TALENTED Co Louth-born flute player/singer Nuala Kennedy is in the middle of a UK tour along with her band and Cape Breton fiddler/piano player Troy MacGillivray.
It has now been two years since her last release, Nobel Stranger, her third solo album on Nashville’s Compass Records.
The Dundalk musician started out playing in a local ceilidh band, but it was in Edinburgh where she honed her instrumental skills and joined a trio that ended up touring Europe, Canada and Australia.
She eventually moved to Inverness in the Highlands for a year’s extensive study of Scots Gaelic to add to her own large repertoire of Irish songs. The combination of the two powerful Celtic cultures, Ireland and Scotland, combine to produce the basis of her musical direction and repertoire.
Following the current trend, Nuala performs in a variety of line-ups ranging from duos to bands — an approach that gives her music that fresh feel.
Playing in different formations from time to time means learning and experimenting with new material, so it’s always a challenge, but one that she obviously relishes.
The Nuala Kennedy Band with Troy MacGillivray play The Big Whistle Festival, The Mets Arts Centre, Bury (May 23), The Green Note, Camden (24), Cawley Hall, Eye, Herts. (25), Ballaghadrreen, Co. Mayo (28), Spirit Store, Dundalk (29)
See More: Music, Nuala Kennedy, Tour, UK
