Altan
Altan has established itself as one of the most important groups to play traditional Irish
music in Ireland and on the world stage. Acclaimed for its dynamic twin fiddling and
haunting renditions of old Gaelic songs, Altan has been a standard-bearer for traditional
Irish music.
Altan takes its name from Loch Altan, a beautiful lake at the foot of Errigal Mountain,
which is the highest peak in Donegal and dominates the landscape of that area. Donegal, an
area in northwestern Ireland, is renowned for its fiddle music and song heritage, but for
many years its thriving musical tradition was not prominent in the public eye. Nearly three
decades ago, Altan emerged from the strong musical culture of its native Donegal and helped
draw attention to the rich tradition. Altan's music was passed down from the older
musicians and singers of that region before it gained popularity in the 1970s and '80s.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's father Francie Mooney was a noted fiddler and composer who learned a
wealth of unusual local tunes from his mother Róise. Many of the songs and tunes that Altan
plays come from his repertoire.
The traditional sounds of Donegal have a distinctive Scots flavor, the result of both
Donegal and Scots workers historically migrating back and forth and intermingling
musically. For example, many of the strathspeys from the Scottish tradition are played as
slightly faster highlands in the Donegal tradition. The quick, single-stroke bowing and
staccato triplets favored by Donegal fiddlers lie at the heart of the propulsive twin
fiddling by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Ciarán Tourish. That core Altan sound, in turn, is
enhanced by the accordion playing of Dermot Byrne and the dynamic rhythm accompaniment of
Ciarán Curran and Dáithí Sproule. Together, they embody the depth, strength, and beauty of
the northern Irish tradition.
Mairéad and her late husband Frankie Kennedy founded Altan when they were invited to make
their debut album for the specialized Irish label Gael Linn. The album, Ceol
Aduaidh, featured a young unknown Enya as a guest keyboardist. It was the feedback
from this recording that encouraged them to go professional and leave their teaching jobs
in Dublin. It was the next album, Altan (produced by Donal Lunny), that featured
Ciarán Curran and Mark Kelly, introducing the ensemble's music to an international
audience. The band expanded over the years, with fiddler Paul O'Shaughnessy joining the
ranks, followed by Ciarán Tourish and eventually Dermot Byrne. Dáithí Sproule, a Derry
native who lives in Minneapolis, has been the permanent guitar player stateside. Dáithí and
Mark share guitar duties on the albums and, along with Ciarán Curran on bouzouki, have one
of the strongest melodic accompaniments in contemporary Irish traditional music.
A renowned cultural ambassador, Altan has toured Europe, the US, Japan, and Australia,
performing in some of the world's most prestigious venues, including the Sydney Opera
House, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, and Frankfurt's Alte Oper. The band accompanied
Irish President Mary McAleese on several State visits, appeared twice at the Clinton White
House, and performed in Rome for the Irish and Italian presidents to celebrate the EU
presidency in 2012.
Altan recorded four albums on the Green Linnet label, including three that won the Celtic
/ British Isles Album of the Year award from the National Association of Independent Record
Distributors and Manufacturers. In 1994, Island Angel was the fourth best-selling
album on Billboard's world music chart. "Tommy Bhetty's Waltz," from The Red
Crow album, was featured in the Oscar-winning film Good Will
Hunting in 1997. Altan went on to record three albums for Virgin Records, which
helped bring their music and culture to a larger audience worldwide.
Altan has performed and recorded with The Chieftains, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Alison
Krauss, and Ricky Skaggs, among others. The band has gained gold and platinum status in
Ireland with its record sales, and received numerous awards and honors, including being
named the Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (2003) and having the group's image on
an official Irish postage stamp (one of the highest honors bestowed upon any living artist
in Ireland).
In recent years, Altan has experimented with traditional music, using orchestral
arrangements of its most popular pieces. The arrangements have been scored by the highly
respected arranger Fiachra Trench and performed with the Ulster Orchestra, RTÉ Concert
Orchestra, and Royal Scottish Opera Orchestra. In 2010, the band released a 25th
anniversary album with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and toured Asia, Europe, and the US. In
2012, Altan released its 11th studio album, Gleann Nimhe (The Poison
Glen), on Compass Records. In addition to its current US tour, 2013 includes a
collaboration with Clannad, where both groups will perform together for the Earagail Arts
Festival in their native Donegal.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, born and raised in the heartland of the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht in
Donegal, is renowned as one of the leading exponents of Donegal fiddle music and one of
Ireland's finest singers. She is a founding member of Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, which was
set up 25 years ago to preserve and facilitate the development of the Donegal fiddling
tradition for future generations. Mairéad and her late husband Frankie Kennedy founded
Altan, a band that has stayed true to the music and songs that she learned from her family
and friends back at home in Donegal. Aside from playing with Altan, Mairéad has presented
music programs on both radio and television, including the classic radio show The Long
Note, and television's The Pure Drop and The Full Set. She has also
recorded with Enya, The Chieftains, Dolly Parton, and The String Sisters. In 2009, she
released her first solo project, Imeall.
Ciarán Tourish hails from Buncrana in Donegal. Although Ciarán started playing the tin
whistle at an early age, he soon took up the fiddle under the guidance of local legendary
fiddler and teacher Dinny McLaughlin. In addition to his mastery of the dance music
tradition, he has been in demand as a valued collaborator on non-Altan and non-Irish music
projects with a wide range of musicians and singers, including Paul Brady, Matt Molloy,
Mary Black, Maura O'Connell, Máirtín O'Connor, Dolores Keane, Dé Danann, and American
musicians Jerry Douglas and Tim O'Brien. In 2005, he released his first solo recording,
Down the Line, featuring guest musicians Arty McGlynn, Paul Brady, Maura
O'Connell, Tim O'Brien, Alison Krauss, and Jerry Douglas.
Dermot Byrne-from Buncrana, Donegal-learned music from his father Tomás Ó Beirn, who came
from the Teileann area. While growing up, Dermot had a rare opportunity to meet many of the
old masters of Donegal fiddling, including John Doherty, Con Cassidy, James Byrne, Tommy
Peoples, and Danny Meehan. These musicians had a great influence on the young Dermot as he
developed a distinctive style of button-accordion playing. Before joining Altan in 1994, he
made guest appearances on two Altan recordings, The Red Crow and Island
Angel. In addition to his work with Altan, he has collaborated with
Seamus and Manus McGuire, Sharon Shannon, Frankie Gavin, Pierre Schryer, Tim O'Brien, and
the late jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Dermot's self-titled solo recording, which he
recently reissued, received much critical acclaim.
Dáithí Sproule, from Derry, has lived in Minnesota for many years. He is one of Irish
music's most respected guitar accompanists and one of the first guitarists to develop
DADGAD tuning for Irish music. Since performing with the groundbreaking Skara Brae in the
early 1970s, he has performed and recorded with two highly influential traditional music
trios-Bowhand (with James Kelly and Paddy O'Brien) and Trian (with Liz Carroll and Billy
McComiskey)-and provided accompaniment for recordings by Tommy Peoples, Seamus and Manus
McGuire, Liz Carroll, Paddy O'Brien, and The Kane Sisters. He has toured and recorded with
Altan, Randal Bays and James Keane (under the name Fingal), Dermy and Tara Diamond, The
Kane Sisters, Liz Carroll, and Peter Ostroushko, among others. His original compositions
have been recorded by Skara Brae, The Bothy Band, Altan, Trian, Liz Carroll, Aoife Clancy,
Loreena McKennitt, and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Dáithí's recordings include his first
solo album, A Heart Made of Glass (1995); the instrumental guitar album
The Crow in the Sun (2008); and Lost River, Vol. 1 (2011),
featuring songs in English and Irish.
Ciarán Curran is a native of Kinawley in Fermanagh-an area rich in music, song, and
folklore. He brings his family's strong musical tradition to bear on an instrument
relatively new to Irish traditional music: the bouzouki. Ciarán's late uncle, Ned Curran,
was a great fiddle player and gave the band many tunes from his unusual repertoire. Ciarán
was introduced to a lot of traditional music by his friend Cathal McConnell (Boys of the
Lough), and also played with fiddler Ben Lennon, to whom he attributes his strong backing
rhythm. Ciarán has worked with Antrim singer Len Graham, Enniskillen singer Gabriel
McArdle, Derrygonnelly fiddler Seamus Quinn, and Belfast flute player Gary Hastings. He
recorded the classic Dog Big Dog Little album (named after two mountains on
the borders of Fermanagh and Leitrim in Ireland) with Ben Lennon, Seamus Quinn, and Gabriel
McArdle. He also produced the critically acclaimed Slán le Loch Éirne, a duet
album from Gary Hastings and Seamus Quinn.