Garvan Gallagher
Garvan Gallagher is an Irish musician, known as a bass guitar and double-bass player. In many credits for his work, his first name is misspelled "Garvin".
He was also the Musical Director of the popular RTÉ children's puppet series Bosco, writing and recording over 200 songs for the series between 1981 and 1987. Since the beginning of his career, he has contributed to many recordings as player and/or Producer, most notably Irish singer Mary Black's records of the 1980s and 1990s.
Born in 1951 in Dublin, he is the son of James (Seamus) Gallagher, whose career took the family from Ireland, through the UK in the 50's, to India, Sri Lanka and Denmark in the 60's. His first band, Naima, (formed in 1974, and whose other members were Andrew Boland, Trevor Knight and Fran Breen) was a jazz-rock vehicle, playing mainly in Dublin. They joined forces with Leo O'Kelly and Sonny Condell of Tir na nÓg, and Gallagher continues to play with both. The mid-seventies was a busy time of musical cross-pollination, when he played with Supply Demand and Curve, Sleepless Knights, Midnight Well, David Cross, and many singer-songwriters of the time. Gallagher had a strong interest in improvised music, and with like-minded musicians gave improvised performances throughout the second half of the 70's. Naima and friends were also invited to compose and perform music for Archie and Mehitabel, directed by Agnes Bernelle. He was in demand as a session bass-player for advertisements ("jingles"), film and TV soundtracks, including an appearance in and playing on the soundtrack of Neil Jordan's first film, Angel, and orchestral work which called for bass-guitar, including Liam O'Flynn's The Brendan Voyage and concerts with the RTE Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra.
In 1979, he formed Metropolis, as an outlet for the compositions of Paul Barrett, Trevor Knight and himself, leading to the recording of the album Morning Shadows on the Ceirnini Claddaigh (Claddagh) label.
In the 1980s, Gallagher played in several versions of Auto-da-Fe, formed by ex-Naima keyboard player Trevor Knight and Gay Woods, and was a founding-member of the Fleadh Cowboys. At this time he also played with Paul Brady and Barry Moore/Luka Bloom, while also touring Ireland and the UK with the legendary Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Then followed twelve years playing in the band of Mary Black, taking them from local popularity in Ireland to international success and tours in the UK, US, Europe, Australasia and Japan. At the same time, he was working frequently with performance artist Nigel Rolfe, and Welsh/Breton singer Katell Keineg. In 1989 he toured with Gavin Friday in support of his album Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. Recording session work from the 1980s includes sessions for Carole King, Nancy Griffith, Bobby Whitlock, Philip Donnelly, and John Prine.
He has composed music for several plays, including Gaelic (Irish language) plays by Antoine O Flatharta at the Peacock Theatre, "Jo Bangles", by Dave Lordan; "Is There Balm in Gilead", based on the work of Edgar Allen Poe, and for Circus Born, a documentary about the Fossetts Circus family made by Matt Skinner.
Since 2005, he has performed with Pierce Turner, and is a member of his Verry Small Orchestra. Other activities include Helium Dog, a blues trio, and ''The Devil's Spine Band'', his latest collaboration with Trevor Knight and guitarist Ed Deane.
Selected discography[edit]
- Midnight Well (Midnight Well, Mulligan, 1977)
- The Green Crow Caws (Paul Brady with John Kavanagh, See for Miles, 1980)
- Rainy Sundays, Windy Dreams (Andy Irvine, Tara Records, 1980)
- Morning Shadows (Metropolis, Claddagh Records, 1981)
- The Brendan Voyage (Liam O'Flynn, Tara Records, 1980)
- This is where I live (Bosco, RTÉ, 1983)
- Luka Bloom (Luka Bloom, Mystery Records, 1987)
- All I Remember (Mick Hanly, Ringsend Road, 1989)
- By the time it gets dark (Mary Black, Dara, 1987)
- No Frontiers (Mary Black, Dara, 1989)
- Babes in the Wood (Mary Black, Dara, 1991)
- The Holy Ground (Mary Black, Dara, 1993)
- Circus (Mary Black, Dara, 1995)
- Shine (Mary Black, Dara, 1997)
- The Red Crow (Altan, Green Linnet, 1990)
- The Song of the Singing Horseman (Jimmy MacCarthy, Mulligan, 1991)
- The Acoustic Motorbike (Luka Bloom, WEA, 1992)
- Burn the Black Suit (Juliet Turner, East West, 2001)
- Backwater Awhile (Sonny Condell, 2003)
- Navigation (Sonny Condell/ Radar, 2007)
- Proto (Leo O'Kelly, Clarinda and First, 2008)
- Will (Leo O'Kelly, Life and Living Records, 2011)
- Gorgeous and Bright (Thom Moore, Starc, 1996)
- Musical Journey (Cormac Breatnach, 1998)
- O Seasons, O Castles (Katell Keineg, Elektra/WEA, 1994)
- Perpetual Motion (Mairtin O'Connor, Tara, 1990)
- Raifteiri san Underground (Tadhg Mac Dhonnagain, Futa Fata, 1992)
- Walking the Waves (Francis Xavier, Red Coral, 2005)
- Redbird (Briana Corrigan, Redbird&Anchor, 2012)
- Dancer in the Fire: A Paul Brady Anthology (Paul Brady, Proper Records, 2012)
- Songs for a VeRRy SmaLL ORchesTRA (Pierce Turner, 2012)
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- http://www.katellkeineg.com/press.html
- http://www.mary-black.net/album.jsp?id=5
- http://www.irishplayography.com/search/play.aspx?la=en&play_ID=2715
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