MARTIN HAYES
Martin Hayes’ unique sound, his mastery of his instrument, his acknowledgement of the past and his shaping of the future of the music, combine to create an astonishing and formidable artistic intelligence. He is the recipient of several major awards, including Man of the Year from the American Irish Historical Society; Folk Instrumentalist of the Year from BBC Radio; a National Entertainment Award (the Irish ‘Grammy’) six All-Ireland fiddle championships before the age of nineteen, and most recently the prestigious Gradam Ceoil, Musician of the Year 2008 from the Irish language television station TG 4. Martin was also cited by the Irish Sunday Tribune as one of the hundred most influential Irish men and women in the fields of entertainment, politics and sports at the start of the new Millennium, as well as one of the most important musicians to come out of Ireland in the last fifty years. He has drawn musical inspiration from sources as diverse as the Finnish composer Arvo Pärt, Spanish viola da gamba master, Jordi Savall, and the jazz genius, John Coltrane, but remains grounded in the music he grew up with in Maghera, Feakle, East Co. Clare where the music learned from his father, P. Joe Hayes, profoundly influenced his musical accent and ideas forever. Recently he has composed scores for film, theatre, and modern dance, and has collaborated with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, eclectic violinist Darol Anger and Irish composer David Flynn. These explorations present a challenge to any rigidity of thought and shed light on his fundamental artistic quest to go deeper within traditional Irish music and himself. We are pleased to welcome Martin back for his fifth Swannnanoa Gathering. www.martinhayes.com

KEVIN BURKE
Kevin Burke’s fiddle playing has been at the forefront of traditional music for over 30 years. His work during the 1970’s with Arlo Guthrie, Christy Moore, and the Bothy Band brought him international acclaim in both Europe and America. He also gained recognition as an exciting soloist with his milestone album, If the Cap Fits, a 30 year Anniversary Edition of which has recently been issued by Compass Records. His two albums with Bothy Band colleague Micheal O’Domhnaill, Promenade and Portland, continue to be highly influential resources for many traditional musicians. In 1985, Kevin was a founding member of the highly successful group Patrick Street, which has recently released its 10th album, On the Fly, on Kevin’s own Loftus Music label. Kevin spent much of the 90’s recording and performing in a series of acclaimed concert tours with Johnny Cunningham from Scotland and Christian Lemaitre from Brittany, as the trio, The Celtic Fiddle Festival. In 2005, Kevin and guitarist Ged Foley, his long time colleague from Patrick Street and The Celtic Fiddle Festival, released a highly acclaimed independent CD entitled In Tandem, which led to the formation of Loftus Music. The first release on the new label was an exciting collaboration between Kevin and guitarist Cal Scott entitled Across the Black River, after one of Kevin’s compositions, and was named one of the Top 10 Notable World Music releases by the New York Times. In 2002, The National Endowment for the Arts awarded Kevin a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. www.kevinburke.com

MANUS McGUIRE
Growing up in Sligo in the 60’s when fiddle music had regained popularity in its “native home”, the northwest of Ireland, Manus McGuire was ideally placed to carry on a tradition made legendary by Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran and Lad O’Beirne thirty years previously. From an early age, he learned dance tunes at his father’s knee and followed his older brother, Seamus, into the national traditional music arena that was steadily gathering momentum. Manus’ musical mettle became apparent to all in 1970, the year he won Sligo’s prestigious Fiddler of Dooney competition – at age 14. He has toured extensively in North America and Canada, and recorded two albums with his brother Seamus, three with the group, Buttons & Bows, two with the group Moving Cloud, which also featured Celtic Week staffer, Kevin Crawford, and a solo album, Saffron & Blue, which placed in the Top-Ten polls of the Irish Echo and Boston Globe, and was named Best Album of 2000, and Manus, best male musician of the same year by the Irish American News. 2004’s Brock McGuire Band CD was named Instrumental Album of the Year by Live Ireland.com, and the following year the Brock McGuire band, which he co-founded with accordionist Paul Brock, collaborated with American singer/songwriters, John Cowan and Darell Scott, on a track for Hands across the Water, a CD to raise funds for the children of tsunami victims. His second solo album, Fiddlewings, gathers together fiddle music from Scotland, Shetland, Cape Breton and Ireland. www.manusmcguire.com

BRIAN CONWAY
New York-born fiddler Brian Conway is a leading exponent of the highly ornamented Sligo fiddling style made famous by the late Michael Coleman. The winner of two All-Ireland junior titles in 1973 and 1974, and the All-Ireland senior championship in 1986, Brian first studied fiddle with his father, Jim, of Plumbridge, Co. Tyrone, and with Limerick-born teacher/fiddler Martin Mulvihill. However, it was the legendary fiddler and composer Martin Wynne who taught him the nuances of the County Sligo style. Later, Brian met and befriended the great Andy McGann of New York, a direct student of Michael Coleman, who further shaped his precision and skill on the instrument, and he remains faithful to the rich tradition handed down to him. In 1979, Brian recorded a duet album, The Apple in Winter, with fellow New York fiddler Tony DeMarco. In July of 2002, Brian released his debut solo CD, First through the Gate, on the Smithsonian-Folkways label, which was subsequently chosen as Album of the Year by The Irish Echo. He is also featured on the CD, My Love is in America, recorded at the Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival, and on the documentary, Shore to Shore, which highlights traditional Irish music in New York. With the release in 2008 of his second solo CD, Consider the Source, The Irish Echo selected Brian as their Traditional Irish Artist of the Year. One of the musical ‘rocks’ of the New York area, Brian has also performed all over North America, Ireland and the rest of Europe, and is a noted instructor who has mentored many fine fiddle players, including several All-Ireland champions. www.brianconway.com

LAURA RISK
Now living in Montreal, Laura Risk grew up in the thriving San Francisco Scottish fiddle scene, learning her craft from master fiddler Alasdair Fraser. She has toured extensively, performing at Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours, and the Newport, Winnipeg, and Philadelphia Folk Festivals. In addition to her solo work, Laura performs with Paddy League and Kieran Jordan in the band Triptych. She is active as a record producer (Hanneke Cassel, Childsplay, Laurel Martin) and has toured with Sandy Silva, Ken Kolodner, Ensemble Galilei, Cordelia’s Dad, and the John Whelan Band. Laura has over ten albums to her credit, including her latest release 2000 Miles, on which she teams up with some of Quebec’s hottest traditional and jazz musicians for a new take on tunes from the great Scottish collections of the 18th and 19th centuries. Says Living Tradition, “Laura plays in a powerful, percussive style, with tight control and beautiful tone but bursting with energy and passion, turning reels into romps and slow airs into soul-searches.” She taught fiddling for five years at Wellesley College, where she founded the college’s first Celtic music ensemble. Laura has also taught at the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Fiddlekids and five previous years at Swannanoa. Laura is currently a graduate student in Musicology at McGill University. www.laurarisk.com

JAMIE LAVAL
Jamie’s music-making was born out of his Scottish and Irish heritage and further influenced by his studies in classical music, jazz, and ethnic music from around the world. In 2002, he won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship and now concertizes throughout the U.S. and Scotland. He has been acclaimed as “one of North America’s finest practitioners of traditional Scottish music,” – San Jose Mercury News and “the next Alasdair Fraser,” – Scotland Press and Post. After his student years at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Jamie simultaneously pursued careers as a solo fiddler and a professional symphony violinist. He has been an active contra dance and ceilidh band fiddler in the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Asheville. Jamie has performed for Her Majesty, The Queen; on NBC’s Today Show, numerous Highland Games, and top acoustic venues throughout the US. His critically acclaimed debut CD, Shades of Green, airs regularly on NPR radio, while Zephyr In The Confetti Factory, his duo album with Ashley Broder, won Best World Traditional Song in the 2007 Independent Music Awards Vox Populi. This year marks the release of Jamie’s long-awaited third album, Murmurs and Drones. www.jamielaval.com

JANE MacMORRAN
Jane was the United States National Scottish Fiddle Champion in 1992 and the winner of many Scottish Fiddling competitions across the country. Jane performed with her son, Will, and former fiddle students during six concert tours to Scotland, including performances at Speyfest and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention. Jane is a popular instructor at camps and workshops throughout the U.S. She teaches Celtic and bluegrass fiddle in the Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Program at East Tennessee State University, directs the ETSU Celtic bands, and also serves as Director of the Appalachian, Scottish, Irish Studies Program at ETSU. She teaches Scottish Ethnology, Scots Irish in Appalachia, Appalachia in Scotland and Ireland (a study abroad course), and an ITV Appalachian music course to students at the University of Limerick. Within the world of classical music, Jane served as concertmaster of the Symphony of the Mountains for two decades and continues to serve as Artistic Director of Suzuki Talent Education of Appalachia. She has an undergraduate degree in Violin Performance and studied with Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. Jane also has a graduate degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Appalachian/ Scottish Studies. This is Jane’s sixth year at the Swannanoa Gathering.

ROBBIE O’CONNELL
Robbie O’Connell was born in Waterford, Ireland and grew up in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, where his parents had a small hotel. He began to play guitar and sing at age thirteen and soon became a regular performer at the hotel’s weekly folk concerts. He joined the Clancy Brothers in 1977, and with the release, in 1982, of his first solo album, Close to the Bone, Robbie emerged as an artist of major stature. Soon after, he began touring extensively with Mick Moloney and Jimmy Keane, and the trio’s first album, There Were Roses, was released in 1985. Two years later, the trio followed up their very successful first release with the album, Kilkelly, the title track of which was voted “Best Album Track of the Year” in Ireland. Robbie also toured with Eileen Ivers and Seamus Egan in the Green Fields of America, and in 1989, the group released a live concert recording. Robbie has taught songwriting at the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop in Elkins, West Virginia, Gaelic Roots Week at Boston College and at the Summer Acoustic Music Week in Boston. His album of original compositions, Love of the Land, was voted the #1 Acoustic Album of 1989 by WUMB in Boston, and in 1991, he won a prestigious Boston Music Award as Outstanding Celtic Act. In 1992 he performed at Carnegie Hall with the Clancy Brothers, and was also seen by an estimated 500 million people worldwide on the telecast of a live tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden, a performance that Rolling Stone magazine described as “breathtaking.” www.robbieoconnell.com

GRÁINNE HAMBLY
Gráinne Hambly comes from County Mayo in the west of Ireland. She started to play Irish music on the tin whistle at an early age, before moving on to the concertina and later the harp. She lived in Belfast for six years, where she completed a Master’s Degree in Musicology, at Queen’s University. Her main research topic concerned folk music collections and the harp in 18th-century Ireland. In 1994, she was awarded first prize in the senior All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil competitions for harp and concertina. As well as being an established performer touring extensively throughout Europe and North America, she is also a qualified teacher of traditional Irish music and is in great demand at summer schools and festivals both in Ireland and abroad. Gráinne was awarded the T.T.C.T. (a certificate for teaching traditional Irish music at advanced level, credited by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the Irish Department of Education), and has also received her Graduate Diploma in Education (Music) from the University of Limerick. She has released three widely-acclaimed solo harp CDs, as well as appearing on a number of other recordings. www.grainne.harp.net

KATHLEEN CONNEELY
Born in Bedford, England to a father from Errislannan, Co. Galway, and a mother from Newtown Forbes, Co. Longford, Kathleen first took lessons in her hometown at an early age from Clare whistle player Brendan Mulkere. She was also heavily influenced by her father, Michael, a well-known fiddle, accordion and tinwhistle player. The Conneely home was often filled with music from records, tapes and live sessions with such visitors as her uncle Willie Vernon, an accordionist who lived nearby, and Eddie Corcoran, a whistle player from Gurteen, Co. Sligo. In the mid-80’s Kathleen often visited Birmingham (England) to play in the thriving session scene there, and in 1991, she appeared with her father, Mick Sr., brother, Mick Jr., fiddle and banjo player John Carty and flutist Roger Sherlock on RTE’s, The Pure Drop. In 1993, she emigrated to Chicago, where she played with Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes and John Williams, among other Windy City musicians. Kathleen moved to Boston in 1997, and now lives in Rhode Island. She has taught for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (parent organization of the All-Ireland Championships) in Dublin and Boston, at the Boston College Irish Studies Program, the Irish Arts Week in the Catskills. and five years at the Gathering.

JIM MAGILL
The Coordinator of Celtic Week is an award-winning songwriter and instrumentalist and a three-time finalist for College Entertainer of the Year. He is the founding Director of the Swannanoa Gathering Folk Arts Workshops at Warren Wilson College, directs the Celtic Series of Mainstage Concerts at Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre, and in 1994, was awarded the first Fellowship in Songwriting and Composition from the North Carolina Arts Council. He performs solo and with his wife Beth (flute) and son Andrew (fiddle) as the Celtic trio, The Magills. With numerous album and performance credits, including appearances with Emmy Lou Harris and Tom Paxton, Jim’s original songs have been covered by such artists as Mike Cross, The Smith Sisters, Cucanandy and the Shaw Brothers, and have been featured on NPR’s The Thistle & Shamrock. His cover designs for the Gathering’s catalogs have won seven design awards, he's been a two-time finalist for Photoshop World’s Guru Awards, and he has consulted on website design for several luthiers. www.magills.net

BILLY JACKSON
Billy Jackson has been a major figure in traditional Scottish music for over twenty-five years, and was a founding member of the influential folk group, Ossian, whose outstanding recordings remain a benchmark for Scottish music. Acclaimed for his musicality on the Celtic harp, he is also a renowned composer whose work is inspired by the history and landscape of Scotland. In 1999, his song, “Land of Light” was selected as the winner of The Glasgow Herald’s year-long Song For Scotland competition, coinciding with the restoration of the Scottish Parliament, to select a “new anthem for a new era in Scotland.” As a solo performer, he has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, and has taught harp at many festivals, including the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, Somerset Folk Harp Festival and Ohio Scottish Arts School (Oberlin). Billy is also a trained music therapist, and in 2004, he received our Master Music Maker Award for lifetime achievement. October 2007 saw the premier of a new composition for traditional and classical ensemble, Fantasia on Scottish Themes, by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, which was commissioned to accompany the performance of Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony. www.wjharp.com

CATHIE RYAN
Cathie Ryan has been called a “thrilling traditional vocalist,” by the Boston Globe; Irish Music magazine recently wrote that she is “the best female singer in Irish music;” and The Irish Echo says her singing is “mature, masterful, at times magnificent.” In the fourteen years since her groundbreaking work as the original lead singer of Cherish the Ladies, Cathie has released four critically acclaimed CDs on Shanachie Records, is featured on over 50 compilations of Irish music, and tours internationally, headlining at performing arts centers, festivals, and guest starring with symphony orchestras. Her pure voice, a singing style that incorporates the ‘sean nos’ she learned as a child, her unerring taste in traditional song, and her fine songwriting are all the results of a deep and abiding love of traditional Irish song. Born in Detroit to Irish immigrants, she grew up in a home steeped in singing and storytelling and has spent her adult years searching out and singing the old songs. She has taught workshops on Irish song throughout the country. www.cathieryan.com

TALITHA MACKENZIE
Talitha MacKenzie is an internationally-acclaimed Gaelic singer with a degree in Ethnomusicology from the New England Conservatory of Music. A love of traditional Celtic music spurred her to gather field recordings, then enroll at the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where many of these recordings are stored. Her interest in Scottish history and culture began with genealogical research into her own family. As a descendant of Kenneth mac Alpin (first king of Scots & Picts), she is keen to dispel myths about Scotland pervasive within the country and abroad. Her ground-breaking No.1 album, Mouth Music, introduced to the mainstream a fusion of traditional Gaelic song with computer-generated sounds. Her latest album, Indian Summer, explores the connection between Celtic and Native-American cultures. Now working primarily with acoustic music, she divides her time between her own projects and lecturing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama in Glasgow. Featured in Mairéid Sullivan’s book Celtic Women, Talitha’s performance highlights include The Bottom Line (NY), Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival (CT), Winnipeg Folk Festival, Toronto Harbourfest, Edinburgh Folk Festival, Celtic Connections, Melkweg (Amsterdam), Juntos en Córdoba (Spain), SlunceLuna (Trigrad, Bulgaria), Pärimusmuusika (Viljandi, Estonia) and workshops/performances with mixed communities in Belfast, during the Ceasefire. Her “Mouth Music for Dancing” workshops have been well-received throughout Europe and North America. www.talithamackenzie.com