Event

Paddy Keenan and Friends

Master Irish piper and co-founder of the incomparable Bothy Band, Paddy Keenan is unique. He comes from a Travelling family steeped in traditional music; both Paddy's father and grandfather were uilleann pipers. Paddy himself took up the pipes at the age of ten, playing his first major concert at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, when he was 14. Paddy's flowing, open-fingered style of playing can be traced directly from the style of such great Travelling pipers as Johnny Doran; both Paddy's father and grandfather played in the same style. Although often compared to Doran, Paddy was 19 or 20 when he first heard a tape of Doran's playing; his own style is a direct result of his father's tutelage and influence. At 17, having fallen in love with the blues, Paddy left Ireland for England and Europe, where he played blues and rock. Returning to Ireland after a few years, he began playing around Dublin with singer/keyboardist Triona Ni Dhomhnaill and her brother, singer/guitarist Micheal O Dhomhnaill. Thus was born one of the most influential Irish bands of the 1970s, The Bothy Band. Bothy Band-mate Donal Lunny once described Paddy as the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes; more recently, due to his genius for improvisation and counter-melody, he has been compared to jazz great John Coltrane. Paddy is an old friend of The Focal Point. We are always delighted to have him and are endlessly grateful that he's chosen us as his favorite Midwest stop!