The Chieftains
With a career that spans forty-five years and forty-three albums, The Chieftains are not only Ireland’s
premier musical ambassadors but also the most enduring and influential creative force in establishing
the international appeal of Celtic music.
Paddy Moloney, the group’s founder and front man, first brought together a group of local musicians in
Dublin in 1962, fashioning an authentic instrumental sound that stood in sharp contrast to the slick
commercial output of most Irish music at the time. The group’s first four albums, recorded between
1963 and 1974, established their worldwide reputation even as the group continued to perform on a
semi-professional basis.
In 1975, The Chieftains recorded the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, featuring the hit
single “Women Of Ireland” and for which they won an Academy Award. Continued extensive touring
followed, further establishing them as a major concert attraction and a string of subsequent albums,
including such standouts as Bonaparte’s Retreat, Boil The Breakfast Early and Chieftains in China,
enhanced their status as Ireland’s premier musical export.
In 1988, they joined forces with fellow countryman Van Morrison on Irish Heartbeat which began an
historic series of collaborations including recordings with James Galway, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello,
The Rolling Stones, Sting, Tom Jones, Sinead O’Connor, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder and many
others. They also continued their acclaimed work in soundtracks, on such films as Treasure Island,
Tristan And Isolde, The Grey Fox and Far and Away.
In 1992, they recorded the double Grammy-winning Another Country, with performances by such
country and bluegrass stars as Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins and Don
Williams. They returned to Nashville in 2002 for DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD, their Grammynominated 40th career album, featuring such special guests as Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Earl Scruggs, Alison
Krauss, Martina McBride and others. FURTHER DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD continued the historic
musical and cultural collaboration explored on DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD, with sixteen new tracks
from an extraordinary array of artists, all backed by the Chieftains and produced by the group’s founder
Paddy Moloney, along with Jeff White and Steve Buckingham. The album also contains some of the final
performances from multi-instrumentalist Derek Bell, a long-standing Chieftains member who passed
away in 2002.
The Grammy-nominated LIVE FROM DUBLIN: A TRIBUTE TO DEREK BELL, released early in 2005,
celebrates the life and legacy of the long-standing member who passed away suddenly in
2002. Recorded live at Ireland’s premiere performing venues, the Gaiety Theater and National Concert
Hall, LIVE FROM DUBLIN includes a moving medley - “Derek’s Tune” - composed by Moloney as a fitting
send-off for their friend. The landmark recording is also filled with other brand new selections that
exemplify and enhance the group’s traditional sound, rounded off through the distinctive artistry of
harpist Triona Marshall and pipe virtuoso Carlo Nunez.
Their 2006 release, THE ESSENTIAL CHIEFTAINS, has arrived to critical acclaim and serves as a gathering
of the group’s greatest and most loved melodies. With classics like “O’Sullivan’s March,” “Boil the
Breakfast Early,” and “Santiago de Cuba,” it is a collection that rightly honors the band’s longevity in the
musical world.
Six-time Grammy winners and nineteen-time Grammy nominees, The Chieftains maintain an
international touring schedule that has brought them before literally millions of fans on every continent.
Their yearly tour schedule has included performances in North America, Europe and Asia and in March
2001 they played a tribute performance for rescue workers at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center.
KEVIN CONNEFF - bodhrán, vocals
One of the newer members of the current lineup of The Chieftains, bodhrán player Kevin Conneff was
enlisted in 1976 to replace Peader Mercier, who retired from the band to spend more time with his
family. In addition to playing the bodhrán (a goatskin drum that’s played with the hand or a stick to get a
certain effect), Conneff also sings.
“Kevin loved singing and listened to songs and ballads when he was younger,” says group founder Paddy
Moloney. “In fact, he was very upset the day Frank Sinatra died. Before Kevin joined the band we only
performed instrumentals in our concerts. But then each show I began to add songs into the set list so
Kevin could sing. Of course, that has continued, with many guests also singing in our shows and on our
albums.”
Born in 1945, Conneff was born in the heart of Dublin in a district known as Liberties. His family loved
music, especially by legendary Irish tenor John McCormack and Caruso. As he notes, he wasn’t exposed
to traditional Irish music in the same way other members of The Chieftains were. He preferred pop
music in his early years, but gradually came to appreciate the traditional music of his country. He began
singing it and learned how to play the bodhrán.
At one time Conneff and some friends ran the Tradition Club in Dublin where future bandmates
Moloney and Seán Keane played. When he was 31, he got the call from the Chieftains and has been a
mainstay of the band ever since.
MATT MOLLOY - flute
The newest member of The Chieftains, flutist Matt Molloy joined the group in 1979 as the replacement
of Michael Tubridy. His first appearance with the band took place at the Edinburgh Festival as the
opening act for Van Morrison. His first recording with The Chieftains was The Chieftains 9: Boil the
Breakfast Early.
Born in 1947, Molloy came from the western area of Ireland, where, according to Moloney, “the music
was kept so much alive as a source of entertainment.” He adds, “It took longer for radio and television
to make it out there, so people used to go to each other’s house and play music. Matt comes from that
area that has wonderful music.”
A native of county Roscommon, Molloy is widely recognized as the best flute player in Irish traditional
music and was formerly in The Bothy Band and Planxty. He started playing at the age of 12, going on to
excel at traditional music festivals (called fleadhanna cheoil) where he won numerous competitions. In
1964 at the age of 17, he moved to Dublin where he not only played in clubs but also studied
aeronautical engineering. He met Moloney at the Old Sheiling, and soon the two were playing duets
around town.
By the ‘70s, Molloy was working as an airline mechanic and playing music on the side. But when the
traditional music scene boomed, he tried his hand on being a professional musician after securing a sixmonth leave of absence from his company. He never returned. He was a founding member of The Bothy
Band, where he became known as Irish music’s premier flute player. Shortly after the group broke up in
1979, Molloy joined up with the band Planxty, and then was snagged by his old duet partner.
PADDY MOLONEY – uilleann pipes
As the man who started it all, Paddy Moloney, dubbed the world’s most famous uilleann pipes player,
has a passion and creative spirit for his music that continues to grow with each successive tour and each
new album. His mission is twofold: to keep traditional Irish music alive and to prove how versatile that
music can be. Heading the group’s exploration of styles that appear to come from all over the globe,
Moloney explains that it’s actually quite the opposite - such styles have really been inspired by
traditional Irish music instead.
“The beginning of all music is folk music,” Moloney says. “Even the great masters, somewhere along the
line you’ll hear some little part of folk music in their compositions.”
Moloney’s love of folk music stemmed from his early days growing up in Dublin, where he first learned
to play the tin whistle at age 6. When he was 10-years-old, Moloney took up the uilleann pipes, with his
first performances taking place on the streets working as a mascot for the marching Ballyfin Pipe
Band. He kept at mastering the art of the pipes for years, even as he worked as an accountant before
founding The Chieftains. Once the group was born, Moloney took on handling the band’s label, Claddagh
Records, out of his home. After eight years of running the record label, The Chieftains was signed to
Island Records in 1970, and then eventually to it’s current home on RCA Victor.
Though he still plays the tin whistle, Moloney’s musical journey has centered around his talent with the
pipes, as well as around his compositions and arrangements of material for The Chieftains. Moloney has
remained the constant force behind the group’s success and legendary status, and is enthusiastic about
the future and about their place in the larger musical world,
“We’re still unique,” says Moloney of the group’s staying power. “A lot of bands have come and gone,
but we’re still here.”
#####
Derek Bell (harp, piano, oboe, tiompán), who had been with the band since 1972, passed away in
October 2002. The Chieftains will keep Derek’s memory with them always.