Tue 3/10 @ 8PM
It’s hard to believe there was a time when traditional Irish music was relegated to a corner of the folk music scene, rarely blending over into more mainstream territory. It was bands like Ireland’s Altan (named after a lake in Donegal) that helped change that.
Altan grew out of a duo of core members, fiddler/singer Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and flute player Frankie Kennedy, who were firing up clubs in Dublin and Belfast with their blazing two-person shows. Gradually a band grew up around them that began recording and touring in the late ’80s.
Despite the blow of Kennedy’s death from cancer in 1994, the group persisted, taking in new members and new influences while never departing from their creative exploration of a wide range of Irish roots. With Ní Mhaonaigh leading the group, they built on earlier success by becoming the first traditional Irish band signed to a major label in 1996 and continuing to bring their sound to new corners of the world.
With a new album, The Widening Gyre, which showcases the familial links between Irish and Appalachian music, the band is on the road again. They’ll perform at the Kent Stage.
Tickets are $25.