Biography.

Seán O’Driscoll hails from Blarney, County Cork and comes from a very musical family. His father was a respected accordion player, who along with his three brothers made up the well-known O’Driscoll Ceili band, who played widely throughout County Cork in the days before amplification.

Seán is one of the most versatile musicians playing Irish music today. Although he first gained recognition for his virtuoso banjo playing, he is equally adept on guitar, accordion, bouzouki and mandolin. His natural musical ability extends to composition with many excellent tunes and songs to his credit. Playing strictly by ear, his memory holds a massive repertoire.

Seán’s compositions have been recorded by Laurence Nugent and Kevin Burke among others.

He has played widely in the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. For many years he toured America with noted accordion player and tune collector, Paddy O’Brien, and is a member of the well known band, The Irish Rovers.

The impressive list of other musicians he has played and recorded with include: Larry Egan, Vince Milne, James Keane, Martin Hayes, Larry Nugent, James Kelly, Liz Carroll, Jerry O’Sullivan, Jimmy Crowley, Dave Hennessy, Mick Daly, Peter Ostroushko, and Seán Maguire.

When Seán returned permanently to Cork in 1997, he discovered that all the popular Sunday afternoon sessions that he remembered had disappeared. With his wife, Mary, who plays fiddle, he started a 12.30 session in the Ovens Bar, Cork City. Many local and well-known musicians have helped anchor the tunes over the years, including the sadly missed, Seamus Creagh on fiddle. Some years ago the session migrated to Charlie’s Bar on Union Quay, and now almost sixteen years since that first Ovens session it has become an institution. Starting at 3pm, the session features guest musicians from anywhere and everywhere and continues until 6pm, although sometimes much later if the right combination of musicians, singers and listeners appear. There is never a dull Sunday in Charlie’s!

Also featuring Sean and available from Copperplate: CICD 155 Sean O’Driscoll & Larry Egan: The Kitchen Recordings

The Kitchen Recordings are just that, a refreshing and lively collection of tunes recorded in Seán’s kitchen with the terrific young Wicklow accordion player, Larry Egan.

It began as an experiment, Larry using BC fingering on Seán’s grey C#D Paolo Soprani accordion and Seán using a capo on the banjo. The resulting sound was so bright and fun that they didn’t stop playing until it turned into an album.

On this Cló Iar-Chonnachta CD there’s no cutting and no fixing, giving it the energy and life of a live recording; a feel good album and one that even non trad fans go back to time and time again

Press Reviews

The Living Tradition June/July issue

Sean O’Driscoll is a fine tenor banjo and bouzouki player from Blarney in County Cork. So There You Go is his second solo album, on which he is supported by Larry Egan on accordion; Patrick Egan on concertina; Dave Hennessy on melodeon and Donncha Moynihan and Johnny Neville on guitar.

This excellent album opens with a lively set of polkas played in American ‘honky-tonk’ style. In sharp contrast, on the slow air The Dear Irish Boy, the bouzouki and banjo arrangement is D unusual and hauntingly beautiful.

In addition to traditional jigs, reels and hornpipes, So There You Go features several of Sean’s own compositions. The Comical Bargain/Bare Faced Lies pair of reels and The Twin Cities jig are fine tunes worthy of being played in any good session. The CD concludes with Sean’s lovely Lendrum’s Waltz, on which he plays button accordion, harking back to his ceili band days.

Some years back, I had the great fortune to play in a session with Sean in Friel’s bar, Miltown Malbay. What struck me then was Sean’s uniquely subtle banjo style