Folk Bands and Artists
Albiez Trio
Fiddler Tóla Custy, harper Laoise Kelly and whistle player Cormac Breatnach formed the Albiez Trio in the idyllic surrounds of the French Alps at the CeltiCimes music festival back in 2014. As a group with varied backgrounds, their music has many influences from across many regions.
Cormac grew up in an Irish/Spanish speaking family and was immersed in the Irish music tradition from early childhood. Throughout his long career he has played with artists as diverse as Elvis Costello, Vanessa Williams, Donal Lunny, Bernard Purdie and Susan McKeown and has recorded many albums to date. Highly influenced by jazz and blues, he has recently acknowledged and embraced his Spanish/Basque roots bringing this inspiration into his musical work.
Laoise Kelly,TG4 Gradam Ceoil Musician of the Year 2020, is regarded as one of the most significant harpers of her generation. She is known for her use of a new style of harp playing, which combines the techniques of fingerpads in the bass and fingernails in the melody on a thirty-four gut strung Paddy Cafferky harp. Director of Achill International Harp Festival, Laoise has performed and recorded with an eclectic range of artists from The Chieftains to Kate Bush and has released 3 critically acclaimed solo albums.
Tóla Custy is a fiddle player and composer from County Clare. Extensive touring around the world has exposed his ear to many musical experiences, such as Breton, Bulgarian, American and Māori music. With these influences, Tóla has sought to create a sound of his own whilst remaining sympathetic to the subtle nuances in Irish traditional music. He has performed many a sell-out concert in Ireland and the USA and is the founding member of worldwide touringensembles such as Calico, Guidewires, The Bowhouse Quintet, Dán, Albiez Trio and Tradivarious.
