Shanahy
| Shanahy (SHAWN-uh-hee) is a band that hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA and performs traditional songs and tunes from the British Isles--primarily Scotland and Ireland. Shanahy entertains audiences at concerts, celtic festivals, weddings, and other celeberations. The special Shanahy sound features fiddles, highland pipes, cauldwind pipes, uilleann (Irish) pipes, whistle, flute, bodhran, guitars, and both female and male vocals. Shanahy performs traditional jigs, slip-jigs, reels, strathspeys, waltzes, airs and songs, along with a few contemporary and original pieces within the celtic style. Shanahy has released three CDs, "Trip to Ballymena" (1995), "Far Away" (1999) and "A Fair Land Lies Before Me" (2004).
Kate MacLeod is a versatile songwriter, fiddler, guitarist, vocalist, record producer and session musician, who has made a name for herself since her first CD's release on Waterbug Records in 1995. Her 2001 Wind River/Folk Era release, "Feel the Earth Spin," on which she performed as the sole musician, received national acclaim. Kate followed that with "Drawn from the Well" in 2002, a duet recording with Kat Eggleston, and most recently in 2005 she offered "Breakfast" from "Kate MacLeod & the Pancakes." Some who know of her as a singer and songwriter may not be aware of Kate's talent as a celtic-style fiddler. She began studying violin at age seven near Washington, D. C., and began her pursuit of traditional music as a young adult. When not performing, she also teaches music. In the band Kate sings and plays fiddle and guitar. (See Kate's website.) Andrew Morrill descends from a distinguished line of bagpipers. That line includes his great grandfather who won the Queen's Jubilee in Scotland at the age of eighteen and, as his prize, performed for Queen Victoria. Andrew is also a leader of the Wasatch & District Pipe Band, has been a winner of individual piping competitions, and is a sought-after judge for many national competitions. In addition to playing the Highland Pipes, he is one of the few players of the Scottish Lowland ("cauldwind" or "parlor") Pipes. The haunting, seldom-heard call of the lowland pipes is a distinctive part of the Shanahy's unique sound. Other pipes Andrew performs on are the Uilleann (Irish) Pipes and the Border (Northumbrian) Pipes. Andrew also performs on whistle, flute and bodhran. A classically trained violinist, Bronwen Beecher learned Irish and Scottish fiddling in the lively pubs of New Orleans and Ottawa. She developed a passion for traditional celtic music and travelled to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to play and study with the masters of Eastern Canadian fiddling. Her curiosity about different styles of music has led her to play in bands as diverse as an award-winning bluegrass band and a modern punk band. Now Bronwen loves playing, teaching and recording celtic music in Salt Lake City, Utah. See Bronwen's website for information about her other projects, including her Celtic Rock Band, the Salty Frogs. On his musical journey through Ohio, New Jersey and Utah, Mark Hazel has accompanied choirs on piano, played trombone in many ensembles, sung bass in a madrigal choir, and performed as vocalist and rhythm guitarist in acoustic settings and an electric rock and blues group. Although trained as a scientist, Mark continues to travel new musical paths. In the band he plays guitar and contributes his resonant vocal harmony that adds to and contrasts with Kate's vocals. He also sings lead on some songs. It is possible some upcoming Shanahy performances may include a guest musician on fiddle, accordion, harp, woodwinds or percussion. | |
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