Davy Spillane
Davy Spillane |
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Davy Spillane (born 1959) is a songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.
The Young Traditionalist
Davy was born in Dublin in 1959 and was brought up to speak Irish as his first language. At the age of 12 he fell under the spell of the uilleann pipes. However, due to expense, his father refused to buy them for him. This led him to ask his Godfather for the money who obliged with the condition that he practise exceedingly. His father took him to festivals around Ireland. For the next three years he played at sessions and met many prominent Irish musicians including in a Dublin pub called O'Donohuge's. At the age of 16 he started to play at concerts in Ireland, Britain and Europe. He starred as a gypsy in Joe Comerford's film The Traveller. In 1978 he appeared on a compilation album of promising young uilleann players called "The Piper's Rock". From this point he moved away from traditional music and began to write his own tunes, mainly ballads. He attended the Irish Medium secondary school Coláiste Eoin.
Moving Hearts and solo albums
He was a founder member of Moving Hearts, along with Christy Moore and Donal Lunny in 1981. Although each member had a strong pedigree of Irish folk music, the band played mostly original compositions, sometimes with a political edge and a folk-rock sound. Their final album The Storm (1985) was purely instrumental and had several slower pieces written by Davy. He then made the surprise move of joining up with American musicians Béla Fleck, Albert Lee and others to record an album of bluegrass and original blues, Atlantic Bridge. This was a touring band which also recorded Out of the Air in 1988, essentially a live version of Atlantic Bridge. Davy then gathered together a new set of musicians, including Rory Gallagher and Kevin Glackin to record Shadow Hunter, an album of various rock and folk styles. This was followed by Pipedreams in 1991. Davy then moved to live in Liscannor, County Clare.
Riverdance
Bill Whelan composed an orchestral work in 1992 called "The Seville Suite", describing events in 1601 in Irish-Spanish history. Davy played in it, alongside accordionist Martin O'Connor, who had been on Shadow Hunter. In his role as producer Whelan then worked with Davy Spillane and Andy Irvine on EastWind in 1994 and finally Riverdance in 1995. The band of musicians and dancers toured Europe, with each of the main performers being given a solo spot on stage, including Eileen Ivers, Davy Spillane, Ronan Browne and Martin O'Connor.
Film Music
In 1992 Spillane had performed music for Peter Kosminsky's film Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and in 1995 reached a larger audience with the film Rob Roy. Other session work he has done includes Kate Bush's Sensual World (1989), Mike Oldfield's Voyager (1996), Bryan Adams' MTV Unplugged, Van Morrison and Elvis Costello. Other films include Eat the Peach and The Disappearance of Finbar. Paul Winter's album Journey With The Sun (2002) was nominated for a World Music Grammy and has Davy on it. Davy served his apprenticeship with pipe maker Dan Dowd and now makes all his own instruments. In 2000 he recorded his only album of traditional tunes Forgotten Days, together with Kevin Glackin. In the same year he founded the record label Burrenstone to release jazz-flavoured music. He has taken part in several albums by Afro Celt Sound System.
Discography
Solo Albums
- Atlantic Bridge (1987)
- Shadow Hunter (1990)
- Pipedreams (1991)
- EastWind (1992)
- A Place Among The Stones (1994)
The title track, 'A Place Among The Stones' features on solo albums by both Moya Brennan and Davy Spillane. The song is most commonly credited Máire Brennan featuring Davy Spillane and appears on Moya (Máire) Brennan's Misty Eyed Adventures album. The only difference between both tracks is that Spillane's has an extra second of silence. - The Sea Of Dreams (1998)
- Forgotten Days (2001)
- Deep Blue Sea (2004)
Davy Spillane Band
- Out of the Air (1988)
Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin
- Forgotten Days (2000)
Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane
- East Wind (1994)
Soundtracks
- Lamb (1986)
- Eat The Peach (1986)
- The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991) - Flute
- Wuthering Heights (1992)
- Rob Roy (1995) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- Michael Collins (1996) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- The Disappearance of Finbar (1996)
- Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
- Xenosaga (2002) - Uilleann Pipes & Low Whistle
Session Music
- Dancing With Strangers (Chris Rea) (1987)
- North & South (Gerry Rafferty) (1988)
- The Sensual World (Kate Bush) (1989)
- Soujourner's Song (Buddy Greene) (1990)
- Lam Toro (Baaba Maal) (1992)
- The Seville Suite (Bill Whelan) (1992)
- Far From Home (Traffic) (1994)
- Riverdance (Bill Whelan) (1995)
- The Peace Within (Barry Mc Cabe) (1996)
- MTV unplugged (Bryan Adams) (1997)
- Voyager (Mike Oldfield) (1996)
- Roots of Riverdance (1997)
- Riverdance on Broadway (2000)
- The Girls Won't Leave The Boys Alone (Cherish The Ladies) (2001)
- Journey With the Sun (Paul Winter) (2002)
- Gone ... but not forgotten (Richard Anthony Jay) (2007)