.: Cr�de
Cr�de are a four-piece traditional group from County Kerry. The platform for the group was set up by what was to be a �one off� gig in the Granary Live Music Venue in Killarney. However, after a high energy performance, a regular gig soon followed, along with invites to play at The Gathering Music Festival in Killarney, The Padraig O�Keeffe Festival in Castleisland, and The Willie Keane Festival in Doonbeg.
Comprising of fiddle player Emma O Leary, flute player Eilis Murphy, accordion player Jonathan Roche and guitarist Sean Leahy, their unique sound owes its roots to three well renowned musical regions � Sliabh Luacra, West Limerick and West Kerry. In 2007, Cr�de plan to release their first commercial recording, with much of the music being currently researched and a number of demo tracks recently recorded.
.: Emma O Leary : fiddle, whistles
Emma O�Leary hails from the Sliabh Luacra village of Scartaglin in Co. Kerry, an area rich in Irish music tradition. With such past greats as Padraig O�Keeffe, Denis �The Weaver� Murphy and Julia Clifford, its little surprise the Emma took to playing the fiddle at a young age.
Emma is part of a strong musical family. Her brother Michael plays accordion while sister Carmel plays pipes and whistle and Colette plays piano accordion with the well know group �The Bumble Bees�. Her early musical influences include Nicky McAuliffe, with whom she began learning the whistle at the age of four. She went on to attend the Kerry School of Music, where she was classically trained for eight years.
Emma joined IT Tralee in 1998 and studied music for two years before taking a year off on a world tour with Rhythm of the Dance and also Ceol Chiarra�. She participated in a Leader cultural exchange in France where she taught music and culture. She has performed with the school orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Dublin and holds five all Ireland champion titles, winning three in one day at the All-Ireland fleadh in Enniscorthy in 2000.
In 2001, she returned to her studies in IT Tralee and graduated in October 2003 with a first class honors degree. In 2002, as part of her third year project, Emma and her fellow classmates arranged and produced, with Emma as the Music Director, a production in Siamsa Tire Theatre called �Eoin�n�.
.: Eilis Murphy : flute
Eilis Murphy hails from the West Limerick town of Abbeyfeale, an area with a great history of fine musicians. With sessions on almost every night of the week in the mid to late �80, music lovers were spoiled for choice in this little pocket of the country. Eilis is part of an acclaimed musical family.
Her brother Donal is known the length and breath of the country from playing accordion with �Sliabh Notes� and �Four Men and a Dog�. Her other two brothers are also fine musicians, Kevin on the bouzouki and Sean on the banjo, while her father Dan is also a keen accordion player. Her early musical influences include her family of course, Willie and John Larkin, Nicky McAuliffe and Cathal Haydn.
Eilis soon made a name for herself as a young flute player and joined trad/rock group �Rock the Joint�, with whom she completed a very successful tour of the UK. Eilis has also been a full time musician with Siamsa T�re for many years, performing shows throughout Ireland and the UK.
In 1998, Eilis also enrolled for the Music degree in the Institute of Technology in Tralee, and played regularly with Emma in different groups and ensembles throughout their time in college. After completing her degree, Eilis played regularly in Killarney, eventually resulting in the formation of the group.
.: Jonathan Roche : Accordion
Jonathan Roche hails from Brosna, a small parish in North Kerry steeped in musical tradition. From an early age Jonathan displayed a huge interest in tradition Irish music, the accordion in particular having spent many afternoons "pulling and tearing" at an old melodeon in his grandfather's attic!
At the tender age of 8 years, Jonathan attended his first music class in Brosna under the renowned tutelage of Offaly native, now based in Castleisland, Cecilia Regan. In the following years, Jonathan spent time learning from local accordion players Donal De Barra and Willie Larkin, attended workshops with Jackie Daly in Miltown Malbay at the Willie Clancy Festival, and went on the capture 2 All Irelands on the Melodeon and a Munster title on the 2 Row Button Accordion.
This success brought Jonathan to the attention of CEO of Ceol Chiarra� Productions, Michael Carr, and lead to tours of Australia, Asia and Europe. Further stints were spent playing with world renowned shows such as "To Dance on the Moon" and "Rag�s", although the amount of touring has been limited to college commitments.
Jonathan has just returned to Ireland after a highly acclaimed 3 week tour of Chicago with Killarney based singer/songwriter Tim O Shea.
.: Sean Leahy : Guitar
Sean Leahy comes from the famed Chorca Dhuibhne region in West Kerry. A powerhouse on the guitar, he is the son of the Blasket singer, �ine N� Laoithe. Having grown up playing with musical luminaries as the Begley family near his home he is a welcome addition to the group where his rhythm adds to the life of the melodies.
Sean started playing the guitar at four years of age, having being in awe of greats like Steve Cooney and Donogh Hennessey who regularly played in the Dingle region. �I remember it like it was yesterday�, says Sean. �We were in The Droicead [Beag] on a Sunday evening and Begley and Cooney were at their prime. From that day on I knew I was going to play the guitar.�
Shortly after Sean got his first guitar and started receiving lessons, listening to lots of different styles and developing his technique. Sean went on to capture 2 all Irelands in the Miscellaneous Section by the age of 11 but shortly after stopped competing to concentrate on his school studies. Sean was also a member of the Kerry School of Music for 6 years and achieved Grade 8 on the classical guitar.
Sean now plays full time, with many other commitments outside of Cr�de. Sean has just returned from touring Italy with Cora & Breda Smyth, and regularly plays with groups Nuada, Celtic Legends, Spirit of Ireland and Rag�s.
.: thank you!
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