Bodhran players have broken a record Down Under. A Derry musician has led 1,000 bodhran players into a world record in Sydney, according to the
Irish News. Kevin Kelly, founder of a website called ,
Bodhran World, worked with the Lansdowne Club, an Irish business network, to gather over 1,000 players at St Patrick's Day celebrations in Sydney. He taught them a simple reel rhythm: "It took three minutes to teach the audience a basic reel rhythm - they truly got into the spirit and the sound in the ballroom was amazing." The record will appear in the next edition of the Guinness Book of Records.
And speaking of bodhrans, on Friday, September 1st at the Kansas City Irish Fest, we will be lucky to witness one of the best bodhran exponents in the world, Liam O'Maonlai, who also doubles as the lead singer of
Hothouse Flowers. I was at his solo show in Cambridge , Mass. this past October and saw him play not only bodhran, but guitar, piano, flute, whistle, and even didgeridoo. For a sample of O'Maonlai's goatskin mastery (that almost sounds dirty, doesn't it?) I highly recommend his new solo album
"Rian". Check out the song Sadbh Ni Buriunnealadh. Great stuff.
Posts
4 comments:
We, a collective group, are highly offended by the title of this blog. Simple because bodhran rhymes with moron doesn't mean that we are stupid. Please consider naming the blog, Regan, or next time you are in Galway, we will be having a little "chat."
Ringo McDonagh, Kevin Conneff, Christy Moore, Tommy Hayes
Dear Ringo, Kevin, Christy and Tommy,
I certainly meant no disrespect to such a talented group as yourselves. I am second to none in my admiration for bodhran players. I was ordered to title this post in that insulting fashion by Dave Shaughnessy. He calls all the shots around here. I'll be happy to give you his home phone number.
Sincerely,
Dan
Hi Dan
This is Kevin Kelly the founder of http://www.bodhranworld.com
There certainly were no Morons in my audience which ranged from The Irish Minister of Finance Brian Cowan, The Irish Embassador to Australia Declan Kelly, Organisations such as Virgin, Guinness, Tourism Ireland to name a few......
I have had extremely positive, feedback and coverage from press around the world. This event was organised to promote BodhranWorld and to raise the profile of the instrument
Kevin Kelly
BodhranWorld
Just a play on words, Kevin, that I'm sure you've heard a thousand times, as any bodhran player has. I have nothing but respect and admiration for your instrument and it's players. But "Talented, Distinguished Musicians on Bodhrans", though certainly accurate, isn't very funny. I apologize for any offense and assure you that none was intended.
If you'll keep me apprised of any further events, I'll happily help publicize them on our website.
Post a Comment