Davy Spillane
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Davy Spillane (1959-) is a player of uilleann pipes.
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[edit] The Young Traditionalist
Davy was born in Dublin in 1959 and was brought up to speak Irish as his first language. At the age of 12 he fell under the spell of the uilleann bagpipes. His father took him to festivals around Ireland. For the next three years he played at sessions and met many prominent Irish musicians. He met many of musicians in a Dublin pub called O'Donohuges. At the age of 16 he started to play at concerts in Ireland, Britain and Europe. He starred as a gipsy in Joe Comerford's film "The Traveller". In 1978 he appeared on a compilation album of promising young uilleann players called "The Piper's Rock". From this point he moved away from traditional music and began to write his own tunes, mainly ballads. He attended the Irish Medium secondary school Coláiste Eoin.
[edit] Moving Hearts and solo albums
He was a founder member of Moving Hearts, along with Christy Moore and Donal Lunny in 1981. Although each member had a strong pedigree of Irish folk music, the band played mostly original compositions, sometimes with a political edge and a folk-rock sound. Their final album "The Storm" (1985) was purely instrumental and had several slower pieces written by Davy. He then made the surprise move of joining up with American musicians Béla Fleck, Albert Lee and others to record an album of bluegrass and original blues, "Atlantic Bridge". This was a touring band which also recorded "Out of the Air" in 1988, essentially a live version of "Atlantic Bridge". Davy then gathered together a new set of musicians, including Rory Gallagher and Kevin Glackin to record "Shadow Hunter", an album of various rock and folk styles. This was followed by "Pipedreams" in 1991. Davy then moved to live in Liscannor, County Clare.
[edit] Riverdance
Bill Whelan composed an orchestral work in 1992 called "The Seville Suite", describing events in 1601 in Irish-Spanish history. Davy played in it, alongside accordionist Martin O'Connor, who had been on "Shadow Hunter". In his role as producer Whelan then worked with Davy Spillane and Andy Irvine on "East Wind" in 1994 and finally "Riverdance" in 1995. The band of musicians and dancers toured Europe, with each of the main performers being given a solo spot on stage, including Eileen Ivers, Davy Spillane, Ronan Browne and Martin O'Connor.
[edit] Film Music
In 1992 Spillane had performed music for Peter Kosminsky's film Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and in 1995 reached a larger audience with the film Rob Roy. Other session work he has done includes Mike Oldfield's Voyager (1996), Bryan Adams' MTV Unplugged, Van Morrison and Elvis Costello. Other films include Eat the Peach and The Disappearance of Finbar. Paul Winter's album Journey With The Sun (2002) was nominated for a World Music Grammy and has Davy on it. Davy served his apprenticeship with pipe maker Dan Dowd and now makes all his own instruments. In 2000 he recorded his only album of traditional tunes Forgotten Days, together with Kevin Glackin. In the same year he founded the record label Burrenstone to release jazz-flavoured music. He has taken part in several albums by Afro Celt Sound System.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo Albums
- Atlantic Bridge (1986)
- Shadow Hunter (1990)
- Pipedreams (1991)
- East Wind (1992)
- A Place Among The Stones (1994)
- The Sea Of Dreams (1998)
[edit] Davy Spillane Band
- Out of the Air (1988)
[edit] Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin
- Forgotten Days (2000)
[edit] Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane
- East Wind (1994)
[edit] Soundtracks
- Lamb (1986)
- Eat The Peach (1986)
- The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991) - Flute
- Wuthering Heights (1992)
- Rob Roy (1995) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- Michael Collins (1996) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- The Disappearance of Finbar (1996)
- Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- Xenosaga (2002) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
[edit] Session Music
- Soujourner's Song (Buddy Greene) (1990)
- Lam Toro (Baaba Maal) (1992)
- The Seville Suite (Bill Whelan) (1992)
- Far From Home (Traffic) (1994)
- Riverdance (Bill Whelan) (1995)
- MTV unplugged (Bryan Adams) (1997)
- Voyager (Mike Oldfield) (1996)
- Roots of Riverdance (1997)
- Riverdance on Broadway (2000)
- The Girls Won't Leave The Boys Alone (Cherish The Ladies) (2001)
- Journey With the Sun (Paul Winter) (2002)
