cormac begley
Tá dul chun cinn suntasach déanta ag Cormac Begley le bliain anuas; bhí Vicar Street díolta amach aige, bhí sé ina phríomhcheoltóir sa Cheoláras Náisiúnta, bhuaigh sé Gradam an tSeinnteora Ceoil Thraidisiúnta is Fearr 2022 ag Gradaim Cheol Tíre RTÉ agus bhuaigh sé Gradam Albam na Bliana 2022 ó The Irish Times lena dhara halbam aonair, B. Ceiliúrann an t-albam B an dordchonsairtín, uirlis thar a bheith annamh, agus ar an albam seo úsáideann Cormac dhá dhordchonsairtín de dhéantús Dipper chun na 12 rian ar fad a thaifeadadh. Níor tugadh neamhaird ar a rogha dána díriú go hiomlán ar an réimse dord agus baratónach — an chéad albam dá leithéid in aon seánra ceoil — agus moladh go hard é: ‘Album of the decade’ Donal Dineen, ‘The musical gift that keeps on giving’ The Irish Times, seven five star reviews and ‘Groundbreaking’ RTÉ Arena. Ainmníodh an t-albam agus na rianta ón albam thar thrí chatagóir ag Duaiseanna Ceolchoirme RTÉ 2022 mar ‘Best Folk Album’, ‘Best Folk Track’ and ‘Best Original Folk Track’. Chuaigh a chumadóireacht féin, “To War”, go víreasach le breis agus 20 milliún amharc ar ardáin éagsúla na meán sóisialta.
Is as Iarthar Chiarraí do Chormac, áit a bhfuil fréamhacha a mhuintire fite fuaite go dlúth leis an cheol traidisiúnta. Seineann sé trí chonsairtín déag ón dord go dtí an fhliúiteog. Leis an chur chuige dána croíúil atá aige i leith an chonsairtín, tá lucht éisteachta níos leithne meallta aige agus tarraingíodh aird an chóiréagrafaí agus stiúrthóra iomráitigh Michael Keegan-Dolan air. Tá ceol agus seinm Chormaic lárnach sa léiriú ilghradamach díolta amach Mám de chuid Dolan, rud a d’eascair scannán faisnéise bunaithe ar an seó The Dance (ainmnithe do IFTA 2022), faoi stiúir Pat Collins.
Comhoibríonn Cormac le healaíontóirí éagsúla agus cloistear é ar albaim nua agus atá le teacht, lena n-áirítear Lankum, Ye Vagabonds, Stephen James Smith agus Lisa O’Neill, agus tá sé ar camchuairt go fairsing le Lisa O’Neill, Liam O’Connor, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Rushad Eggleston, Ye Vagabonds agus Martin Hayes. Mar thoradh ar a chaidreamh ceoil fadtéarmach le Lisa O’Neill, bhí siad beirt le feiceáil sa radharc deiridh den tsraith Peaky Blinders.
D’fhill Cormac, a athair Breanndán agus a veain champála 40 bliain d’aois, Beauty, ar scáileáin TG4 sa dara sraith de Slí na mBeaglaoich, ag tabhairt léargas ceolmhar dúinn ar chósta theas na hÉireann. Tá a cheol le cloisteáil freisin in Epic West le Tommy Tiernan, in Steps of Freedom faoi stiúir Ruán Magan, in The Works presents le John Kelly, agus sa ghearrscannán Éist leis an damhsóir Stephanie Keane, a rinne tionchar mór ar chiorcad féilte scannán na hEorpa. Chuir Cormac clabhsúr le 2022 mar phríomhcheoltóir ag léiriú deiridh Other Voices i séipéal cáiliúil Naomh Séamas, Daingean Uí Chúis.
Cormac Begley’s career has gone from strength to strength over the past year; selling out Vicar Street, headlining the National Concert Hall, winning Best Folk Instrumentalist 2022 at the RTÉ Folk Awards and Irish Times Album of the Year 2022, with his second solo album ‘B’. The album ‘B’ celebrates the bass concertina, a very rare instrument and on this album Cormac uses two Dipper-made Bass concertinas to record all 12 tracks. His bold choice to concentrate solely on the bass and baritone register, the first album of it’s kind in any musical genre, has not gone unnoticed for all the right reasons and it has been described as ‘Album of the decade’ Donal Dineen, ‘The musical gift that keeps on giving’ The Irish Times, seven five star reviews and ‘Groundbreaking’ RTÉ Arena. The album and tracks from the album were nominated over three categories at the RTE Folk Awards 2022 for ‘Best Folk Album’, ‘Best Folk Track’ and ‘Best Original Folk Track’. His original composition ‘To War’ went viral with over 20 million views across multiple social media channels.
Cormac hails from West Kerry, where his families’ roots are firmly cemented in traditional music. He plays thirteen concertinas that range from bass to piccolo register. Cormac’s daring and soul stirring approach to the playing of the concertina has opened up the instrument to a broader audience; garnering attention from renowned choreographer and director Michael Keegan Dolan. Dolan’s award winning, sell out show ‘Mám’ heavily features Cormac’s playing and music and led to a documentary film based on the show, ‘The Dance’ (IFTA nominated 2022) directed by Pat Collins. Cormac’s collaborates with several artists and appears on the latest and forthcoming albums of Lankum, Ye Vagabonds, Stephen James Smith and Lisa O’Neill and has toured extensively with artists Lisa O Neil, Liam O Connor, Liam O Maonlaí, Rushad Eggleston, Ye Vagabonds and Martin Hayes. His long-standing musical relationship with Lisa O’Neill saw them feature in the last scene of the BBC / Netflix series ‘Peaky Blinders’. Cormac, his father Breanndán and his 40 year old campervan Beauty returned to TG4’s screens in the second series of ‘Slí na mBeaglaoich’ giving us a musical insight to Ireland’s southern coastline. Cormac’s music has also featured in RTÉ’s ‘Epic West’ with Tommy Tiernan and ‘Steps of Freedom’ directed by Ruán Magan, ‘The Works presents..’ with John Kelly and Dancer Stephaine Keane’s short ‘Éist’, which made a huge impact of the European film festival circuit. Cormac closed out the year of 2022 by headlining the closing performance of the Other Voices Festival in the famous St. James’ Church, Dingle.