John Carty was born in London, England in 1962 of Irish parents. There was music on both sides of his family and it was handed
down from generation to generation. John’s own father, John P, is a fine flute player and a multi-instrumentalist. With
such a selection of instruments available to the young John it was inevitable that he dabbled with most of them.
John started playing in the early 1970s when Clareman Brendan
Mulkere started music lessons in the school John attended. He went on to enter Fleadh competitions over the years securing
titles at all levels culminating in wining the Senior All-Ireland banjo title in 1982. During the 1980s John became a mainstay
of the flourishing London session scene. He spent a year playing and teaching music in Australia and was included in the 1985
Comhaltas European Tour.
In 1991 John moved to Ireland settling in Boyle, Co Roscommon.
He recorded his first solo album on banjo entitled “The Cat that ate the Candle” in 1994 which was released by
Clo Iar Chonnachta (CIC099). The one fiddle track on this led to a three album contract with Shanachie Records and his first
fiddle album Last Night’s Fun (Shanachie 79098) was released in 1996. This album has been described as
a milestone in recorded fiddle music. The end of 2000 saw the release of his second album with Shanachie Yeh, That’s
All It Is (Shanachie 78034) on fiddle and tenor guitar accompanied by Brian McGrath and Arty McGlynn. This CD has
been hailed as his best yet. “Carty’s fiddle mastery makes this one of the finest new CDs showcasing the Irish
melodic tradition at its best” – Paul Carr, Tower Records. In July 2003 Shanachie Records will release Carty's
latest fiddle CD At It Again, on this album he is accompanied by Alec Finn, Brian McGrath, Francis Gaffney and
Arty McGlynn. Also featured is his brother James on flute.
In 1997 John put together the band AT THE RACKET which includes
himself, Briain McGrath, Garry O’Briain and Seamus O’Donnell. Their first CD of the same name was released in
late 1997 and the band were voted as one of the acts of the future in the Irish Music Magazine’s readers poll. The band
have since toured and played at major festivals all over Ireland, as well as in Germany, Denmark, UK and Finland. Their second
CD Mirth Making Heroes was released in May 2001. John has also been involved in many other recordings notably Brian Rooney’s
acclaimed albums The Godfather and From London to Leitrim which John also produced and Ben Lennon’s The Natural Bridge..
John is a much sought after tutor for summer schools and workshops.
Currently he tours extensively both with the band and as a solo performer.
