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ITMA SAOTHAR Bio
Nuala Kennedy is an award-winning traditional musician, singer, composer, producer and flute player. She tours in Europe, Australia and North America and has released work with Nashville’s Compass Records, Domino Records (USA), Borealis Records (CAD) Ta:Lik (NOR) and Vertical (UK) before founding her own independent label ‘Under the Arch’ in 2014.
Kennedy’s roots are in Irish music, and she plays in a trio with fiddler Tara Breen and guitarist Tony Byrne, in Oirialla with Gerry ‘fiddle’ O’ Connor and The Alt with John Doyle and Eamon O’ Leary. However she is also ‘something of a genre bender’ (Living Tradition Magazine). She holds a Masters degree in Music and trained as a classical pianist under Prof. John O’ Connor. She has toured and recorded with Indie-Poet Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billie, with Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Euros Childs (Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci), and with cutting-edge Canadian composer, the late Oliver Schroer. Kennedy was a featured artist on Janis Ian’s 2022 Grammy nominated release End of The Line.
Now living in Ennis, County Clare, Kennedy is noted for her songs and a unique Irish flute style, formed in Dundalk and honed in her long time home in Scotland. She enjoys researching and collecting traditional songs and greatly admires the music of her long time friend and fellow flute player and singer Cathal McConnell.
