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Martin Hayes - St. Patrick's Day

Forget the cloying confection of Celtic Woman or the puréed folk balladry of the High Kings, two Irish imports calculated to appease the pledge-drive hunger of U.S. public television stations. If you're seeking something genuinely special in your Irish musical diet this St. Patrick's Day, look no further than the fiddling of Martin Hayes.
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"For me, the genius of Irish traditional music is in the music. It endures in appeal because of melodic structure, which can be very powerful and even hypnotic."
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"I think a big problem in Irish music today is a disconnect with its dance origins," he said. "If I play a reel slowly, I'm still playing it with the syncopation of set dancing in Clare. Those set-dancer rhythms echo in my head. When I play gently and reflectively, it's not about eliminating the dance. It's about reducing its ratio to the melody."

"Fearlessness and Fidelity Mark This Irish Fiddler's Art," by Earle Hitchner, The Wall Street Journal, March 13, 2008