Charlie Piggott

Charlie Piggott (born 14 July 1948) is an Irish traditional musician, best known as a founding member of De Dannan and has toured extensively in Europe, Canada, and the US.

Charlie Piggott
Charlie Piggott playing a Black Dot Hohner Double-Ray, tuned C#/D.
Background information
Born (1948-07-14) 14 July 1948
Cobh, County Cork, Ireland
GenresIrish traditional music
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsTenor Banjo, Button Accordion, Tin Whistle
Years active1970–present
Associated actsDe Dannan
The Lonely Stranded Band
Gerry Harrington
Websitehttp://www.charliepiggott.net

He grew up playing music in County Cork, where his first instrument was the button accordion. In the early 1970s Piggott played banjo in sessions at Galway's Cellar Bar with Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (bouzouki) and Johnnie "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán).

In 1973, the group Dé Dannan was formed from sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, County Galway. Piggott plays in the old style and many of his seminal recordings have caused him to be hailed as "one of the most influential Irish banjoists of the generation",[1] but after damaging his index finger in an accident on tour he reverted to playing the melodeon.[2]

In 1976, he was a featured artist of the Smithsonian Institution, at the Festival of American Folk Life, for the American bicentennial. Today he plays a Black Dot Hohner Double-Ray, tuned C#/D.

Piggott has revived many rare traditional melodies and has a reputation for performing them in accordance with the ethos of older players who have passed the music on.[3]

He later founded the Lonely Stranded Band with Miriam Collins (concertina) and Joe Corcoran (bouzouki, guitar & vocals) and their 1996 album met with great success.[4]

The new millennium saw him team up with the Sliabh Luachra fiddler Gerry Harrington to record a Cló Iar-Chonnacht release: "The New Road".

Piggott is co-author, with Fintan Vallely and photographer Nutan Jacques Piraprez, of Blooming Meadows: The World of Irish Traditional Musicians.[5]

Having worked for a long time as a professional musician in Galway featuring regularly on television and radio, he still plays at traditional music festivals in the area.[6]

Discography
  • De Danann (1975)
  • Selected Jigs Reels and Songs (1977)
  • The Mist Covered Mountain (1980)
  • Star-Spangled Molly (1981) (see The De Dannan Collection)
  • Best of De Dannan (1981)
  • The Lonely Stranded Band (1996)
  • The New Road (2000)
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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Rod Stradling. "Charlie Piggott and Gerry Harrington". Mustrad.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. "FolkWorld Article: Charlie Piggot and Gerry Harrington". Folkworld.de. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  4. "Living Tradition CD review of The Lonely Stranded Band". Folkmusic.net. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  5. "Blooming Meadows, a book by Fintan Vallely, Nutan, & Charlie Piggott". Fintan Vallely. 10 December 1998. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 2014-05-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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