Cormac Byrne is a bodhran player and percussionist and works mainly within the folk, traditional, roots, acoustic, classical and jazz genres as well as several crossover and experimental projects.
"Cormac's quite simply the most extraordinary of the many enterprising and musicianly bodhránists on the scene today†………………..NetRhythms.co.uk.
“Throughout the album (Uiscedwr – Circle) Cormac Byrne’s bodhran astonishes. How he manages to coax such melodic as well as rhythmic range from a wooden hoop and a patch of goat-skin remains a mystery. His percussion piece, ‘Tree’, will convert the most ardent despiser of the drum solo.†……………..Songlines.
Playing since the age of four, Cormac soon got involved with several bands and orchestras. At the age of 12 he joined the Sproai Drummers and its leader, Tommy Hayes, first put a bodhran in his hands. Cormac studied in Dublin with Richard O'Donnell of the National Symphony Orchestra before going on to study percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music with Ian Wright, Dave Hassell, Liz Gilliver and Paul Patrick, and is now studying Indian Tabla with Mr. Inder Goldfinger, and Cuban Percussion with Ravin 'Raz' Jayasuriya. While in Manchester he was exposed to the great Irish music scene there, and began playing regular Irish music gigs with fiddle player Andy Dinan as well as Barry James, Grace Kelly and Sean Regan all from the Irish supergroup Toss the Feathers. Shortly after this, Cormac met the amazing fiddle player and singer Anna Esslemont and formed Uiscedwr, a trio specialising in comtemporary cutting edge folk and traditionally inspired music. They were winners of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2004, and were nominated for the Horizon ‘best newcomer’ Award at the BBC Folk Awards in 2004 following the release of their first album ‘Everywhere’. They then hooked up with guitarist extraordinaire Kevin Dempsey (who has worked with Whippersnapper, Dave Swarbrick band, Mary Black and Percy Sledge to name but a few) and their second album ‘Circle’ was released to widespread critical acclaim. Uiscedwr are now appearing as a quartet: Cormac and Anna are joined by the amazing talents of Karen Tweed on Accordion and James Hickmen on Guitar.
Cormac has received many awards for his work including The John Wray Percussion Prize at the Royal Northern College of Music and most recently was winner of the BBC Fame Academy Education Bursary in 2006. He was featured in Rhythm Magazine in November 2006.
Cormac has appeared at numerous festivals around the world. Primarily playing with Uiscedwr, he also works as a session bodhran player and percussionist with several bands and musicians including Mercury Music Award nominated Seth Lakeman, Neil Yates, Backbeat Percussion Quartet, 5 Countries Trio, Declan Bennett, Damien O’Cane, Shona Kipling, Andy Dinan Trio, Kristian Bugge, Baltic Crossing and the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Uiscedwr have now teaming up with Karen Tweed (accordion), Neil Yates (trumpet), Dylan Bible (guitar) and Nick Waldock (bass) to form the Uiscedwr BIG BAND, which premiered to a sell-out crowd at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January 2008. There will be a few concerts in the autumn of 2008 incuding a headline spot on Friday 10th October at Banbury Festival. Expect an album soon!
Cormac has been bodhran tutor at the Newcastle University Folk Music Degree course, Farncombe Estate Adult Education Centre, and has given Bodhran and Percussion workshops at many festivals including Picking Up Sticks Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival and for several organisations including Folkus and The Music Room.
Please visit www.uiscedwr.com to find out more about his trio Uiscedwr and to purchase CDs.
