Michael McGoldrick Big Band followed by Trad Disco

Friday, November 8 · 11:55pm: Queens Hotel

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**This is a standing only event**

Former BBC Folk Awards Musician of the Year Mike McGoldrick is a gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer. Born in Manchester to Irish parents, he is a master of the wooden flute, low whistles and uilleann pipes, making him a go-to contributor for many artists including Vicente Amigo, Zac Brown Band, Xosé Manuel Budiño, Jerry Douglas, Julie Fowlis, Darrell Scott, Nolwenn Leroy, Tim O’Brien, Dirk Powell and Kate Rusby. Mike has collaborated with Mark Knopfler since 2009 and been a core member of the Transatlantic Sessions since 2007.

Steeped in Irish traditional music, he has, from his ground-breaking 2000 solo album Fused onwards, assimilated a wide range of musical styles into his work including jazz, funk, African and Indian rhythms. In 2005, he released Wired, a natural successor to Fused which was even more captivating, incorporating alternative sounds to create a brilliant fusion at the cutting edge of folk music that positively exploded with energy. The Sunday Herald’s 5-star review described the album as “a treasure-trove of gorgeous tunes, razor-sharp grooves and sublime playing”. In 2018 Mike released ARC, his fifth solo album The Wishing Tree with John Doyle and John McCusker, and Dog in the Fog with Dezi Donnelly, all of which received rave reviews. Most recently, he has released One For The Road which is a collaboration with his nieces Catherine, Ciara and Mairead under the name “the McGoldrick family”.

Mike has made an immense contribution to the Irish and UK folk scenes through his many solo and collaborative projects including being a founder member of the supergroup Lúnasa and later through his work with Capercaillie. Recently nominated as Best Folk Instrumentalist at the 2024 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, Mike’s reputation as one of the leading musicians of his generation is undeniable.