Máirtín O Connor Trio

The trio of Máirtín, Cathal and Seamie first performed live together at a gig in Sligo town organised in memory of Dervish soundman Fin Corrigan. The rapport with each other and the audience was immediate and since then, the three have successfully played gigs in Ireland, Britain, and Europe.

 THE HISTORY

Since about 2001, Máirtn O Connor, Cathal Hayden and Seamie O’Dowd have been building a formidable musical relationship, gigging together frequently as well as collaborating in the studio. The catalyst for this was Máirtín when he invited Cathal and Seamie to play on his ground-breaking “Road West” album, alongside a gathering of Ireland’s finest musicians, and again later on his “Rain of Light” album, much of which went down live, such was the musical and personal rapport that had developed between them.
They played numerous successful performances as part of a large grouping put together by Máirtín that featured many fine musicians from varied musical disciplines. Out of this came a number of smaller groupings, including a four piece band featuring the talents of Irish music’s renaissance man Garry O’Bhriain. Garry, Máirtín and Cathal also collaborated with Galway based Romanian string quartet Contempo resulting in some highly successful performance and recording.

Individually, they have built solid reputations as musicians in terms of ability and versatility.

MÁIRTÍN O CONNOR (accordion) was one of the main musical forces behind the now legendary “Riverdance” phenomenon, having previously, through his work with De Dannan, Midnight Well, Skylark and as a solo artist, quite simply gone where no Irish accordion player had gone before. He is one of the most respected and best loved musicians ever to emerge from the country and has played with every one from Mark Knopfler to Townes Van Zandt.

CATHAL HAYDEN (fiddle, banjo) needs no introduction to anyone even remotely familiar with traditional Irish music. A multiple All-Ireland Championship winner, he achieved worldwide recognition as one of the founder members of “Four Men and a Dog”. His solo recordings almost inevitably become standard bearers for how to record Irish traditional music. He is one of Ireland’s top fiddlers and his solo banjo performances are quite simply, show stopping.

SEAMIE O'DOWD (guitar, vocals) has built a solid musical reputation that has become increasingly familiar at international level in recent years. Rooted deeply in the traditional music of Sligo, he has played in many genres of acoustic and electric music. He toured the world for a number of years with Sligo trad. legends, ”Dervish” and recently has played at home and abroad with Liam O’Flynn, Matt Molloy and Meteor Award nominee Mary Mc Partlan. His solo album "Headful of Echoes" received positive reviews and airplay in Ireland, The U.K., Mainland Europe, and in the U.S.A. He is also steadily gaining a  reputation as a producer and arranger in more recent times.