Brian Finnegan (born 20 August 1969) is an Irish
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
and
tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...
player from
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...
.
Finnegan began playing whistle at age 8 and flute at age 10 as a student of the Armagh Pipers Club under the tuition of the Vallely family. He first came to public attention with the Irish group
Upstairs in a Tent
Upstairs may refer to:
* Stairs
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms ...
.
In 1993 he made a solo album ''When the Party's Over'', which was recorded at
Redesdale Studios. In 1995 he formed
Flook.Originally a three piece who toured as 'Three Nations Flutes' with Sarah Allen and Mike McGoldrick, they later added
Ed Boyd on guitar forming
Flook. When Mike left the band in 1997, John Joe Kelly (a frequent guest musician) was added as a band member on
bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...
.
Flook continue to tour all over the world with fans across the globe. In 2006,
Flook was awarded best band in the
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...
. In 2019, the band returned from an extended hiatus with the release of their fourth studio album "Ancora". Brian is a frequent tutor for
Folkworks {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
Folkworks is a non-profit organisation based at The Sage Gateshead and a part of the North Music Trust. It runs many workshops, summer schools and festivals to promote and encourage the furtherance of folk music. ...
and Burwell Bash where he has been a tutor since 1994.
He tours regularly across the US, Latin America and Ireland with guitarist
William Coulter with whom he released the EP 'Toward the Sun' in 2015. He also plays with an influential Russian rock group
Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
, both live and on their studio albums (since approximately 2009). He worked on cross genre project Parallelogram.
, Brian plays with his own trio, with guitarist Ian Stephenson and drummer Jim Goodwin. They formed a four-piece,
KAN, with those musicians and fiddler
Aidan O'Rourke until disbanding in 2014. A solo album, ''The Ravishing Genius of Bones'', was released in 2010.
Brian Finnegan y Landeral, en la tercera jornada del Intercéltico
, ''El Diario Montañés'', 21 August 2010; retrieved 24 September 2012.
Discography
Solo/Duo/Trio
* ''When The Party's Over'' (1993)
* ''The Ravishing Genius of Bones'' (2010)
* ''Toward The Sun'' ''(with William Coulter)'' (2014)
* ''Flow, In The Year of Wu Wei - Single'' (2020)
* ''Hunger of the Skin'' (2021)
As Band Member Of
Flook
* ''Flook! Live!'' - Small CD 9405 (1996)
* ''The Four of Us'' - Flatfish Records 001CD (1999)
* ''Flatfish'' - Flatfish Records 002CD (1999)
* ''Rubai'' - Flatfish Records 004CD (2002)
* ''Haven'' - Flatfish Records 005CD (2005)
* ''Ancora'' - Flatfish Records 006CD (2019)
Maalstroom
* ''Face in the Water'' (2000)
Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
(Åквариум)
* ''Лошадь Белая'' (2008)
* ''Пушкинская 10'' (2009)
* ''День Радости'' (2010)
* ''Архангельск'' (2011)
* ''Полная Дискография'' (2013)
* ''Двери Травы'' (2017)
KAN
* ''Sleeper'' (2012)
As Guest Artist/Other
* ''Evolving Traditions, Vol. 2'' - Various (1996)
* ''Down And Out In Belfast And Budapest'' - Patrick McMullan (1997)
* ''Excalibur (La Légende Des Celtes)'' - Alan Simon (1998)
* ''Sweet Liberty'' - Cara Dillon
Cara Elizabeth Dillon (born 21 July 1975, in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving t ...
(2003)
* ''Goodnight Ginger'' - John McCusker
John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and p ...
(2003)
* ''A Different Life'' - Emily Smith (2005)
* ''Sirius'' - Aidan O'Rourke (2006)
* ''Excalibur II (L'anneau Des Celtes)'' - Alan Simon (2007)
* ''The Irish Drum: An Bodhran'' - Peter Houlahan (2007)
* Hill of Thieves - Cara Dillon (2008)
* ''Yella Hoose + Goodnight Ginger'' - John McCusker
John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and p ...
(2008)
* ''Fame and Glory'' - Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...
(2008)
* ''Worth It All'' - Su (2008)
* ''Line Up'' - Ian Stephenson (2010)
* ''How To Tune A Fish'' - Beoga
Beoga ( Irish word for ''vivid'' or ''lively'') are an Irish folk band. They were formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh although the original four members of the band hail from County Antrim and County Londonderry in Northern ...
(2011)
* ''Riga Live 01.12.2009'' - Boris Grebenshikov (2011)
* ''Å+'' - Å+ (2013)
* ''Соль'' - БГ (2014)
* ''Symphonia БГ'' - Å+ (2017)
* '' ÷ (Divide)'' - Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
(2017)
* ''KeltiK'' - Xabi Aburruzaga
Xabi Aburruzaga (born 1978 in Portugalete, Euskadi, Spain) is a Basque musician and composer, who is a master of the Trikitixa, the diatonic accordion.
Biography
Xabi Aburruzaga (Portugalete, 1978) is a Biscayan Trikitilari who began studying ...
(2017)
* ''Время N'' - БГ (2018)
* ''Знак Огня'' - БГ (2020)
References
External links
*
*
KAN
Burwell Bash
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnegan, Brian
1969 births
Tin whistle players from Northern Ireland
Flautists from Northern Ireland
People from Armagh (city)
Living people
Flook (band) members
Musicians from County Armagh