Together, Solas, Dervish, and CLADA trace the evolution of Irish traditional music from its roots to its future — a fitting way to open this year’s TradFest.
Solas
Formed in 1996, Solas quickly established themselves as the foremost Irish-American traditional band of their generation. Founded by multi-instrumentalist Séamus Egan and fiddler Winifred Horan, the group’s early line-ups included some of the finest musicians and singers in trad, and their self-titled debut announced a band of rare precision and drive. Across more than a dozen albums, including Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers and The Words That Remain, Solas set a standard for arrangement and musicianship that shaped a generation of trad bands on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dervish
Formed in 1989 when four musicians met in the pub sessions of Sligo, Dervish have grown into one of Ireland’s most celebrated traditional bands. Fronted by acclaimed singer Cathy Jordan, the six-piece — steeped in the musical heritage of Sligo and Leitrim, homeland of poet W.B. Yeats — has toured the world for over three decades, from Rio to Glastonbury, and served as Cultural Ambassadors on state visits to Latvia, Lithuania and China. In 2004 Sligo City honoured the band with the Freedom of the City, and in 2019 the BBC recognised them with a Lifetime Achievement Award, calling them “an icon of Irish music.”
CLADA
Formed in March 2024, CLADA is a traditional folk band from Galway, that uses different musical styles to give Irish music a fresh lift. Their recent work, including a collaboration with the NFL, has seen the group become a viral sensation, as they fuse multiple genres and introduce more contemporary techniques and rhythms into their overall sound.