The Friel Sisters & The High Seas
A “supergroup” and make no mistake, we are bringing together The Friel Sisters and The High Seas, showcasing seven fabulous musicians who will skilfully weave together the colourful strands of Irish music, song and dance into a tapestry of tradition.
Making their debut appearance at the Shetland Folk Festival are three musicians of The High Seas, made up of acclaimed musicians Caitlín Nic Gabhann (concertina, dance), CiaránÓ Maonaigh (fiddles) and Cathal Ó Curráin (vocals, bouzouki, fiddle).
Caitlín Nic Gabhann on concertina is a three time All-Ireland champion and an accomplished dancer, having toured the world with Riverdance. Renowned fiddle player Ciarán Ó Maonaigh hails from Co. Donegal and is heavily influenced by the unique Donegal style of fiddling, recording six albums to date. The youngest member of the High Seas is Cathal Ó Curráin, who was immersed in the song tradition growing up.
Cathal also performs with The Friel Sisters, but he was unable to join them at the Shetland Folk Festival back in 2018 (and he’s never gotten over it!) So welcome to Shetland Cathal, Ciarán and Caitlín and welcome back Anna, Sheila and Clare Friel along with guitarist Marty Barry from Co Down.
The Friel Sisters are traditional musicians born and brought up in Glasgow, Scotland with their family roots firmly entrenched in the Donegal Gaeltacht in North West Ireland. They have released 2 albums to date, playing all over the world in various venues and festivals and have appeared onstage and toured with acts such as Altan, The Chieftains, Lúnasa, Sharon Shannon,The Máirtín O’Connor Trio, Cherish the Ladies and Solas. The girls have won many prestigious titles and competitions over the years, including Clare receiving the huge honour of TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2018.
This is a collaboration not to be missed. They did a one off show together at Celtic Connections back in 2020 but how lucky are we to have them all 4 days. We can’t wait!
