Paddy Keenan

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Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes.

Contents

[edit] The early years

Paddy Keenan was born in Trim, County Meath in 1950. His father and grandfather were both uilleann pipers, and his father, Johnny Keenan, spent many nights playing along with piper Johnny Doran; Paddy's lightning-fast playing style can be traced directly back to Doran. He began playing at the age of ten, and at the age of 14 he played at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. He then turned towards blues and rock and toured England and Europe when he was 17.

[edit] The dustbin and the Beatles

At one point, Paddy found himself busking on the London underground. He had both a guitar and a set of Crowley uilleann pipes with a custom-made Leo Rowsome chanter. It seemed to him that playing the bagpipes was "not cool" in 60s London, so went to a pawn shop to sell his set. He couldn't get the price above two shillings and left the shop totally disheartened. Just as he was about to toss the pipes into a bin, a friend stopped him. Weeks later, he met the Beatles, who were looking for exotic sounds to add to their recordings and asked to hear him playing the pipes. He was so lacking in confidence that he didn't bother going to Abbey Road Studios; instead he went with his hippie girlfriend to Piccadilly Circus. In 1971 he played the uilleann pipes in St James's Park, London. Unexpectedly, a crowd gathered round and threw money into his box. The tide had turned.

Returning to Dublin Paddy played regularly with his brothers and father at pubs such as Slatterys, while also sessioning elsewhere. In 1974 he found himself part of a band called Seachtar, from the Irish word for 'seven peole', brought together for a concert commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Gael Linn record label. Out of this eventually sprang The Bothy Band whose name derives from the Bothy Ballads. Paddy was a mainstay of the band from its inception to its demise in 1979.

[edit] A solo career

Paddy's first (and eponymous) solo album appeared in 1975 and he also duetted with fiddler Paddy Glackin on the 1978 Tara album "Doublin'". He subsequently recorded a second solo album for Gael Linn, "Poirt An Phiobaire", in 1983.

After rejecting the chance to join Moving Hearts in the early 1980s Paddy's musical career went into abeyance, following his second solo album's release, and he spent much time, in his own words, "messing about" in West Cork and France.

However, in the 1990s he relocated to the USA, rediscovered his musical talents and issued "Na Keen Affair" in 1997. He subsequently struck up a musical relationship with the London-born, but Kerry-based guitarist Tommy O'Sullivan. Together, the pair issued "The Long Grazing Acre" in 2001.

Paddy and Tommy continue to tour regularly and widely.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo albums

  • Paddy Keenan (1975)
  • Poirt An Phiobaire (1983)
  • Ná Keen Affair (1997)

[edit] With Paddy Glackin

  • Doublin' (1978)

[edit] With Tommy O'Sullivan

  • The Long Grazing Acre (2001)

[edit] Sound Sample

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