Traditional Music
Dervish celebrates 21 years!
Dervish take their 21st birthday celebrations to festivals and stages around the globe in 2010, including an appearance at the 40th anniversary of the legendary Glastonbury festival. The Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow presented a special Dervish 21st birthday performance on Sunday January 24t,h 2010. The band were joined on the night by a wide range of special guests including Kate Rusby, Moya Brennan from Clannad, Kevin Burke, Mike McGoldrick, Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill, and Vasen.
Sligo, with its mountains, glens and windswept Atlantic shore, has long been the source of inspiration for Irish artistry, from the visionary works of W.B. Yeats to the revered music of Michael Coleman. The source remains and the tradition continues, this year marking the 21st anniversary of Dervish coming together. Beginning as a group of musicians playing the local tunes of Sligo, over the last twenty one years Dervish have broadened their musical vision and with it their devoted audience, which is now worldwide.
Dervish, whose members include Cathy Jordan, Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Brian McDonagh, Tom Morrow and Michael Holmes, have performed throughout every corner of the globe, playing for diverse audiences from heads of state to 240,000 at Rock in Rio. They have shared the stage with James Brown, The Buena Vista Social Club, Oasis, Sting, REM and Beck and have chronicled their musical journey in 10 classic CDs and two DVDs. Year after year their CDs have topped Folk, World and Roots Music charts in Ireland and worldwide and have met with critical acclaim in the international media. Readers of top music magazines have awarded Dervish Best Overall Irish roots act on several occasions in their 21 years and, in what is perhaps their proudest moment, Sligo City Council bestowed on them the Freedom of the city of Sligo for their contribution to the region’s vibrant artistic culture
Onstage, a Dervish performance ranges from powerful and energetic dance tunes to sublime interpretations of Irish songs and airs with vocals, fiddle, flute, accordion, bodhrán, mandola and bouzouki. Interwoven with Cathy Jordan’s beguiling voice and engaging stage presence, an evening with Dervish is filled with warmth, conviviality and inspiration. And for twenty years now, there has been no better way to get a taste of the traditions and the magic of Sligo than through the music of Dervish.
Dervish sold out the National Concert Hall on Sept 3rd 2010