Remembering Kevin Boyle

In 2023 London lost one of its great musical pioneers when Kevin Boyle passed away suddenly.  Kevin was widely loved as one of London’s own, a truly great musician, a gentleman and most definitely a scholar.

Kevin grew up in a very musical family alongside siblings Maggie and Paul Boyle and throughout his life he was a huge presence on the Irish traditional music scene in London as a singer songwriter, a founding member of Le Chéile and the driving force behind some of the great music sessions down the years.

His musical career started young and his natural talent was identified at an early age when no less than the legendary fiddler Sean McGuire asked schoolboy Kevin to accompany him in a series of London performances.

As a singer songwriter he went on to release two albums Bon Cabbage and Palestine Grove of largely his own compositions as well as recording with many artists down the years.

Le Chéile, the cult Irish traditional group of 60s and 70s London, was formed by Kevin and musicians who played together in golden years for Irish music, going on to win international acclaim and releasing three albums Lord Mayo, Arís and Out Of The West.

Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith is proud to present a night of music in tribute to Kevin Boyle when members of the Boyle family and friends will perform a number of his songs, some of which have not been released or previously performed in public, including songs from the unreleased musical Jimmy Noone that Kevin had been working on in recent years.

In addition to performances by members of Kevin’s family and compositions from his musical, we will have a stellar line up of Irish traditional music performances, firstly by an ensemble of long-time friends of Kevin, including Mick Sands, Paul Brennan, Angela Crotty, Dermot Crehan, John Devine et al.

Naturally the night in Kevin’s memory will conclude with Le Chéile in their own inimitable style with Liam Farrell, John Roe, Paul Gallagher, Andy Martyn and special guests John Carty, Gino Lupari and Matt Griffin.