Altan

Founding members of Altan, the late Frankie Kennedy and his partner Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, lead singer and fiddler with the band, began their musical career whilst teaching in a school in Malahide in North County Dublin, playing music for fun and enjoyment not knowing that it would end up as their main way of life and bring them all over the world! Frankie and Mairead started out by playing with and meeting older musicians from the Donegal tradition, like John Doherty, Con Cassidy, James Byrne, Dinny McLaughlin,Vincent Campbell and Mairéad’s own father Francie, who shared their music with them and most importantly, their friendship. The pair learned their music, tried to emulate their style and listened to their general philosophy of life, which, in retrospect was just as important as the music. Later it would be Francie who translated the beautiful Gaelic songs into English on all of the Altan recordings to date. Francie was also responsible for the translations of ‘Barbara Allen’ and ‘In the Sweet Bye and Bye’ on two projects with the legendary Dolly Parton which Altan were involved with. Frankie and Mairead made their first forays into live shows in the USA in 1985, releasing two albums together as a duo; 1983’s “Ceol Aduaidh” (Music of the North) and the self-titled “Altan” in 1987.

Over the years, Altan have proven to be important ambassadors of the music and culture of Ireland, so much so that they were invited to accompany the Irish President, Mary McAleese on several State visits, visiting Greece, Korea and Japan. Altan were asked to play at the White House twice by US President Bill Clinton, and played again for him when he visited Ireland. In 2006, the Irish government also honoured the band by putting them on an official Irish postage stamp, one of the highest honours to bestow on any living artist in Ireland (The Chieftains, The Dubliners and Makem and Clancy were also honoured in this set of four stamps). Altan have been invited to play by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives in 2007, and were granted the celebrated “Arkansas Traveller” award from state governor Mike Huckabee. “Tommy Bhetty’s Waltz” from the Red Crow album was featured in the oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting starring Robin Williams in 1997.

Altan have played their music in some of the most prestigious venues in the world; The Sydney Opera House, The Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall, The Alte Opera Frankfurt, The Greek Theatre Los Angeles and many many more. They have played music and recorded with The Chieftains, Dolly Parton Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs to name but a few. In 2003 they won the award for Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2005, they recorded their latest studio album “Local Ground” and like every other Altan offering it was met with positive and enthusiastic reviews. The band have gained gold and platinum satus in Ireland with their record sales and have won numerous awards in the music business as one of the most popular bands playing traditional folk or world music in the world.

Last year, Altan celebrated their 25th anniversary by teaming up with the R.T.E Orchestra and putting out a record of their most popular songs.

> OFFICIAL ARTIST WEBSITE