PADDY O'BRIEN

Since Erin is often accompanied by her husband, accordion player Paddy O'Brien, we thought it might be a good idea to put Paddy's biography here on the website too...

A product of County Offaly in the midlands of Ireland, Paddy O'Brien is regarded by serious players and collectors of Irish traditional music as one of the tradition's most important repositories; in a musical career that spans nearly forty years, he has collected more than 3,000 compositions—jigs, reels, hornpipes, airs, and marches, including many rare and unusual tunes. His mastery of the two-row button accordion was also acknowledged through prestigious awards: he was named Oireachtas champion four times, and All-Ireland senior accordion champion in 1975. In Ireland, he played and recorded with the famed Castle Ceili Band and Ceoltoiri Laighean.

In 1978, Paddy began playing regularly in the United States, in Washington D.C., Saint Louis, Saint Paul, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and many places between. He has been featured on three recordings with Shanachie Records since 1978, and in 1988 released his first solo album, "Stranger at the Gate," on the Green Linnet label. Paddy has taught at the prestigious Willie Clancy Summer School held in Milltown Malbay, County Clare, and has served as a master artist in the Minnesota State Arts Board Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.

In 1994, Paddy received a $6,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to record and annotate 500 reels and jigs from his vast repertoire of traditional tunes; the result of that effort, The Paddy OBrien Tune Collection: A Personal Treasury of Irish Jigs and Reels, has received accolades from players of Irish music around the world. He is at work on a second volume of this ground-breaking work, containing another 500 tunes. Paddy currently plays and tours internationally with Chulrua, a trio also featuring fiddler Patrick Ourceau and guitarist and singer Pat Egan. He also tour and plays around the country with an eight-piece ensemble, The Doon Ceili Band, and with a new traditional music group called O'Rourke's Feast.

Download Paddy's music from lots of different music sites, including iTunes, emusic, and many others. You can also order Paddy's CDs directly from him.

Look for Erin singing a song called "The Wounded Hussar" on Paddy's solo recording, "Stranger at the Gate."