The Music of Ballyhooley

The Tradition

The Irish musical tradition is centuries old and always changing. Reels and jigs are lively dance tunes, while slow airs and haunting laments express wistfulness and grief. Pub songs, ballads and love songs record the history of local places as well as everyday pleasures and sorrows.

The Evolution

With this richness of influence, Ballyhooley sticks close to the Irish roots of the music, playing fresh arrangements of traditional tunes and songs. Because Irish music is a living, evolving tradition that is incorporating new instruments and new tunes, Ballyhooley has an airtight excuse for occasional dabbling in Scottish and East Coast Canadian styles as well. So sue us.

The Instruments

Members of Ballyhooley are multi-instrumentalists and self-confessed musical instrument geeks. Passion for the diverse sounds of Irish music is apparent in the variety of instruments used by Ballyhooley.

The Music

Check out a few of our MP3s available for download in the sidebar. These sample recordings are quite varied and show off a little bit of the versatility of the band and their unique arrangements.

Also, a PDF file containing a list of sets and songs that Ballyhooley plays can be downloaded here.