KISS THE BLARNEY is (or possible are - I can never quite make my mind up about the grammar of bands) a three piece band, specialising in, and occasionally veering away from,  traditional and contemporary Irish folk music.

We play everything from the stomping chorus songs such as the Wild Rover and Black Velvet Band to the more gentle and reflective laments for times gone by (Rare Auld Times) or the longing of those who have had to leave their homes for places dimly remembered through the mists and mountains of time.

The band is led by the singing of Ralph and John, and driven along  by Ralph's fierce 5-string banjo picking and guitar playing, helped  by John's  bass and guitar and Arthur's fiddle, mandolin, flute, accordion and sax.  Oddly enough, we don't actually play all these instruments at the same time - a certain amount of pic'n'mix goes on which adds even more variety to the show!

As well as the songs, dance tunes and airs drop in and out of the set - the band has a history of playing for ceilidhs and barn dances as well as shows where the songs predominate.  

Ralph has played first rate banjo for years, and indeed made the very instrument you will see on stage.  A great singer and guitarist, he also plays a mean mandolin and bodhran.

He's also played bluegrass music for years and, like the other members of the band,  has spent considerable time in some of the best ceilidh bands in the North West of England playing for dances.

Belfast-born John was with Murphy's Marbles for 4  years, playing Tramore and Dungarvan Irish music festivals and the  famous Cheltenham Irish Week in the "Guinness Village" at the race  course for 3 years running. 

He played in the backing band for Sean Cannon of the  Dubliners when on tour.  Both he and Ralph worked with the Cheshire ceilidh band Peak Folk for several years providing the music for ceilidhs and barn dances - which is where they met Arthur, who was, as well as playing melodeon,  calling the dances in his own inimitable style. 

Arthur,, while busy running ceilidhs and bossing dancers around, was hankering for picking up his fiddle again.  He started playing folk music in Yorkshire folk clubs back in the late sixties, formed a barn dance band in a moment of madness (and the Wirral) in the late seventies, had a small excursion into country music before veering sideways into Cajun in the eighties and Zydeco in the nineties. He has spent most of his waking life attempting to get some sort of noise out of every instrument ever invented except brass, drums and banjos.

With the Blarney, he plays  fiddle, melodeon, piano accordion, sax and flute, with the odd burst of mandolin and guitar for the sake of variety.   There are occasional bursts of harmonica just to prove he can.

So that's the band.  At certain times other people make guest appearances with us, and we can always transmogrify ourselves into a fully fledged ceilidh band, when we add a caller to the mix to steer the dancers into the properly chaotic patterns that constitute a ceilidh or barn dance. 

As ever, you can use the Contact page to get in touch with us, or email from here.  Hope to see you soon...