ANDY IRVINE is forty years on the road - he has been hailed as 'a tradition in himself'. An incredibly talented musician, singer and songwriter Andy has mantained both personal integrity and highly individual performing skills...from being a member of SWEENEY'S MEN in the sixties, to the enormous success of PLANXTY in the seventies, THE Irish super group PATRICK STREET and from the eighties to the present, Andy has been a world music pioneer and icon for traditional music and musicians.

Andy is the archetypal troubadour, with a solo show and traveling lifestyle that reflects his lifelong influence, Woody Guthrie. His repertoire of Irish traditional and original songs, his dexterous Balkan dance tunes and a compelling canon of his own material defies description. After leaving SWEENEYS MEN in 1968 he earned his living as a street musician in Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia. Returning to Ireland he formed PLANXTY together with Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Liam O'Flynn, fanning the flames of Irish Traditional Music well into the next generation. PLANXTY took a break in 1976 and Andy then worked and recorded with PAUL BRADY, DE DANNAN, and DICK GAUGHAN. After another sojurn to Eastern Europe he returned to Ireland to solo and duo work, this soon grew into PATRICK STREET with Kevin Burke (Bothy band), Jackie Daly (DeDannan) and guitar maestro Arty McGlynn. His second solo album 'Rude Awakening' from 1990 - it created the hugely influential 'East Wind', an album of Balkan music, produced by Bill Whelan - the roots for RIVERDANCE were set... in his dedications on the Riverdance CD Bill Whelan is quoted ' To Andy Irvine, whose pioneering enthusiasm for and love of Eastern European music became totally infectious to any of us lucky enough to come into his line of fire'.

As he is probably best known in America as the voice of PATRICK STREET, and while he remains an integral part of one of the finest Irish bands of our time, still Andy continues along the road he set for himself so long ago - a vibrant career as a solo artist in the old style, a teller of stories and a maker of music.

So what can we expect from an evening with a legend ? - A musical history lesson, superb vocals on traditional, original and contemporary Irish songs. Then as well as the singing, his incredible musicianship on bouzouki, mandolin and harmonica, best of all though the sense of warmth and camraderie we experienced when he was last here.

I invited the cast of Skull in Connemara and their esteemed director Mr. Anthony Powell to Andy's performance at the Cameron Church..here's one of my favourite quotes about Andy from Anthony Powell.

"Attending Andy Irvine's concert was something of a revelation. His beautiful playing and singing - his sheer musicianship - was amazing enough in and of itself, but the man's ability to keep an audience shuttling between laughter and tears during the length of an entire concert was nothing short of astonishing. It's the kind of thing we in the theatre always aspire to, but so rarely achieve. What a remarkable evening ? What a remarkable artist ? -

From the Galway Advertiser - Andy played the famous venue 'The Roisin Dubh'

'So in the intimate confines of the Roisin Dubh, Andy Irvine reminded us all yet again, why after more than three decades he is held in such high esteem, by those who like their folk music served up with a large helping of integrity'.

From the San Francisco Examiner

'His forte, his genius is playing his mandolin, mandola and bouzouki. I have never heard such clarity of sound, such perfect and precise rhythmic variations or such brilliant melodic figures from this family of instruments'

From the Los Angeles Times

'Irvine's voice and accompaniment combine in a spell-weaving fashion, his story songs so fully animated that it's easy to understand how some cultures get along just fine without cable TV'

From The Sydney Morning Herald

'What makes an evening with Irvine so special is that every note he picks and every line he sings comes from the heart. Everything he touches is performed with honesty and conviction, and his playing is never less than breathtaking. By any measure Irvine is one of the towering talents on the International folk scene'.

.................and there's lots and lots more !!

Andy is accompanied by RENS VAN DER ZALM from Rotterdam - a musician of multiple talents, not only a skilled guitarist but equally accomplished on the violin, mandolin, keyboards, accordion and whistle. His instrumental skills are combined with a rare ability to apply his expertise to a wide variety of musical styles. Their paths crossed in 1968 in Eastern Europe, they became friends and promised to play together again sometime later...'some time' proved to be more than twenty years. Rens joined Andy on the recording 'East Wind' produced by Bill Whelan, who later wrote the score to RIVERDANCE. Rens was also drafted as one of Andy's favourite musicians for the band MOZAIK, they've toured Europe the States and Australia together.

You can visit Andy Irvine's Web Site at www.andyirvine.com