Brock McGuire Band -Irish Traditional Music September 19, 2011

Brock McGuire Band -Irish Traditional Music
Monday, September 19 2011, 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Moving Cloud founding members Paul Brock and Manus McGuire front an impressive group, The BROCK MCGUIRE BAND. Residing in County Clare, button accordianist and melodeonist Paul Brock and fiddler Manus McGuire are two of Ireland’s most celebrated traditional musicians and have been at the forefront of Irish music for many years through their joint work with Moving Cloud. Manus is also a founding member of Buttons & Bows, and both bands, ranking among Ireland’s finest, have helped to introduce international audiences to the virtuosity of their playing.

Paul Brock - A multiple All-Ireland champion born in Athlone, County Westmeath, and now residing in Ennis, Paul pursued a solo career through the 60’s and 70’s by mastering the single-row, two-row, three-row, and five-row button accordeons.His collaborations with fiddle player Frankie Gavin during the 70’s and 80’s culminated in their 1986 Gael-Linn recording ‘Tribute to Joe Cooley’, regarded by critics and fellow musicians as one of the outstanding traditional albums of the modern era. Paul’s solo album, ‘Mo Chairdin’ (Gael-Linn), was described in the Rough Guide to Irish Music as a ‘modern masterpiece of accordeon music’. In May 1989, Paul co-founded the group Moving Cloud with Manus McGuire. This Clare-based group produced two albums for Green Linnet Records, including their 1994 self-titled release that was selected by well-known U.S. music critic Earle Hitchner as the best Irish traditional album of the year. Paul was voted as 'Best Male Musician' (2004) by the Irish American News.

Manus McGuire - Growing up in Sligo in the 60’s when fiddle music had regained popularity in its “Native Home”, the North –West of Ireland, Manus McGuire was ideally placed to carry on a tradition made legend by Coleman, Morrison, Killoran and O’Beirne thirty years previously. From an early age he learned various dance tunes by his father’s knee and followed his older brother, Seamus, into the national traditional music arena that was steadily gathering momentum. Manus's musical mettle became apparent to all in 1970, the year he won Sligo's prestigious Fiddler of Dooney competition--at age 14. Since then, he has toured extensively in North America and Canada. The Irish American News awarded Manus McGuire 'Best Male Musician' of the year 2006.

Denis Carey - from Newport, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, is a musician, composer, and arranger with a diverse musical background. He has performed and recorded with many well known artists nationally and internationally. In recent years Denis' compositions have been widely acclaimed in Nova Scotia, Canada where he performs on a regular basis. The Scottish National Orchestra performed a piece by Denis entitled 'Cape Breton Sunrise' (which appears on his solo album 'An Turas') at the Edinburgh Folk Festival in 1997.

Fergal Scahill - hails from Corofin, a small village in Co. Galway. Being one of the most talented musicians in the Irish music scene today, he is in great demand not only as a fiddle player but also as a guitar and bodhran player. He comes from a very musical family, his brother Enda being one of the top banjo players in the country. Fergal won the senior fiddle competition in the All Ireland Fleadh in 2002 which really boosted his career. He also has two All Ireland Bodhrán titles to his name. Fergal has been playing music professionally since leaving school and has performed with some legends of Irish music including Frankie Gavin, Paul Brock, Kevin Crawford and has toured extensively with many successful young bands such as Teada, Ragús, Celtic Legends and The David Munnelly Band. He also was a founding member of upcoming band MONTO who are signed to the Universal record label and is featured heavily on their debut album due for release later this year.

Visit their website for more info: http://brockmcguireband.com/intro.html
Location: Chestnut Avenue Center for the Arts - Performance Hall
Contact: Chestnut Center for info and advance tix at 715-389-8999 or e-mail [email protected]
Tickets: tba