Frankie Gavin, the 2018 Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musician of the Year, joins Liam O’Connor for an in-depth interview – and tunes!

Frankie Gavin is a fiddle, flute and whistle player, born at Corrandulla, Co. Galway. His father played fiddle, his mother fiddle and concertina. Frankie began playing whistle at the age of four, fiddle at ten, encouraged by his brother Seán who played accordion. Together the family played for US president John F. Kennedy at Salthill in 1963. A junior All-Ireland winner on whistle and fiddle, he is self-taught on piano, pipes and accordion. He took up flute at fifteen, and shortly afterwards in 1974 founded the group De Dannan; he has been central to its influential music style and arrangements since. This he describes as ‘tightly percussive melody lines set against a flowing, contrapuntal background’.

Solo albums include Croch Suas É (1983) with flute, fiddle, tin whistle and accordion; Irlande (1994) live with Arty McGlynn and Aidan Coffey; Jigs and Jazz (1993) cd and video with Stéphane Grappelli; Omós do Joe Cooley (1986) with Paul Brock and Charlie Lennon; Traditional Music of Ireland (1977) with Alec Finn; Frankie Goes to Town; Island Wedding with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. In 1996 he presented RTÉ’s Miltown Sessions traditional music series for television.

Ever innovative, Gavin has recorded with performers of many different genres of music, including gospel, blues, jazz and rock. He was awarded the (now TG4) AIB musician of the year award in 996 and an honorary Masters in Music by NUIG in 2009. His 2000 solo release Fiercely Traditional brought his music back to his roots, and with the band Hibernian Rhapsody – with singer Michelle Lally, accordionist Derek Hickey, guitarist Tim Edey and Carl Hession on keyboards he recorded The Full Score in 2008. In 2009 he toured under a new name as ‘Frankie Gavin’s De Dannan’ to the chagrin of original De Dannan bandmates.