Davey is no stranger to Celtic Folk, and we are honoured to have him back. Anyone who has been to one of his dervish sessions at The Oak Tree Pub, Molly Malone’s and others in and about town will attest to his superb musicianship.

Dave is from County Kildare, Ireland. He began his musical career playing in rock bands around Ireland but traditional music soon took over for him. After experimenting with many different alternate tunings for his song writing he found that DADGAD tuning was the sound he was looking for. Listening to bands like Planxty and the Bothy Band inspired him to explore the rhythmic possibilities in Irish music. Dave has developed a percussive and complimentary style of playing which has been described as the “engine” of sessions. Dave has played with some of the top names in Irish music such as Frankie Gavin and Maurice Lennon. Now living in Calgary, Dave is thrilling audiences at sessions and teaching avid students as part of the FAMI faculty.

Emilie Kirwan is from Ballynacally, a village outside Ennis in Co. Clare. She attended the University of Limerick and has a Masters in Traditional Irish music performance. Martin Hayes and Gerry O’Connor were just two of her teachers in the Masters program.