BRT Presents: Macdara Yeates / Torrin Ryan & Amy Law

The debut album by Macdara Yeates, “Traditional Singing from Dublin,” marks a new arrival on the Irish folkscape. Named in MOJO’s “Top 10 Folk Albums of the Year” and nominated for two RTÉ Radio One Folk Awards, the album features a rich store of old and weathered folk songs, ranging from the comic and surreal to the mournful and disconsolate. Siobhán Long of The Irish Times writes: “Raucous, bawdy, reflective and wistful in turn, ‘Traditional Singing from Dublin’ is a candid, clear-eyed snapshot from a singer who is finally stepping into the spotlight.” Born and raised in Dublin, Yeates is one of a crop of artists associated with the recent resurgence of young folk talent in the Irish capital; he previously was part of the group Skippers Alley. With a distinctive voice described as “a bracing, baleful, baritone that sounds as if it’s been dug from the deepest, most fragrant turf” (Songlines), Macdara Yeates is ploughing his furrow as a solo performer, garnering wide critical praise. This will be his Blackstone River Theatre debut as a solo artist.

Sharing the evening will be Torrin Ryan and Amy Law (pictured). Attleboro, MA resident Torrin Ryan became enamored with Irish traditional music at 9 years old and has devoted the past twenty-plus years to playing, recording, and teaching the uilleann pipes, simple system flute, and tin whistle across the country and abroad. In 2009 at age 14, he was awarded an Uilleann Piping Scholarship by Na Píobairí Uilleann, Dublin. Torrin has been awarded over two dozen first place medals across several years of competing at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh in New York and New Jersey, and won five Senior All-Ireland Fleadh medals across Derry, Ennis, and Tullamore, all before turning twenty. Amy Law, is an Irish fiddler and Sean-nós dancer from Southern California who has been playing music and dancing for over 20 years.