Johnny Óg Connolly is an Irish musician.
A son of traditional musician
Johnny Connolly
Johnny Connolly was an Irish musician from Connemara, and one of Ireland's most prominent players of the melodeon (one-row button accordion). In a 2008 TG4 interview, Connolly described how he first took up the instrument: his parents left th ...
of
Inis Bearachain,
Connemara
Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...
, Connolly began playing the
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
aged nine, learning from his father and Micheal Mheáirt Ó Coisdealbha. Two years later he was the winner of the Slógadh and
Fleadh Ceoil
The Fleadh Cheoil (; meaning "festival of music") is an Irish music festival run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), a non-profit organisation. The festival includes live music events as well as competition. Each year a single town or city ...
All-Ireland on the
button accordion
A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons. This differs from the piano accordion, which has piano-style keys. Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed aerop ...
. Aged fourteen, he joined
Na h-Ancairí, featuring singer
John Beag Ó Flatharta, playing in the band for eight years. In 1994 he joined the
Seán Keane Band, performing widely in Europe and North America.
In 1998, he toured with ''
Lord of the Dance''. In 2003 he settled in
Connemara
Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...
. Some of his compositions have been recorded by his father, as well as the duo
Michael Rooney
Michael Joseph Kyle Rooney is an American dancer and choreographer. He is the son of actor Mickey Rooney, and is best known for his work on music videos. Rooney has won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography in 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002 and ...
and June McCormack. His influences include
Joe Burke and Andy McGann.
In January 2012 it was announced that his "debut solo album, ''Aisling Yoshua''/''Joshua's Dream'' has won the gold in the 2011 Ticket Awards for Best Trad Album".
Discography
* ''The Bees' Wing'', Cló Iar Chonnachta, 1990
* ''Dreaming Up The Tunes'' (with Brian McGrath), 1998
* ''Dusk Till Dawn'' (with Charlie Lennon), 2005
* ''Aisling Yoshua'', April 2011
* ''Siar'', November 2016
*Fear Inis Bearachain, December 2018
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Johnny Og
Irish accordionists
Musicians from County Galway
Living people
Irish folk musicians
21st-century accordionists
Year of birth missing (living people)