Bulloch County Historical Society
30th Averitt Lecture
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm, Sunday, March 12, 2023
Emma Kelly Theater, Averitt Center for the Arts
33 East Main Street, Statesboro, GA 30458
The Lively Legacies of Traditional Irish Music
Performance and Conversation:
Dave Curley and Colin Farrell
Reception Following
About the Event
Dave Curley and Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell and Dave Curley are among the most respected practitioners of traditional Irish music working today. They also compose new works, drawing on traditional idioms. For the 29th Averitt Lecture, we’re proud to welcome them to the Emma Kelly Theater to share with members and guests of the Bulloch County Historical Society their knowledge of the history and repertoire of Irish jigs, reels, hornpipes, waltzes, and multiple other genres. With the Season of St. Patrick already in full swing, we know you’ll enjoy hearing Colin and Dave both perform and talk about captivating musical airs and lyrics that convey the rich, complex history of the Emerald Isle. Many settlers of Bulloch hailed from Ireland, so it’s appropriate to bring their music back to our county in style!
About Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell reflects Ireland’s global diaspora, having been born in Manchester, England, to Irish parents: one from County Galway on the Atlantic coast; and the other from County Cavan in the north midlands. Thanks to those roots, he played the fiddle and the tin-whistle from an early age. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, he successfully competed in multiple fleadhanna, the Irish-language term for “traditional music competitions.”
Irish Echo deemed Colin’s 2010 solo album, On the Move, one of that year’s ten-best traditional Irish music albums. And Live Ireland named his 2015 follow-up, Make a Note, “Instrumental Album of the Year.”
Colin has toured Europe and the United States with such ensembles as Flook, The Elders, and the Michael McGoldrick Band, to name but three. Currently, he is playing with a couple of powerhouse groups on the traditional Irish music scene: the Crannua Collective; and Lúnasa.
About Dave Curley
One of Ireland's leading multi-instrumentalists and vocalists — and a champion Irish step-dancer to boot — Dave Curley grew up steeped in traditional Irish music and culture. A native of the village of Corofin in County Galway, on Ireland’s western seaboard, Dave graduated with first-class honors from the prestigious program in Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, Ireland.
Dave has showcased his wealth of talent on some of the largest stages in Western Europe and North America — for example, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee; and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. On a regular basis, he tours with Enya’s sister, Moya Brennan, a Grammy-Award-winning member of Clannad. While best known as a presence on the Irish traditional music scene, Dave also plays some mean bluegrass!
For over a decade, Dave has worked with SLIDE, a high-energy super-group described by the Irish Times as delivering “Irish music with attitude.” He also has a five-year association with RUNA, a Philadelphia-based Celtic Roots band that has garnered the “Top Group” and “Top Traditional Group” plaudits at the International Independent Music Awards.
Recently, Dave has been performing (on banjo, mandolin, and vocals) with the Brock McGuire Band, named by Irish American News as “Irish Band of the Decade.”
