About the artists:
Brenda Castles is known both as a respected solo performer and as a member of Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of America. She has a series of All Ireland Fleadh titles to her name in solo and group competitions. Originally from County Meath, she hails from a rich tradition of music held by her family and the musicians she credits as her extraordinary teachers. She herself is an in-demand teacher, privately and at festivals such as the Catskills Irish Arts Week. She currently is based in Dublin and New York and spends time performing around the world including recent gigs in Alaska. Her CDs, Indeedin’ You Needn’t Bother and The Light Side of the Tune have been critically acclaimed. In addition to being an accomplished musician and singer, Brenda is a licensed veterinarian. She once owned a horse named Rocky who was the companion for Irish champion racer Oscar Time.
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One of the prominent voices of the mandolin in Irish music, Marla Fibish brings a deep and distinctive sensibility to the tradition on one of its lesser-heard instruments. Marla also plays mandola and tenor guitar, and dabbles at the button accordion. She sings and composes music as well — musical settings of works from a variety of poets, as well as original tunes written in traditional forms. This work is featured in the duo Noctambule, her longtime collaboration with guitarist and husband Bruce Victor. Together, they have released 4 albums, most recently Every Migrant is My Fellow in 2021.
Her discography also includes a 2025 duo recording with fiddler Rebecca Richman entitled Playdate, her 2020 solo album The Bright Hollow Fog, The Morning Star, a duo CD with legendary Irish singer and bouzouki player Jimmy Crowley, as well as the 2010 Three Mile Stone recording.
An experienced and sought-after teacher, Marla teaches private students and classes, online at Peghead Nation, and has been on the faculty of many music camps, including The Swannanoa Gathering, The Mandolin Symposium, California Coast Music Camp, O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, Portal Irish Music Week, Lark Camp, and others.
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St. Louis native Kevin Buckley is a critically acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer. Raised playing Irish Traditional fiddle music, Buckley toured and competed nationally and internationally, earning many winning titles and establishing himself as a key proponent of the Irish-American music scene. During these formative years, Buckley acquired a 4 track cassette recorder and also began performing with garage rock, country and swing bands on a wide range of string instruments. By the mid-2000’s, Buckley had come to produce a large body of original work via the now electrified band, Grace Basement, gaining international notice for his songwriting and record production. The musical journey still continues to this day. For some, versatility is a survival mode, but for Buckley it is a way of life and an opportunity to work with many wonderful people.
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Liz Hanley is a Brooklyn based singer and fiddle player across many genres.
Growing up in Boston, Hanley learned traditional fiddle tunes from family and friends. She attended the New England Conservatory Preparatory school where she studied with Blanka Bednarz and Eric Rosenblith. Hanley graduated from NYU with a BM in violin performance. There she studied with NYC Ballet concertmaster Arturo Delmoni and folk musician/ethnomusicologist Dr. Mick Moloney. She has toured globally with Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America, as well as prog folk rock ensemble Frogbelly and Symphony chamber rock band Emanuel and the Fear and folk duo The Murphy Beds.
Hanley spent many years living between Brooklyn, NY and Sheffield, England, immersed in the both city’s rich folk music scenes and collecting songs and tunes. Today she can be found mostly playing around NYC in the Irish traditional seisiún scene.
Hanley’s debut album “The Ecstasy of St Cecilia” was hailed “a gentle work of beauty” by FolkWorld. Hanley’s sophomore album will be arriving in 2024. Both records feature long time collaborators and friends Jefferson Hamer and Eamon O’Leary of the Murphy Beds.
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Brendan Dolan is a multi-instrumentalist, excelling in the piano, Irish flute and tin whistle. He has worked with accordionist John Whelan, singer/songwriter Cathie Ryan, Andy Statman and Itzhak Perlman, and can be heard on the latest recordings of Billy McComiskey, Brian Conway and The Green Fields of America. Dolan is a teacher at the annual Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins West Virginia, and the Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York. He maintains a vibrant school of Irish music for children in the New York City area, and has recently completed a Master’s degree in Irish and Irish-American Studies at NYU, where he currently works as an archivist on the Mick Moloney Irish-American Music and Popular Culture Collection.