Traditional Irish Fiddler and Button Accordionist to Play at Mountain City Traditional Arts

Button accordionist Paddy O’Brien and fiddler Nathan Gourley will join together for a night of unique Irish music at Mountain City Traditional Arts, 25 East Main Street in Frostburg, on August 28^th at 7:00pm. The performance will be a part of their East Coast tour to share songs from their collaborative album “Bright and Early.” This is event is free and open to the public with a suggested donation of $15.

Paddy O’Brien hails from County Offaly in the midlands of Ireland, he is considered one of the most serious players and collectors of Irish traditional music. In a musical career that spans more than fifty years, he has collected more than 4,000 compositions. Paddy’s mastery of the two-row button accordion was also acknowledged through many prestigious awards. He has played and toured with many wonderful musicians throughout the globe. In 1995, Paddy embarked on what was to become a milestone project in Irish traditional music, to record and assemble background information on 500 jigs and reels from his vast repertoire. The result of that effort, the Paddy OBrien Tune Collection: A Personal Treasury of Irish Traditional Music has received great praise. In 2012, his memoir, The Road from Castlebarnagh: Growing Up in Irish Music, was published by Dublin’s Orpen Press. Paddy currently tours nationally and internationally as a solo musician, and also plays dances and concerts with the trio Chulrua, and his traditional music chamber group, O’Rourke’s Feast. He also tours with his wife, crime novelist and traditional singer Erin Hart.

Nathan Gourley currently resides in Boston and is considered a leading American player of Irish music. A former member of Chulrua, the Doon Ceili Band, the Two Tap Trio, and the Máirtín de Cógáin Project, fiddler and guitarist Nathan Gourley started playing music at age five. He was a finalist in the Sean O Riada fiddle competition in 2014 and winner of Boston’s Fiddler of Dooney competition in 2013. Nathan can be seen playing at concerts, ceilis, sessions and festivals in Boston and throughout the United States and Ireland. When living in Minnesota he had the opportunity to meet and begin working with Paddy O’Brien.

Dedicated to the education, sales, documentation and perpetuation of the traditional arts in the mountain region, Mountain City Traditional Arts is a program of Frostburg State University, with support from FrostburgFirst, the Allegany Arts Council, and the Maryland Traditions Program of the State Arts Council. For more information contact mountaincitytradarts@gmail.com or call 301-687-8040.

FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258.