PAUL KELLY: Paul is Mr. Malgamú himself having formed the Company
in 1997 with two partners. His experience and influence is the driving force behind
Malgamú and its success. Paul has been at the heart of the music scene in Ireland since
the early eighties. Although he had played with and gained the respect of many of the
countries top traditional musicians as a teenager, he first came to prominence as the
fiddler with The Sackville String Band, a five piece bluegrass  outfit who brought
American Traditional music to a wider audience in Ireland and who had the legendary Doc
Watson, Bela Fleck and Mark O Connor among many others as guests at their regular Dublin
gigs. Throughout that decade he concentrated on American Music, playing with various bands
such as Mick Hanly’s Rusty Old Halo and the Fleadh Cowboys as well as appearing on
many albums as a session musician. He returned to his roots in the early nineties as a
member of The Sharon Shannon Band, playing fiddle and mandolin and touring the U.S. ,
Europe and the U.K. He also recorded with Sharon and appeared on the hugely successful
Late Late Show special dedicated to the Clare accordion wizard. In 1997 he changed
direction again by starting his own record company, Malgamú Music, whose aim is to
harness the current trends in traditional music while adding the new sounds that Jazz and
World Music are bringing to the tradition. Already the company has six albums on the
shelves including Paul’s own solo offering "a mandolin album" of which Hot
Press said: "with this record Paul Kelly has yet again redefined the scope and beauty
of the mandolin"…. "It’s difficult to discriminate between one track
and another so singularly outstanding is this album"….. Paul has now joined
forces with Seán Whelan, also a Malgamú Music recording artist in a high powered four
piece band called Faolán, who will be touring extensively in 1999. Paul is also busy with Fleadh Cowboy member Frankie Lane on various projects planned for the future. The most interesting of these is Frankie's much anticipated new CD: Gunsmoke at El Paso which is due for release in the Summer of 2003. See www.frankielane.com for details. Paul and Frankie also tour regularly with ex De Danann singer Eleanor Shanley. |
email:paul@malgamu.com |
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