Liz Carroll.
Kilkenny, Ireland native Colm O’Caoimh has redefined the guitar accompaniment of Irish music, bringing to it influences of jazz and swing, all the while grounding the music with his own unique driving, earthy rhythm. His solidly imaginative playing and delicate finger picking styles are described as being both the backbone and powerhouse of Caladh Nua, a group that has burst onto the Irish music scene with two exciting albums “Happy Days” and “Next Stop.”
Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery is located at 139 Main Street in downtown Brattleboro, VT. Tickets for the show are $18 Reserved / $20 At the Door. For ticket reservations and information, call 802-254-9276. For more information, visit www.mcauleyhoranocaoimh.com and www.hookerdunham.org.
