Paul Kelly (Irish musician)
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Paul Kelly (born 1957) is an Irish multi-instrumentalist and musician from
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in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. He has played Irish traditional music, bluegrass and country, and is equally at home in a variety of different styles of music.


Early life

At 12 years of age, and already playing the guitar for five years, he was introduced to Irish Traditional Music by neighbour and fiddler Des Carty, who taught
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
. During his teenage years he developed as a
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
and
mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
player, making many trips to
Fleadh 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 ...
s (Irish Music Festivals), as well as many weekends in
County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...
, where his style was honed, playing regularly with the Russell brothers from
Doolin Doolin () is a coastal village in County Clare, Ireland, on the Atlantic coast. It is southwest of the spa town of Lisdoonvarna and 4 miles from the Cliffs of Moher. It is a noted centre of traditional Irish music, which is played nightly in i ...
, Noel Hill, Tony Linnane and other great Clare musicians. In 1975, he won the Slógadh award as All-Ireland banjo champion. Around this time Paul also started to play fiddle and gig with different folk bands in the Dublin area.


Musical career

In the early eighties, he discovered Bluegrass and spent four years as fiddler with the Sackville String Band, the popular Dublin outfit that played at concerts and festivals all over the country. The band had been established by
Niall Toner Niall Edward Toner (born 1944) is an Irish bluegrass musician, songwriter and radio broadcaster from Dublin, known nationwide for his programmes ''Country Heartland'' and ''Roots Freeway''. Musical career Toner organised his first acoustic band i ...
in late 1975. Influenced by the recordings of the Fuzzy Mountain, Hollow Rock, and Highwoods String Bands they played "American traditional music, old-time songs and bluegrass". A typical line-up of the band when Kelly joined was Imor Byrne (fiddle), Colin Beggan (guitar), John Caulfield (fiddle), Niall Toner (mandolin) and Richard Hawkins (banjo). The band's reputation was such that many visiting U.S. musicians would jam on stage with them and so Kelly got to hear and play with Bluegrass legends like
Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. Rowan plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings. Biography Rowan was born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family. From an early age, he had an interes ...
, Tex Logan and Kenny Baker. When Niall Toner went off to form Hank Halfhead & the Rambling Turkeys, Kelly joined forces with Irish singer/songwriter Mick Hanly, whose band Rusty Old Halo, he helped to form. Their only release, ''Still Not Cured'', played a large part in establishing a "New Country Music Scene" in Dublin, with bands like The Wilf Brothers, Hank Halfhead, Chris Meehan and his Redneck Friends and the biggest of them all, The Fleadh Cowboys, all touring the country on a regular basis. He even played support to the legendary Fionnuisce at The Earl Grattan venue. Although he had played with all the above bands at some stage, he joined The Fleadh Cowboys in 1989, who were one of the hottest bands in Ireland at that time, touring regularly around the country and also playing monthly in two of London's best known venues: The Mean Fiddler and The Powerhouse. In Dublin, The Fleadh's had the night owls dancing in the aisles at their weekly late-night sell-out residency at The Olympia Theatre. The band established a format where every week a guest or guests would join them on stage. Some of the more notable were
The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...
,
The Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional music of Ireland, Irish music with influences from soul, Gospel music, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People ...
,
Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...
,
John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...
and Joe Ely. The Fleadhs popularity was such at that time that they were invited to play support to U2 in The Point Theatre and to
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
in the RDS. They also supported
The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...
(who were riding high on the success of
Fairytale of New York "Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their London-based band the Pogues, featuring singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a du ...
), on the English and Irish leg of their world tour. In March 1992, after he had established himself as a studio session musician, and had composed the music for the Irish movie, ''Hard Shoulder'', Kelly returned to his traditional roots by joining with Trevor Hutchinson and Gerry O'Beirne in The Sharon Shannon Band. They toured America and Europe that year, in a hectic schedule which culminated with a '' Late Late Show'' TV Special which was dedicated to the Clare accordion wizard. In 1997 Kelly founded a record company called Malgamú Music, which tapped into the new eclecticism in Traditional Irish music, and encouraged its artists to experiment with other musical styles, although keeping Irish Music at the core. This project saw six releases including those by the exciting band Lia Luachra, fiddler Kevin O' Connor, guitarist Sean Whelan and his own offering "a mandolin album", which received excellent reviews and is often quoted as a defining album in Irish music for the mandolin.


Current Activity

In 2002 he began teaching music in BCFE, a third level college in Dublin. He still teaches there and has also given mandolin workshops in Haapavesi, Finland; Milwaukee University, USA; Carlo Aonzo's International Mandolin Academy in Ferrara, Italy; Tesserete, Switzerland and in the University of Limerick, Ireland. A book of 110 mandolin tunes selected from his repertoire (including some of his own compositions) was published in 2007 and is distributed by
Mel Bay Mel Bay (February 25, 1913 – May 14, 1997) was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His '' Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords'' remains a bestseller. Biography Early life Melbourne E. Bay was bo ...
. He currently plays and tours with popular Irish singer
Eleanor Shanley Eleanor Shanley, from Keshcarrigan in County Leitrim in the North West of Ireland, is an Irish and Roots musician. She made her first appearance as a singer with traditional group De Danann, and subsequently with Ronnie Drew. She has also tou ...
and singer/guitarist Frankie Lane. In November 2013 (Germany tour) and February–March 2014 (UK tour) he stood in for Gerry O'Connor, the fiddler and banjo player of " The Dublin Legends", an Irish folk band founded by the remaining members of "The Dubliners".


Discography


Studio albums

* ''A Mandolin Album'' (1998)


Appears On

*''The Black Family (
The Black Family The Black Family is a professional wrestling face / tecnico stable that has been working in AAA since 2000. Originally a heel / rudo stable, The Black Family currently consists of original member Dark Cuervo as well as the later additions of D ...
'', 1986) *''Still Not Cured (Mick Hanly and Rusty Old Halo'', 1987) *''Hi-Ace to Heaven ( The Fleadh Cowboys'', 1988) *''A Sonic Holiday ( Engine Alley'', 1992) *'' No Deeper Blue (
Townes van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.
'', 1994) *''Out the Gap (
Sharon Shannon Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, ''Sharon Shannon,'' was the best-selling ...
'', 1995) *''Dobro (Frankie Lane'', 1995) *''
Further Along ''Further Along'' is the title of a recording by The Dubliners. Following Ronnie Drew's departure from The Dubliners at the end of 1995, Paddy Reilly joined the group and this album was released in 1996 on their own new label, Baycourt. Tra ...
(
The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-ye ...
'', 1996) *''Lia Luachra (Lia Luachra'', 1998) *''Traffic (Lia Luachra'', 2000) *'' You'll Never Beat the Irish (
The Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning of ...
'', 2001) *''Gunsmoke at El Paso (Frankie Lane'', 2003) *''Live at the Spiegeltent ( Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club'', 2004) *''A Place of My Own (Eleanor Shanley with Frankie Lane & Paul Kelly'', 2008)


References


External links


Paul Kelly
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1957 births Living people 21st-century violinists 21st-century male musicians Dublin fiddlers Irish songwriters Irish fiddlers Irish film score composers Irish mandolinists Male film score composers Musicians from County Dublin