www.sligolive.ie

Ireland’s Folk, Roots & Indie Festival
23rd – 28th October 2013

Presents

FIDDLER OF DOONEY Competition

ON

SAT. 26th OCT 2013 – Junior Fiddler of Dooney @ 11.00am

SUN. 27th OCT 2013 – Senior Fiddler of Dooney @ 2.00pm

Location: Methodist Hall, Wine Street, Sligo

Get ready for another great SLIGO LIVE.   As well as the very special Coleman’s Call Concert, Liz Carroll’s concert, the always dynamic Sligo Sessions, the renowned Fiddler of Dooney Competition with the addition of an overseas expansion, add a whole parallel program of roots and indie music bringing together established and Irish artists, a hopping festival club each night and ‘Arrivals’, performances by some of Ireland’s top emerging talent and you have a must see festival.  SLIGO LIVE takes place over 6 days spanning the Bank Holiday Weekend, October 23d – 28th 2013.   See www.sligolive.ie for full programme.

The Fiddler of Dooney has been running since 1965, coming up to its 50th anniversary.  This year Sligo Live and Sligo Town Branch of Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Eireann took the competition international with heats in New York and Boston.  21 year old Dylan Foley won the Fiddler of Dooney New York Heat.  Dylan beat off stiff competition and is delighted to be representing New York at this year’s competition in Sligo.  Dylan is the new generation of Traditional Irish Music in New York.  Dylan is a 3-time All-Ireland champion on the fiddle. He has released 2 albums, one solo, titled “Hup!” and more recently, he released a CD with a new up and coming band, “The Yanks”, alongside Isaac Alderson, Dan Gurney and Sean Earnest.  Dylan will join fiddlers from all over Ireland in competing for this magnificent award.

A former member of Chulrua, the Doon Ceili Band, the Two Tap Trio, and the Máirtín de Cógáin Project, fiddler Nathan Gourley started playing music at age five.  Nathan Gourley beat of stiff competition and won the Fiddler of Dooney Boston Heat.  Nathan will be travelling to Sligo to represent Boston at This Year’s Competition.   Nathan is the new generation of Traditional Irish Music in Boston.  After college, Nathan moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and quickly immersed himself in the local Irish music community.  Inspired by the playing of James Kelly, Tommy Peoples, and Brian Rooney, Nathan started attending and recording all the sessions he could find.  Additionally, he had the opportunity to collaborate with such renowned players as Paddy O’Brien of Chulrua, Daithi Sproule of Altan, and Brian Miller of Bua.  It was during this time in St. Paul that Nathan refined his personal style and expanded his repertoire, all the while developing an elaborate network of musical colleagues throughout the country.  In 2012 Nathan visited Boston and was immediately drawn in by the city’s vibrant traditional Irish music scene.  He decided to move in with his friend and fellow musician, uillean piper Joey Abarta, and hasn’t looked back.  Nathan can be seen playing at sessions, concerts, ceilis, and festivals in Boston and throughout the East Coast of the United States.

Inspired by the W.B. Yeats poem of the same name, The Fiddler of Dooney Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious instrumental competitions in the tradition.  The roll of previous winners reads like a who’s who of traditional fiddling and includes Matt Cranitch, Cathal Hayden, Liz Kane, Paddy Glackin and Manus McGuire to name just a few.

In the seven years it has been part of Sligo Live, one of the two adjudicators has come from the U.S. each year recognising the enormous musical connections between Sligo and America.  Grammy nominated Chicago’s Liz Carroll and former winner Manus McGuire judge the Junior competition and NYC’s Tony De Marco returns to take on the task of judging the Senior competition with former winner Seamus McGuire.

For further information www.sligolive.ie