Paddy Keenan and Tommy O'Sullivan

Generally acknowledged as the most accomplished uilleann piper performing today, Paddy Keenan was born in Trim, Co. Meath, to a Travelling family steeped in traditional music. Both Paddy’s father and grandfather were uilleann pipers and Paddy himself took up the pipes at the age of ten, playing his first major concert at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin when he was 14.

During the 1970s, Paddy began playing with a group of musicians who later became The Bothy Band. Merging a driving rhythm section with traditional Irish tunes in ways that had never been heard before, The Bothy Band changed the face of Irish traditional music.

More recently, Paddy has pursued a solo career that has taken him all over the world including the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. He has recorded with many major artists including fiddler James Kelly, flute player Larry Nugent, Steve Morris of Deep Purple and the Dixie Dregs, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bela Fleck and Tim O’Brien.

In 2002, Paddy received the TG4 Traditional Musician of the Year award. Since receiving the award, he has established The Long Grazing Acre Foundation, an educational trust fund for the Traveller community in Ireland.

Guitarist and singer Tommy O’Sullivan was a well-known face on London’s traditional Irish music scene in the early 1980s, playing with Crannóg and fiddle player Jimmy Power among others. As well as his dynamic musical partnership with Paddy Keenan, he is a member of the band Sliabh Notes with whom he has recorded several albums and played most of the biggest Irish festivals in the world. He has recently released his second solo album, Song Ablaze, which features many of his musical friends, including Grammy award-winning Tim O'Brien.