Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, and Liam O'Flynn. They transformed and popularized Irish folk music, touring and recording to great acclaim.
X Japan is a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads. Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam.
The Cat Empire is an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1999. For most of the band's duration, the core members were Felix Riebl, Harry James Angus, Will Hull-Brown (drums), Jamshid "Jumps" Khadiwhala, Ollie McGill and Ryan Monro. Monro retired from the band in March 2021, while Angus, Hull-Brown and Khadiwhala all left in April 2022. They are often supplemented by The Empire Horns, a brass duo composed of Ross Irwin (trumpet) and Kieran Conrau (trombone), among others. Their sound is a fusion of jazz, ska, funk and rock with heavy Latin influences.
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.
De Dannan is an Irish folk music group. It was formed 1975 by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn, Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott (banjo) as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, with Dolores Keane (vocals) subsequently being invited to join the band. The fiddler Mickey Finn (1951–1987) is also acknowledged to have been a founder member.
Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.
Hiroshi Morie, known exclusively by his stage name Heath, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is the bass guitarist of the rock band X Japan. He joined the group in 1992 a few months after the ex-bassist Taiji Sawada left the band. Heath stayed with X Japan until the band's dissolution in 1997 and reunited with the band from 2007 onward.
Kíla are an Irish folk music/world music group, originally formed in 1987 in the Irish language secondary school Coláiste Eóin in County Dublin.
Toshimitsu Deyama, known exclusively by his stage name Toshi, is a Japanese singer who is the lead vocalist and a co-founder of the rock band X Japan, who rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is credited as founders of the visual kei movement. Toshi began an extensive solo career in 1992 before leaving X Japan at the end of 1997. Toshi laments he was "brainwashed" by a group called Home of Heart, whose leader would control his musical output for the next 12 years. In 2007, X Japan reunited and began a world tour. Toshi severed ties with Home of Heart in January 2010 and renewed his solo career. His distinctive, impassioned tenor vocals have been compared to those of Steve Perry. In January 2018, he began to use the stage name Toshi Ryugen.
The Answer are a Northern Irish hard rock band from Newcastle and Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK. They have achieved success with their debut album Rise selling in excess of 30,000 copies in the UK and Europe, 10,000 on day one in Japan and 100,000 worldwide.
Cormac de Barra is a harpist, singer and television presenter and is part of the Moya Brennan Band.
The High Kings is an Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 2008. The band consists of Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and Paul O'Brien. As of 2020, the group had released five studio albums, two live albums, and two live DVDs, and one greatest hits album. Their first three studio albums appeared at number three or higher on the Billboard world music chart, the first two went platinum in Ireland, and all of their albums charted in Ireland.
Empire of the Sun are an Australian electronic music duo formed in 2007. The duo is a collaboration between Luke Steele, of alternative rock band The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore, of electronic dance band Pnau.
The Basics are an Australian band, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002, later joined by Tim Heath. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, pop-rock, folk, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".
Aindrias Stack is an Irish actor, musician and one of a new generation of Irish storytellers. He performs in both Irish and English. Aindrias Stack is best known for his award-winning one man shows Around the World on 80 Quid,The Year I Got Younger,The Summer I Did the Leaving and The Man From Moogaga.
sleepmakeswaves are an Australian post-rock band who formed in Sydney in December 2006. The group is currently composed of guitarist Otto Wicks-Green, drummer Tim Adderley, and bassist/keyboardist Alex Wilson. To date, they have released four full-length studio albums. The band have achieved notable success internationally for their energetic live performances and modern approach to the post-rock genre. They are currently released through Australian independent record label Bird's Robe Records, which is distributed through MGM in Australia and independently worldwide. In 2013, UK label Monotreme Records licensed their debut album for an international release across the UK, Europe, and North America.
Steáfán Hannigan is an Irish musician, author, composer, audio engineer, musicologist and instrument maker. Since 2008, he has made his home in Canada.
John Mock is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, and photographer with a particular interest in the topic of maritime history and culture.
Noriko Tadano is a Japanese tsugaru shamisen performer, composer and vocalist. Tadano is both a solo artist and collaborator, and is known for crossover performances combining traditional and modern music.
