I had a copy-paste snafu and truncated the second half of my original post. Here are the last two gigs on Len's midwest tour, and a bit about him.


12 April: St. Paul MN
Concert: Twin Cities Traditional Singers Club, St. Paul MN
St. Paul Conservatory of Music Recital Hall www.thespcm.org
7:00 PM For info: www.singclub.org

13 April: St. Paul MN
Traditional singing workshop with Len Graham, 3 p.m.
www.singclub.org


About Len

A Song-Catcher's Journey
Singer Len Graham offers traditional songs in English from the North of Ireland, with memories from a lifetime of collecting and singing. Len's extensive repertory of songs covers the gamut of themes and human experience as portrayed in the old ballads, local songs, come-all-ye's, lyric folksongs, music hall pieces; songs on politics, murder, love, emigration and more.

Ciaran Carson, poet and Professor of Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen's University, Belfast wrote this:
'By definition, any traditional singer is obliged to the past; but he assimilates the songs in the here-and-now, and re-makes them in his own voice, continually. Those who know Len Graham's singing will recognise his artistry and the spontaneity of his voice; but there is no spontaneity without recollection. To be here, you must have been there; and Len has, many times.'

Len Graham is one of Ireland's best known traditional singers who has gained an international reputation, not only for his inimitable singing style, but also for the breadth of his knowledge of Irish folk music.

Since coming to the fore in 1971 when he won the All-Ireland traditional singing competition, Len has appeared at numerous Irish and international folk, literary and storytelling festivals, as well as on radio and television programmes. He was a member of the traditional band Skylark for many years. In 1992 he was awarded the Seán O'Boyle Cultural Traditions Award, in recognition of his work in Ireland as a song collector and singer. In 2002, he was honored as the inaugural recipient of the TG4 (Irish language and culture television channel) National Music Award for Traditional Singer of the Year.

Len's rich recording history spans over thirty years, with more than twenty highly acclaimed albums to his credit.