Nora Mulready is a highly accomplished traditional Irish musician playing fiddle, tin whistle and bodhran. She is a folk singer and song writer. The songs on Sweet Memory Bells were written following the death of her grandmother (Nannie, Sheila Deasy) and a close family friend, Fergus Ryan. They were written as a way of placing something in the world to both remember and pay tribute to them forever.

Kathy Gentles is Mondegreen’s folk cellist. She is a classically trained music graduate, teacher (including at Hackney School of Folk) and experienced performer. Kathy grew up in a folk filled household, the daughter of two folk musicians, and this music has had a big influence of her musical style. Kathy has an abundance of performance experience, at a range of venues including Oxford Zodiac, Hull Adelphi, and Islington Academy. She was part of Velvetine, the support band for The Bluetones 2005 UK tour, and has performed and recorded with a number of bands and orchestras across the UK.

 

 

Ewan D. Rodgers was brought up in a small Yorkshire town, spent a year performing around the cheerful clubs and pubs of Brighton and currently hangs his hat in slightly-less-cheery London. Before venturing to the south Ewan was involved in the Leeds folk-music scene playing banjo for the ceilidh band Pretty Polly’s Beard, providing guitar, vocals and kazoo for The Thirty Minute Skiffle Hour and playing countless solo gigs in and around West Yorkshire.

Ewan lists British folk and blues players such as Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and Nic Jones as his main musical influences, however a closer listen to his music reveals influences from as far away as the Appalachian Mountains, the sheep-stations of New South Wales and the Shtetls of old Eastern Europe. From Ewan’s live performances you can expect stripped-down folk and blues, old-time banjo and the odd disgruntled sounding rag. 

Rosie Falconer is a beautiful singer and vocal arranger. She has a natural ability to find vocal harmonies, both for herself and for others and she has arranged the vocals for many of the songs on Sweet Memory Bells. Rosie has been singing since she was a child but only in the last two years has she started to sing publicly. Her musical influences range from Sandy Denny to Jimi Hendrix, from jazz, to folk, to world, to rock and everything in between.

 

 

Den Levitt is a classically trained double bass player with a lot of orchestral experience including Symphony, Chamber, Opera, and Musicals as well as folk. She has written many of her own songs and has performed with groups throughout London.

 

 

 

 

Mondegreen is regularly joined by members of the Mulreadys, a family of (London) Irish musicians. They grew up in a house filled with the music of Irish folk singers, traditional music and politics, all of which had a major impact on their music. With their family in Dublin, including Eamon Galdubh, who plays flute and uilleann pipes on the album, they spent their childhood summers playing in sessions and fleadhs throughout Ireland, mostly in Clare, Kerry, Cork and Dublin. Between them they play fiddles, tin-whistles, button accordion, piano, bodhran and flute. 

Molly Mulready-Jones  is an Irish fiddle and tin whistle player who has won national and international awards for her solo performances, including the prestigious All-Ireland Fleadh. She is a co-founder of Hackney School of Folk Music, where she teaches fiddle and tin whistle. 

 

 

 

Seamie Mulready is an Irish fiddle player, who has a very intricate style of playing traditional music. He has been playing Irish music since the age of 8 and has been inspired by the music of great fiddle players, such as Sean Maguire and Martin Hayes.

 

 

Ned Mulready plays the button accordion and the piano. On Sweet Memory Bells he plays a beautiful version of Danny Boy, as well as leading a track of Irish reels on the accordion. Ned is also a poet and two of his poems are published on the album sleeve, ‘Nannie’ and ‘Fergus’.

 

 

 

 

Ben Mulready-Carroll is playing the bodhran on Sweet Memory Bells, although he is also a tin whistle and fiddle player. He has been surrounded by folk music through his family for his entire life and, at age 14, Ben is the youngest musician on this album and one of the students at the Hackney School of Folk Music.

Mondegreen Friends

We are very happy to have some great musical friends who contributed and performed on Sweet Memory Bells.

Musician and composer Eamonn Galldubh has toured and recorded with artists including Clannad, Riverdance, Moya Brennan, Cara Dillon, Damien Dempsey, Ragus, Niamh ni Charra, Celtic Woman, Hazel O Connor, Rua, Druid Theatre and the RTE Concert Orchestra. While traditional music is his first love, he has pursued a interest in other music forms, playing saxophone while studying jazz performance at Newpark College of Music in Dublin. He enjoys working both as a session player and performing as a solo artist.

Clive Carroll was described by Acoustic Guitar magazine as ‘Probably the Best and Most Original Young Acoustic Guitar Player and Composer in Britain’. He continues to tour the world at venues big and small, playing his truly virtuoso steel string guitar. Rooted in Irish and folk music background, Clive’s playing is truly stunning. 

 

 

 

 

Olly Blanchflower is a Double Bass player and first played with Nora and Molly in an Irish band called the Reel Lassies about ten years ago. He is a fantastic, versatile double bass player.

 

 

 

Gervais Currie is an excellent folk guitarist, well known in the London Irish music scene.