Great Lakes Folk Festival

Guitarist Brian Miller (guitar, bouzouki) began playing Irish music as a high-schooler in Bemidji, Minnesota, then moved to St. Paul in 1998, where he met, played with and drew inspiration from transplanted Irish musicians Dáithí Sproule and Paddy O’Brien and the small but thriving... Read More →

Brían Ó hAirt (sean-nós dance, vocals, concertina), from St. Louis, is the youngest and only American to become a champion All-Ireland singer (2002). Ó hAirt came to Irish music through its language after hearing Gaelic songs (Enya, Clannad) on the radio, and spent hours researching... Read More →

Irish Music Awards’ 2009 “Top Traditional Group” is Bua, a quartet comprised of some of the most talented young musicians in the US. Bua plays Irish traditional music with “a precision and intensity that is rarely heard on this side of the Atlantic.” Their sound stands out... Read More →

Devin Shepherd began classical violin lessons at the age of four, but fell in love with traditional Irish music when he was 10. With his mother's support, he immersed himself in Chicago's deep-rooted Irish music scene, studying with Kathleen Keane and (National Heritage Fellow) Liz... Read More →

Detroit's Seán Gavin (flute, uilleann pipes) has been immersed in Irish music since birth.  His father, fiddler Mick Gavin, emigrated from County Clare, Ireland in 1974 and is a central figure in Detroit's Irish-American music scene. Gavin has played a number of instruments since... Read More →