Declan Masterson

Declan Masterson is an Irish uilleann piper, traditional musician, composer and arranger. In addition to pursuing a solo career and playing with Moving Hearts and Patrick Street, Masterson was one of the Riverdance musicians.

Declan Masterson
Born	Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Irish traditional music
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Uilleann pipes low whistle bouzouki guitar bodhrán concertina keyboards
Years active	1980s–present
Associated acts	Moving Hearts Andy Irvine Van Morrison Mosaic Clannad Patrick Street Bill Whelan Riverdance Jim McCann Eleanor McEvoy Michael Londra Townes Van Zandt Zoë Conway Ronnie Drew

He has performed and recorded with many artists,[1][2] including: Van Morrison, Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Bill Whelan, Clannad, Jim McCann, Eleanor McEvoy, Townes Van Zandt, Michael Londra, Zoë Conway, Ronnie Drew (with Bono),[3] John Denver and Christy Moore,[4][5]^:23 among others.

Early years

Born in Cabra, Dublin,[6] Masterson grew up in a musical family, and learned to play the pipes and other instruments at an early age. He was encouraged by his parents Frances and Jim, who both played traditional music, and by his uncle Jimmy O'Reilly, a squeezebox player from Multyfarnham, County Westmeath.[7] He took a keen interest in the uilleann pipes and was mentored by pipe maker Matt Kiernan, who lived nearby and made his first set.[7] Masterson first played with the Pipers Club Céilí Band, and his first group was Tipsy Sailor, which included Gerry O'Connor (banjo) and Fiách Ó Broin (flute).[7][4][5]^:21–23 Masterson gained a Leaving Certificate from O'Connell School, Dublin, in 1974.[8]

Music career

Moving Hearts

The group Moving Hearts was formed in 1981 when two members of Planxty, Dónal Lunny (bouzouki) and Christy Moore (vocals, guitar and bodhrán), decided to explore the possibilities of linking contemporary music to Irish traditional music. They initially intended to form a trio with guitarist Declan Sinnott,[9] but then expanded the group to include Irish musicians Keith Donald (alto sax), Eoghan O'Neill (bass), Brian Calnan (drums), and Davy Spillane (uilleann pipes).

After several changes of personnel and the recording of three albums, Moving Hearts (1981), The Dark End Of The Street (1982) and Live Hearts (1983), Moving Hearts performed as an instrumental group, recording the album The Storm (1985)[10] with a new line-up consisting of: Spillane and Masterson (uilleann pipes), Lunny (bouzouki, synthesiser & bodhrán), Donald (sax), Noel Eccles (percussion), Matt Kelleghan (drums), O'Neill (bass) and Greg Boland (guitar). The group ceased touring in 1984, appearing only at occasional festivals like the Preseli Folk Festival[11]—now the Fishguard Folk Festival—in 1986. They performed for a sold out, farewell concert at Dublin's Point Theatre in 1990, with Flo McSweeney on vocals.

Mosaic

In the winter of 1984, Andy Irvine gathered a collection of musicians from throughout Europe and formed Mosaic, with a final line-up including Irvine himself, Lunny, Masterson, Danish Lissa Ladefoged (bass and vocals), Dutch Hans Theessink (guitar and vocals), and Hungarian singer Márta Sebestyén from Muzsikás.[12]^:11

They performed in Budapest on 12 July 1985, followed by a further two gigs in Hungary and an appearance at the Dranouter festival in Belgium in early August, prior to their English tour.[12]^:11 Their seventh gig was billed at the Southport Arts Center, which Chris Hardwick of Folk Roots reviewed with the words: "Every once in a while the folk scene throws up a new permutation in which exceptionally gifted individuals come together to produce something so innovative and exhilarating that it goes way beyond the sum of the parts".[13]^:42–43 However, the band lasted only that one summer.

Patrick Street

Masterson, along with Bill Whelan, joined Patrick Street in time to record the album Irish Times (1990).

Riverdance

In 1994, Masterson teamed up with Whelan again and joined Riverdance. He remained with the show on and off for its entire duration,[14] playing uilleann pipes, low whistle, tin whistle, kaval and bouzouki, also taking on the duties of musical director, until the Farewell show in May 2012.[15] He returned for the 25th Anniversary series of concerts, beginning at the 3Arena (Dublin) in February 2020, playing guitar, bouzouki, kaval and pipes.[16] The shows planned for the 2020 US and UK tours were cancelled,[17] with the US dates rescheduled to take place from January to July 2021.[18]

Solo and other projects

He recorded five solo albums: End of the Harvest (1990),[4][19]^:55 Tropical Trad (1993),[20]^:63[21] Fairwater Fionnuisce (1996),[22] Drifting Through The Hazel Woods (1996)[23] and Heartland (2005).[7] He wrote and arranged music scores for film, TV and theatre,[4] and his piping is featured on the soundtrack of the films The Irish RM (1983-1985),[4] Eat the Peach (1986),[4] The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)[24] and Some Mother's Son (1996).[25] He also participated in many recordings, with a wide range of musicians (see Selected discography).

Selected discography

Solo albums End of the Harvest (1990) Tropical Trad (1993) Fairwater Fionnuisce (1996) Drifting Through The Hazel Woods (1996) Heartland (2005) With Moving Hearts The Storm (1985) With Van Morrison A Sense of Wonder (1985) With Danny Doyle Twenty Years A-Growing (1987) With Patrick Street Irish Times (1990) With Eleanor McEvoy Eleanor McEvoy (1993) With Geraldine & Danny Doyle Emigrant Eyes (1993) With Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipeband By the Waters Edge (1994) With Maurice Dickson Where Eagles Fly (1994) With Townes Van Zandt No Deeper Blue (1994) With Bill Whelan Riverdance: Music from the Show (1995) Some Mother's Son (1996) Roots of Riverdance (1997) Riverdance 25th Anniversary .(. Music from The Show) With Ronnie Drew Dirty Rotten Shame (1995) With Anúna Invocation (1996) With Clannad Lore (1996) With Andy Irvine Rain on the Roof (1996) Way Out Yonder (2000) With Dónal Lunny Coolfin (1998) With Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid Original Game Soundtrack (1998) With Máirín Fahy Máirín (1998)

With Andrew White Guitarra Celtica (1999) With Jim McCann From Tara To Here (1987) The Collection (2001) With Zoë Conway Zoë Conway (2002) With Brian Kennedy On Song (2003) With Bryan Adams Room Service (2004) With Róisin Dempsey Spirit Of An Irish Christmas (2005) With Michael Londra Celt (2006) With Tommy Fleming A Life Like Mine (2006) The Best Is Yet to Come (2009) Song for a Winter's Night (2009) With the Celtic Orchestra Celtic Reflections (2002) With other artists / Compilations Irish Memories (1988) Heart of the Gaels (1992) Lament (1993) Celtic Heartbeat Collection (1995) Realta '96 (1996) Celtic Twilight, Vol.4: Celtic Planet (1997) Dance of the Celts (1997) Celtic Treasure, Vol.2 (1998) The Celtic Experience (2000) Celtic Solstice (2002) Celtica [Sony #1] (2002) Dark Age of Camelot: A Musical Journey (2002) Island Blues (2002) Tranquility Gold (2002) Ireland: Essential Guide (2009) Film scores The Irish RM (1983-1985) Eat the Peach (1986) The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) Some Mother's Son (1996)

See also

• List of bagpipers

References

1. Declan Masterson Discography credits. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 5 March 2015.
2. Declan Masterson Discography. celtic-music-net.com. Retrieved on 9 March 2015.
3. Credits for "Drinkin' in the Day". Ronnie Drew, Dirty Rotten Shame (1995). u2wanderer.org. Retrieved on 26 August 2016.
4. Sleeve notes from Declan Masterson – End of Harvest, Gael Linn CEFCD 148, 1990.
5. Declan Masterson, in Folk Roots No.136, October 1994.
6. Declan Masterson's birthplace. Retrieved on 5 March 2015.
7. Sleeve notes from Declan Masterson – Heartland, Heartland FRCD 05, 2005.
8. O'Connell School - 1974 OCS Leaving Certificate Class Registers. Retrieved on 21 March 2019.
9. Speek, Hans. "Dónal Lunny - a short biography". hspeek.home. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
10. The Storm. discogs.com. Retrieved on 5 March 2015.
11. Evidence of a 'Preseli Folk Festival' scheduled for 24 May 1986. Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Mentioned in 'Richard Thompson Newsletter #3', from April 1986. (See section about 'DAVE SWARBRICK', halfway down on third page). Retrieved on 5 March 2015.
12. Mosaic, in Folk Roots No.29, November 1985.
13. Live Reviews, in Folk Roots No.28, October 1985.
14. Brackett, Kevin (20 May 2012). "Farwell Riverdance, You Will Be Missed". reviewstl.com. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
15. "Declan Masterson". riverdance.com. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
16. Stokes, Niall (10 February 2020). "25th Anniversary Riverdance Takes Dublin By Storm". hotpress.com. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
17. "Postponement of 25th Anniversary Tours of the USA and the UK, with immediate effect". riverdance.com. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
18. "USA 2021 January to July 2021. Rescheduled Tour". riverdance.com. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
19. Review of End of Harvest in Reviews, Folk Roots No.121, July 1993.
20. Review of Tropical Trad in Reviews, Folk Roots No.137, November 1994.
21. Sleeve notes from Declan Masterson – Tropical Trad, STARC SCD1093, 1993.
22. Sleeve notes from Declan Masterson – Fairwater, FRCD 961, 1996.
23. Sleeve notes from Declan Masterson – Drifting Through Hazel Woods, Celtic Heartbeat 82943-2, 1996.
24. The Secret of Roan Inish credits. discogs.com. Retrieved on 25 August 2016.
25. Some Mother's Son credits. discogs.com. Retrieved on 25 August 2016.

External links

• fRroots Features Index: 'M' - Masterson, fRoots Magazine website
• fRroots Reviews Index: 'M' - Masterson, fRoots Magazine website
• Declan Masterson (Allmusic)
• Declan Masterson - Discography/Credits (Allmusic)
• Declan Masterson - Discography (cduniverse)
• Declan Masterson page for the album Fairwater/Fionnuisce at NPU (uilleann pipes) website
• Declan Masterson page at telusplanet website