Thomas McCarthy/Sandra & Nancy Kerr

Event information

Thomas McCarthy was born in the town of Birr, County Offaly, in the Irish midlands into a well respected Irish Traveller family. His grandfather was known as a “seanachie” which is an Irish term for someone with a profound orally derived knowledge of the history and families of Ireland. Thomas learnt his crafts of singing and storytelling from his mother, aunts and uncles. His extended family has a long history of musicianship and includes the well-recognised and respected Doran Brothers and their grandfather “Big John Cash”, who all played the Irish uillean (elbow) pipes. At age ten Thomas moved to London but continued to travel with his family back and forth and around Ireland and England. He was recognised by his own family as a gifted singer from a young age, but was “discovered” in 2008 by the wider public after a “tip off” from a barman at a family wedding. This led him to Cecil Sharp House in Camden Town, London. Here he joined singers at a folk song club, who were amazed and enchanted by his powerful yet subtle, ancient and authentic Irish Traveller style of singing and by the rare songs that he brought with him. Thomas has since been employed singing in clubs and at festivals throughout the UK and Ireland as well as in Europe and the US. He has been described as “the most exciting thing to come out of Ireland in the last fifty years” by Joe Power who runs the folk song club in Dungarven, Ireland.

Sandra Kerr has had a long and distinguished career in folk music since her days with Ewan MacColl’s Critics Group, has performed all over the world, and recorded numerous albums too. Well known as the co- writer, with John Faulkner, of the music for "Bagpuss", (voted 'best-loved BBC TV children’s programme’ in 1999), she directs folk choirs (including the popular and award-winning Northumbrian Choir Werca’s Folk) and is greatly respected as a tutor of folk arts. She is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, dulcimer, autoharp and the English concertina. She is popular as a tutor on the latter instrument and has taught regularly at concertina gatherings including the ‘Swaledale Squeeze’ and ‘Concertinas At Whitney’, and twice at the National Folk Festival Easter School in Canberra.
Sandra is joined by her daughter Nancy Kerr. Nancy is one of the most celebrated folk musicians of her generation, and has to date won 6 Folk Awards from BBC Radio 2: 2015 FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR • HORIZON AWARD 2000 • BEST DUO 2003 and again in 2011 with James Fagan • BEST GROUP 2014 with The Full English • BEST ALBUM 2014 with The Full English. Nominated Best Original Song 2011 for Queen of Waters. Winner Best Album (Spiral earth 2011) for Twice Reflected Sun (Navigator041).