Music

LEONARD BARRY: LITTORAL TOUR 2024 With Andy Morrow and Seamie O’Dowd

adjective: littoral relating to or situated on the shore

Littoral is Leonard Barry’s beautiful third solo album, released in January 2024, ten years after the acclaimed New Road. Produced by Michael McGoldrick, the album celebrates Leonard’s wealth of influences and knowledge as a master of the uilleann pipes. The title reflects both Leonard’s youth in the townland of Kilmoyley in North Kerry, and his current home on the Sligo coast, celebrating his journey as a musician with some of the many artists he has met on the way.

In April 2024 he tours Littoral with Andy Morrow on fiddle, and Seamie O’Dowd on vocals, guitar, and bouzouki.

Leonard has been one of the most sought-after uilleann pipers for many years, sharing the stage with artists including Lisa O’Neill, Kevin Burke, Michael McGoldrick, Chris Stout, Catriona McKay, Daoiri Farrell and Cathy Jordan amongst a host of others. His most recent collaboration was with Scottish piping legend Allan MacDonald in a band with traditional greats Iain MacFarlaine, Finlay MacDonald, and Ali Hutton.

Leonard has released two previous solo albums: Mind the Pipes (2002), and New Road (2013), which led to the formation of the band New Road with Seamie O’Dowd, Rick Epping and Andy Morrow and the album Stonewalls and Street Lights (2016) followed by Hurry the Jug (2019), a collaboration with Sligo musicians Declan Folan and Shane McGowan.

The choice of music on Littoral echoes Leonard’s interest in the whole spectrum of traditional music, from the slides and jigs of Sliabh Luachra in his native Kerry and surrounding areas to reels of Sligo and the West coast. Featuring pieces that were first documented in the early 1800s alongside contemporary pieces composed by some of Irish music’s stalwarts such as Tommy Peoples and John Dwyer from West Cork, Leonard has always taken an interest in pieces that may not be traditionally associated with the piping repertoire, adapting them to his chosen instrument.

Littoral features the album’s producer Michael McGoldrick on flutes, Andy Morrow on fiddle, Shane McGowan from Sligo on guitar, legendary fiddler Kevin Burke (The Bothy Band, Patrick Street), ‘cellist Alice Allen, and bouzouki from Michael Holmes of Dervish, Seamie O’Dowd and Brian McDonagh.

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Sat 20 April 2024

Doors 7.30pm, Starts 8.00pm

Tickets: £20/£18

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The Trio

Leonard, Andy Morrow and Seamie O’Dowd have known each other for over 20 years, meeting at various festivals in Ireland and striking up a friendship and musical bond that has seen them perform at nationally and internationally.

Andy Morrow comes from a musical family in County Leitrim; his older brother Tom is the fiddle player with Dervish. Also a multi- award-winning fiddler, Andy started his musical journey winning various national titles whilst still at school. Andy has toured Australia and Ireland Live Dred Theatre Co’s production Trad and is a regular performer and teacher at various festivals throughout Ireland and abroad. His 2006 album with concertina player Tony O’Connell and the late Arty McGlynn on guitar is a timeless masterpiece, widely regarded as one of the classic albums of Irish traditional music. Andy previously collaborated with Leonard and Seamie with Rick Epping in the band New Road, on the album Stone Walls and Street Lights.

Seamie O’Dowd is a guitarist,singer, and songwriter who also plays fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, bouzouki, and other instruments. His musical experience spans four decades, from his first radio appearance at the age of ten on Radio Eireann programme Young Musicians, and playing publicly with his father, the renowned

Sligo fiddle player Joe O’Dowd. He has since played with many great musicians and bands including Mairtin O’Connor, Cathal Hayden, Christy Moore, Declan Synott, The Chieftains, Jimmy Higgins, Tommy Emmanuel, Dervish, Steve Wickham, Matt Molloy, Liam O’ Flynn, Thom Moore, Dick Gaughan, Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping, Kieran Quinn, John Joe Kelly, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, and Cathal Roche.

As part of the Masters of Irish Music project devised by Martin Hayes, he, along with Mairtin O’Connor and Cathal Hayden, played concerts in the Sydney Opera House and at the Lincoln Centre in New York. Seamie was also a member of Dervish for six years, during which time he played with them at the legendary Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. He was awarded The Freedom Of The Borough in 2004 by Sligo Corporation while a member of Dervish for this contribution to local culture and was nominated for the Best Folk Musician award in 2018 in RTE’s inaugural Irish Folk Awards.

Live, Seamie adds songs to the instrumental repertoire that characterises Littoral.

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