Skip navigation.
Mary Malone
Mary playing fiddle
Drawn to her Irish family roots, Mary has been playing Irish traditional fiddle, almost exclusively, for over a decade. She is a classically trained violinist who studied with the late Frank Costanzo of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A regular player in traditional Irish seisiúns, she performs regularly with many Philly based Irish musicians. Her playing is mostly influenced by the Donegal style, though she has performed and played in seisiúns across Ireland ~ and in other European countries including Norway, Netherlands and Czech Republic. Mary’s son, Dave Palan, is a well known professional musician in the Philly area.
Den Vykopal
Den playing flute
One of the most accomplished musicians currently playing Irish trad music in the Philadelphia area, Den has been playing music, mostly woodwind instruments, since he was a young boy growing up in what is now the Czech Republic. Den made his way to the USA playing with a band on the Norwegian Cruise Lines in 1978. He began playing Irish music in the mid-1990’s and plays Irish uilleann pipes, simple system wooden flute and whistle - and yet still finds time to play an occasional tune on his Czech bagpipes.
Bud Burroughs
Bud playing bouzouki
Bud brings his driving bouzouki rhythms and exquisite playing to Irish trad like no other Irish bouzouki player this side of the Atlantic. A well known professional musician, arranger and multi-instrumentalist based in the Philly area, Bud also plays button accordion, banjo and mandolin with with us. He performs regularly and tours with Boris Garcia and he is often found sitting in with many other Philly based bands. He also performs music for theater.
John LaValley
John playing concertina
Talented folk musician and multi-instrumentalist, John has been a cornerstone of the Philadelphia Irish music scene since the late 1970’s. John is a self-taught musician whose passion for and knowledge of Irish music has led him to explore music of other related Celtic traditions, so besides playing guitar, mandolin and concertina, he has recently added Northumbrian and Scottish small pipes to his repetoire of instruments. He sings, too, and sometimes in Manx Gaelic.
Dave Hanson
Dave playing bodhran
Dave studied the baroque recorder in the Netherlands for 5 years before stumbling across the world of Irish traditional music and the playing of such bodhran greats as Kevin Conneff & Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh. While taking his kids to fiddle, accordion, and flute lessons in the 90's, he decided to get in on the fun and learn to play the bodhran he'd stowed away in his closet many years before. In the last 15 years he's played at sessions, festivals, gigs & fleadhs up & down the east coast and in Ireland. Dave teaches the recorder and the bodhran in the Philadelphia area.
Kevin Brennan
Kevin playing guitar
Originally from Belfast, Kevin is renowned for the masterfully distinctive versions of classic and contemporary songs that he passionately performs. He came to the United States in 1979, and before his recent move to the East Coast, he was an important figure in the music scene in San Francisco, CA. Throughout the 1980's, he performed with such well-known names as Van Morrison and The Chieftains. He now appears regularly in area venues and is the most recent addition to our band. His first solo CD, "Belfast Water: Songs of Lore, Love, & Liberty" was released in 2008.
Judy Brennan
Judy playing piano
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nullam a magna sit amet lacus sodales facilisis. Praesent ligula. Ut ultricies tempor ipsum. Suspendisse felis. Ut scelerisque orci vitae felis. Curabitur nec quam. Sed porttitor pede quis tellus. Sed euismod purus non diam. Donec mollis. Vivamus eu odio nec mi porta congue. Nam sollicitudin purus at lectus pellentesque elementum.Suspendisse potenti. Integer varius lectus nec quam. Nunc scelerisque interdum tellus.