Jesse Smith from Baltimore is a fiddle player capable of both gentle, melodic finger-dances in his interpretation of songs and airs and wild bowing and eye-blurring fingerwork in his reel-playing. A master on the fiddle, Jesse has contributed strongly to the exciting and energetic music of the group Danú since 1988.

One of the many tune-composers in the group DANU', Jesse came to the rescue when the extremely difficult job of replacing Daire Bracken came about. Since joining Danú, he has opened up new avenues, with his repertoire of music from his native America and his different perspective on the Irish music tradition.

Saturated in music all his life - his mother Donna Long played piano with "Cherish the Ladies" - and tutored by fiddle maestro Brendan Mulvihill in America, Jesse has been going to Ireland from a young age and his knowledge of the music and tradition is vast and quite amazing, especially for someone who does not claim Irish ancestry. Jesse recorded his very own solo album at the age of 17, named "Hurricane".

RYAN McGIVER, guitarist and sought-after accompanist on both sides of the Atlantic, will be teaming up with Jesse on this tour. He has toured in America, Europe and Asia, taught workshops at home and abroad, and shared stages with performers like uilleann piper Cillian Vallely of the band Lúnasa, Connemara fiddlers Liz and Yvonne Kane, young concertina phenom Edel Fox and many others. When not working as a stone mason or playing his own music, Ryan tours with Dublin born Grammy Award winning singer Susan McKeown.

Wed. 5/2 Nuala Kennedy Trio  House Concert

U.S. based trio, Dana Lyn on fiddle and piano, and Kyle Sanna on guitar. Dana and Kyle are based in New York and the trio has an intense and upbeat musical chemistry, which saw them receive several standing ovations from delighted festival audiences during their August tour of Eastern Canada.
 

Nuala was recently a recipient of the 2011 Kathryn MacGillivray Get a Life fund, a substantial award from the UK based charity which will allow Nuala to spend an extended period of time studying and honing her musical skills in New York City. She is greatly looking forward to a period of writing and inspiration in America!

Nuala performed at Nordsjøfestivalen in NOrway, with two of Norway's top musical stars: Frode Haltli on accordion and Vegar Vårdal on fiddle and hardanger fiddle. The three have a rare and beautiful musical connection which is infused with the combined influences of Norway and Ireland. They are looking forward to further engagements later in the year.