Saturday 17 May 7.45pm

Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury

Now in their third decade, Irish group Patrick Street come to the Gulbenkian following their 2007 release On the Fly. Launched in 1986, they have gone on to be known as one of the best bands of traditional Irish music. The band’s members - Kevin Burke (ex Bothy Band), Andy Irvine (ex Planxty), Ged Foley (ex House Band) and new recruit John Carty on fiddle - are all highly respected, and considered to be making Irish music at its finest.  

Their new material indicates the opening of a new exciting chapter for the group, with latest member John Carty having made his Patrick Street recording debut for On the Fly. Many of the band’s new tunes are rooted in the rural music of County Sligo, where Carty and Burke spent their early years in, soaking up music that the wider world learned mainly from recordings.

This event will feature a mix of old and new, highlighting the imaginative and captivating music this band has produced to date.  With a variety of Irish styles and performers in this band, it is set to be a great evening of music. Onstage together, Patrick Street capture the intricate flavours of Irish music and bring them alive, making their performances occasions to anticipate and relish to the full.

To add to the evening, the Gulbenkian Café Bar will also celebrate Ireland, and will be serving an Irish menu for you to enjoy.

“Patrick Street are this decade’s answer to The Bothy Band and Planxty: master musicians whose molecules have merged so intrinsically with the music that it’s hard to tell musician and music apart.”  Siobhán Long, The Irish Times

Tickets £14

Booking Office 01227 769075

On line bookings www.gulbenkiantheatre.co.uk

Ends.

For images contact Frances Moran, Marketing Manager, F_dot_Moran_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk

Press Contact: Simon Heginbotham simon_at_saltairelive_dot_co_dot_uk

Biography:

Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, Jackie Daly and Ged Foley - collectively known as Patrick Street - are known throughout the Irish music world as four of its most brilliant players. On a repertoire steeped in traditional music, the band's tightly executed arrangements and unparalleled musicianship know no equal. Beginning as a one-time tour of four recognized masters, nearly two decades and eight albums later this "supergroup" has reached legendary status. "Mesmerizing," says Billboard, "…a must for those who love Irish music."

Patrick Street adds a new lane this year with the addition of multi-instrumentalist John Carty. Known for his sensational fiddling, John will add double fiddle with Kevin as well as exciting variety to the band with his talents on banjo, flute and tenor-guitar.

Patrick Street was launched in 1986 as a one-off tour de force called Legends of Irish Music. Living up to its name, it featured fiddler Kevin Burke (veteran of The Bothy Band), singer/bouzouki player Andy Irvine (Planxty), and accordion player Jackie Daly (De Dannan), along with acclaimed guitarist Arty McGlynn. With the success of the tour, the quartet released an album that year named Patrick Street (after a road or avenue found in towns across Ireland) and a band was born. The line-up of Burke, Irvine and Daly has remained constant through the years, with other distinctive artists passing through the ranks including guitarist Gerry O'Beirne, fiddler James Kelly, and uilleann piper Declan Masterson. Ged Foley, a highly-skilled guitarist from England with past stints in the Battlefield Band and House Band, came on board in 1996. This year the Street widens it's talents with John Carty.

The consummate Irish fiddler, Kevin has given to the band's sound and repertoire the highly ornamented Sligo style for which he's known. Jackie brings his wide repertoire of Kerry music to the fore with dazzling slides and polkas, and his seamless accordion-and-fiddle duets with Kevin are a highlight of the band's shows. Andy Irvine is one of the great balladeers of Irish music, and his bouzouki playing has long been a standard by which others are judged. He brings his shared passions for Eastern European rhythms and American folksinger Woody Guthrie to the band. Ged's inventive guitar licks provide ideal underpinning for Andy's intricate songs and the group's blistering sets of reels and jigs. With new recruit John Carty, Patrick Street brims with the spirit and sensitivity of Irish music at its best.