A special night of traditional music is promised at the city’s Crane Bar on Friday, December 6, with musician, flautist and singer Nuala Kennedy, fiddle virtuoso Anna Falkenau and award winning multi-instrumentalist Cathal Ó Curráin (bouzouki, banjo and vocals).

The three share a deep love of Irish traditional music and a sense of musical exploration,  playing with heart, soul and inventiveness.

They draw on a vast well of material, spanning Irish, Scottish, American old-time, folk, traditional and sean-nós singing, delivered with spontaneity, creativity and joi de vivre.

Nuala’s career is going from strength to strength, and she will be joining Irish-American supergroup SOLAS in February for their 30th anniversary tour.

She has just released a solo album, Hydra, which The Guardian named Album of the Month, describing it as “bracingly beautiful”. Nuala performs regularly with Tara Breen and Tony Byrne, with Gerry O’Connor and Martin Quinn in Oriella, and The Alt alongside John Doyle and Eamon O’Leary.

Described as “something of a genre bender” by Living Tradition Magazine, she has toured and recorded with indie-poet Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billie), with Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), and Euros Childs (of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci). She was a featured artist on Janis Ian’s 2022 Grammy nominated release, End of The Line.

No stranger to the Crane and to sessions in Galway, fiddle player Anna has released two critically acclaimed CDs, both of which received four-star reviews from The Irish Times, which described her compositions as  “beautifully quirky” and praised her “masterclass in imaginative playing”.

Anna has performed at home and abroad with artists such as Dolores Keane, John Faulkner, the late Tony Small, Grant Dermody, Holly Geraghty and Mary Shannon among others, and has contributed to John Faulkner’s latest album, Storm in my Heart.

Earlier this year, she played at Celtic Connections in Glasgow with fiddle player Liz Doherty and Fiddlesticks. Here in Galway, she regularly features in sessions with Kevin Hough, Holly Geraghty, Steph Geremia, Pádraic Keane and other top musicians.

Cathal Ó Curráin is a multi-instrumentalist from Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal, who has been performing from a young age and has toured America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe with several different bands.

Most recently, he has featured on albums with The High Seas, The Friel Sisters, Bláth na hÓige and on Aoife Scott’s new Christmas single with Grammy Award winning banjo player, Ron Block of Alison Krauss and Union Station.

Cathal’s debut solo album, Cosán Ceoil,was released in 2022 and he was also awarded Best Emerging Artist at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards that year.

The trio are looking forward to their debut concert together, and it promises to be a special occasion.

Doors at 8.30pm and admission is €15.

Tickets from www.thecranebar.com (via Eventbrite) or by texting or calling 087 2245637.

Pictured: Louth musician Nuala Kennedy who now lives in Clare, will be joined by Anna Falkenau and Cathal Ó Curráin for the concert.