Gerry O’Connor & Richard Mandel–Saturday, May 4

Gerry O’Connor grew up in County Louth, in a family of musicians, dancers and singers. His mother, Rose, taught Gerry and his siblings at home, and she continued to teach from there for 40 years. Students travelling from Armagh and Dublin, as well as closer to home, came to learn from the doyenne of fiddle teachers. Gerry’s father Peter was a singer whose seven uncles all played music. Gerry won numerous All Ireland titles between 1967 and 1973 in a range of formations including duet, trio and four Céili band titles.

Playing with John Joe Gardiner in the 1970’s formed Gerry’s style of music, focusing on the fluid and ornamented lyrical fiddle playing of the great Sligo masters. His own background in step dancing translates into a vibrant pulsating dance music for which he is noted; today he is regarded as one of the great fiddle players of his generation. He teaches fiddle at the Willie Clancy Summer School and at master classes throughout Europe. When at home, Gerry works as a violin maker and restorer.

Richard Mandel fell into the well of Irish music in the mid-‘90s and was soon driving every session he could get into. As a first-call accompanist, Richard has performed with legendary Irish musicians including Paddy Keenan, Jimmy Keane, Mick Maloney, Paddy O’Brien, Tony DeMarco and many others. Richard plays in the trio Three Mile Stone with mandolinist Marla Fibish and fiddler Erin Shrader.

Here’s a couple videos of the lads playing.

See the RESERVATIONS page to reserve seats


UPCOMING SHOWS:

Paper Wings–Saturday, May 25
Meraki Quartet–Sunday, June 2
Kora Feder–Friday, June 7
Mads Tolling–Saturday, August 3

See the RESERVATIONS page to reserve seats