Page 47 - 45th East Durham Irish Festival

MAY 28 & MAY 29, 2022 45TH EAST DURHAM IRISH FESTIVAL NEWS 47
45th East Durham Irish Festival Presents:
McLEAN AVENUE BAND
McLean Avenue Band are an Irish American band, based in Hudson Valley and Westchester County, New York. They have taken the Irish American music and entertainment scene by storm with their wonderful arrangements of pop, rock and folk songs, intertwined with Traditional Irish tunes and upbeat melodies, played on fiddles, banjos, bodhrans (Irish Drum) button accordions and acoustic guitars. These song arrangements are ideal for celebration events like weddings and parties, as well as festivals and concerts.
The band formed through a regular weeknight get together (A.K.A. “session”) of local talented Irish musicians, in a bar on, yes, McLean Avenue, in the Woodlawn area of New York city. Hence the name McLean Avenue Band. That was over 10 years ago. It didn’t take long however, for word to spread about this super-group of Irish musicians and suddenly they were a sought-after group for events from weddings to festivals to party celebrations all over the tri-state area and up and down east coast.
THE BYRNE BROTHERS
The Byrne Brothers are a multi award winning family band and Irish dancers from Dublin and one of the biggest names in traditional Irish music today. They are Luca 17 on Accordion, Finn 15 on Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar, Dempsey 12 on Bodhran & Whistle and Dad, Tommy on Uilleann Pipes, Bagpipes, Fiddle and Guitar. All County Champions on their instruments and Ulster Champion Irish Dancers. Having moved to Orlando Florida in 2018 they became the youngest ever Cast Members of Walt Disney World while performing at Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant.
With 30 million views, half a million shares, over 51,000 followers on social media, front cover of The Irish Music Magazine, toured 44 US States and 2 Caribbean Cruises, The Byrne Brothers are making a great name for themselves in America and all over the world as a festival headlining band!
DEE REILLY
Deirdre Reilly beautifully personifies the dramatic influence that Irish music has had on today’s American Country scene. Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts to a mother from County Cork and a father from County Mayo, Ireland, Deirdre began performing at age five. As a teenager she sang with her step-father’s show band and traveled around New England and parts of New York with her own band. Deirdre’s talents were revealed on a national level at age eighteen when she toured the United States with Paddy Noonan’s Irish Variety Show. In 1989 Deirdre auditioned at the Berkeley School Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts for talent scouts from the Opryland Show Park in Nashville, Tennessee.
After hearing Deirdre sing, there was little deliberation among the scouts about offering her a contract to perform in their most popular show “COUNTRY MUSIC USA” for the coming summer season. Deirdre eagerly accepted that contract and was well on her way to exploring a world of music that she innately was destined to pursue. That summer led to three consecutive seasons at Opryland Show Park where she quickly began to open many doors in the music industry.
Today, the band’s musical roots remain firmly in the Irish Music genre, however, they are constantly adding new covers to their repertoire. The addition of brass instruments and Broadway signers to the group, creates a huge song list for their client to choose from. Indeed, this band are as comfortable playing Top 40 hits as they are playing Irish ballads like Danny Boy.