Band - Mártin O'Connor Band

The trio of Mairtin,Cathal and Seamie first performed live together at a gig in Sligo town organised in memory of Dervish soundman Fin Corrigan.The rapport with each other and the audience was immediate and since then,the three have successfully played gigs in Ireland,Britain,mainland Europe,and Australia,where they played as part of the Masters of The Irish Tradition concert along with Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill,Steve Cooney,Iarla O'Lionáird and piper David Power.The concert sold out two nights in Sydney Opera House and received a rapturous reception.

They have just released a long awaited album entitled "Crossroads"that has already received critical acclaim."The Irish Echo" in New York has placed it in their top ten Irish CD releases.The album captures the live essence of three musicians that have built both a personal and professional rapport with each other as well as with an ever increasing audience.

Since about 2001,the current line-up of the Mairtin O’Connor Band has been steadily evolving into a cohesive musical entity. They have built a formidable musical relationship over the last few years, gigging together frequently as well as collaborating in the studio. The catalyst for this was Mairtin when he invited the others to play on his ground-breaking “Road West”album, and again later on the “Rain of Light”album, much of which went down live, such was the musical and personal rapport that had developed between them. Individually, they have built solid reputations as musicians in terms of ability and versatility.

Mairtin was one of the main musical forces behind the now legendary “Riverdance” phenomenon, having previously, through his work with De Dannan, Midnight Well, Skylark and as a solo artist, quite simply gone where no Irish accordion player had gone before .He is one of the most respected and best loved musicians ever to emerge from the country.

Cathal Hayden needs no introduction to anyone even remotely familiar with traditional Irish music. A multiple All-Ireland Championship winner, he achieved worldwide recognition as one of the founder members of “Four Men and a Dog”. He is one of Ireland’s top fiddlers and his solo banjo performances are quite simply,show stopping.

Seamie O’Dowd’s musical abilities have become increasingly familiar at international level in recent years. Rooted deeply in the traditional music of Sligo, he has played in many genres of acoustic and electric music. He toured the world for a number of years with Sligo trad.legends,”Dervish” and recently has played at home and abroad with Liam O’Flynn, Matt Molloy and Meteor Award nominee Mary Mc Partlan.