James Conway is an Irish-American musician based in Chicago, Illinois, and is particularly known for playing traditional Irish music on the harmonica and tin whistle. [1] He also plays guitar, bodhran, and plays folk and country blues music. [2] Jason Ricci said of Conway's playing, "This guy is the king of tongue switching (playing out of both sides of your mouth) – his octave leaps, effortless complex melodies, and chords are mind melting to the harmonica player while natural to the listener." [3]
Conway began playing tin whistle and guitar as a child, studied classical music at Columbia College, and learned harmonica from Junior Wells, Sugar Blue, and Howard Levy. [4] [5]
In 2003, Conway was the recipient of a "master artist" grant from the Illinois Arts Council to teach Irish tin whistle as part of the Ethnic & Folk Arts Master/Apprentice Program. [6] The Hohner company has also recognized Conway's expertise; he is a Hohner harmonica endorser. [7]
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth to direct air into or out of one holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound.
The tin whistle, commonly called the penny whistle, flageolet, English flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, tin flageolet, Irish whistle, Belfast Hornpipe, feadóg stáin and Clarke London Flageolet 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. A tin whistle player is called a whistler. The tin whistle is closely associated with Celtic music.
Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band formed in Belgrade in 1992 which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their uncharacteristic genre in their home country, the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has influenced several younger Serbian bands, most notably Irish Stew of Sindidun and Tir na n'Og.
Flook is an Anglo-Irish band playing traditional-style instrumental music, much of it penned by the band themselves. Their music is typified by extremely fast, sometimes percussive, flute and whistle atop complex guitar and bodhrán rhythms. Flook is made up of Brian Finnegan, Sarah Allen, Ed Boyd and John Joe Kelly.
Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known for its harmonicas, Hohner has manufactured a wide range of instruments, such as kazoos, accordions, recorder flutes, melodicas, banjos, electric, acoustic, resonator and classical guitars, basses, mandolins and ukuleles
Prosperous is the second album by Irish folk musician Christy Moore, released in 1972. His first album, Paddy on the Road, was recorded by Dominic Behan in 1969 and has long been out of print. In addition to Moore's guitar and voice, Prosperous featured musicians Andy Irvine, Liam Óg O'Flynn and Dónal Lunny. These four musicians later gave themselves the name Planxty, making this album something of the first Planxty album in all but name. Other musicians included Kevin Conneff on bodhrán, Clive Collins on fiddle, and Dave Bland on concertina.
Elliott Brood is a Canadian three-piece, alternative country band formed in 2002 in Toronto, consisting of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, and kazoo, Casey Laforet on guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals, bass pedals, keys, and ukulele, and Stephen Pitkin on percussion, sampler, and backing vocals. The band's style has been categorized as "death country", "frontier rock", or "revival music".
James Conway is an Australian harmonica player and with his brother, Mic Conway, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.
Women in Docs are an Australian independent folk pop music duo consisting of Chanel Lucas on lead vocals, guitar and bass guitar; and Roz Pappalardo on lead vocals, guitar and harmonica. They formed in Townsville, Queensland in 1998 as Roz and Chanel but soon changed their name and have released three studio albums, Under a Different Sky (2001), Red Wine and Postcards (2006) and Carousel (2013). The group have toured throughout Australia, New Zealand, United States, Europe, and Asia. Pappalardo has also released a solo album, .
Irish traditional music is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
Chris Vallillo is a nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and folk musician who strives to "make the people and places of 'unmetropolitan' America come to life in song." Having spent the last 30 years in the rural Midwest, he developed an affinity for American roots music. Performing on six-string and bottleneck slide guitars and harmonica, Vallillo writes and performs original, contemporary, and traditional songs and creates musical narratives as a portrait of the history and lifestyles of the Midwest.
Guaranteed Irish is an American folk band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, currently consisting of Bruce Foley, Patrick Folan and Jimmy Lamb. To date they have released three albums and are classified as an Irish folk band.
Joanie Madden is an Irish-American flute and whistle player of Irish traditional music. She is best known as leader of the all-female group Cherish the Ladies, but has also recorded and performed with numerous other musicians, and as a solo artist. She also teaches master classes and workshops.
Michael Jerling is an American acoustic folk singer-songwriter. He was born in Illinois and attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His association with Fast Folk Musical Magazine in New York's Greenwich Village led to his song, "Long Black Wall", being included in a Smithsonian Folkways CD celebrating twenty years of Fast Folk. Jerling has won several awards for his music including winning the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival's "New Folk" competition. Jerling recorded two albums on the Shanachie label, and two on Waterbug Records. He currently records on his own label Fool's Hill Music. He has collaborated with several musicians including Bob Warren, Tony Markellis, and Teresina Huxtable and recorded and produced albums for Lorne Clarke, Mike Quick, Huxtable, Christensen & Hood, Mark Tolstrup and Mallory O'Donnell.
Joe Filisko is an American blues harmonica player and maker of customized harmonicas based in Chicago, Illinois. In 2001 he was named "Harmonica Player of the Year" by the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica. In addition to performing, and building customized harmonicas, he also teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music. The Hohner harmonica company describes him as the world's foremost authority on the diatonic harmonica. He designed the distinctive conical cover plates of the Hohner Marine Band Thunderbird harmonicas.
Vinnie Kilduff is an Irish multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, primarily known for his work with U2, The Waterboys, Clannad and Sinéad O'Connor. He plays tin whistle, uilleann pipes, guitar, mandolin, piano, harmonica, bodhrán and flute. He is described as one of Ireland's best known contemporary tin whistle players.
Celtic music in Poland has become more and more popular in culture, inspiring artists to perform this type of music. Since 2003, in the last week of the summer holiday Celtic Music Festival ZAMEK takes place in Będzin. It is one of the biggest Celtic festivals in Central Europe.
Ferocious Dog are an English folk punk band from Warsop, Nottinghamshire, England. The band has headlined tours of the UK and Europe, performed in Dubai, festivals such as Bearded Theory, Alchemy, Deerstock, Farmer Phil's Festival, Splendour and Beautiful Days, and toured in support of New Model Army, The Levellers and The Wonder Stuff. In 2015 the band played in the Field of Avalon at Glastonbury Festival, attracting the third largest crowd to the stage over the course of the weekend.
Usher's Island is an Irish folk band featuring Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, Michael McGoldrick and John Doyle. Their repertoire consists of Irish traditional songs and tunes, as well as songs written by Irvine and Doyle, respectively.