Description

Andrew Finn Magill is an award-winning multi-genre fiddler/violinist and composer who has been featured on PBS, NPR, and TEDx. Magill is a Fulbright fellow, North Carolina Arts Council fellow, and 2024 finalist for the prestigious Seifert Competition for jazz violin in Krakow, Poland. He is signed to Ropeadope Records on which he has released three albums and tours the world as a bandleader and sideman in several genres. Some of the artists with whom he has performed include Rising Appalachia, Peter Mawanga, and Grammy-nominees John Doyle and Trio Brasileiro. Magill grew up studying various traditional genres at The Swannanoa Gathering which his father founded in 1990. In 2005 Magill released his debut Drive & Lift, a collection of traditional and original Irish music, and has released twelve studio albums since.

In 2009, Magill was awarded a Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship to spend a year in Malawi co-writing and co-producing the concept album Stories of AIDS: Mau a Malawi, which confronted the HIV/AIDS epidemic by creating ten songs with Peter Mawanga, each being a musical portrait of one Malawian’s HIV story. The album quickly sold out and inspired a multimedia show of the same name Magill wrote and co-directed with Jon Haas and Joseph Megel for a one-time performance at the University of North Carolina’s Memorial Hall in October 2011. The show was attended by 1,000+ people.

From 2014 to 2016, Magill lived in Rio de Janeiro studying choro music. There he founded many Brazilian music groups including Violino no Choro, Brazilian Strings Trio, and Canta, Violino!. Says the legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira (Chick Corea, Miles Davis):“Its nice to see fresh, young musicians carrying on the traditions of Brazilian music. Finn Magill displays a love and authenticity that can fool you into thinking he is from Brazil. His style is playful and light, yet soulful and passionate. Congratulations!” 

In 2016, Magill released two albums Roots and and Branches featuring traditional Irish and original music respectively. Roots debuted at #46 on the Folk DJ charts and writes Grammy-winning Americana artist Tim O’Brien:

“He has learned from and now plays with the best in the genre. On Branches you can hear a new musical voice emerging. I’m gonna keep listening for Finn Magill.”

In 2018, leveraging a background in both traditional Irish and American music, Magill created the lecture series “The relationships between Irish, Scottish, and American fiddle styles: an Immigration Story,” which is a musical presentation for adults that explores the connections between these styles through their fiddle tunes. Magill has given this lecture at dozens of universities and museums across the country including Shepherd, Mars Hill, the University of Kentucky, Northeast State Community College, and others. Magill’s primary touring project is his quartet of original music billed under Andrew Finn Magill. The album band features world-class jazz musicians proficient in various genres such as 5x Grammy-winner Justin Stanton (Snarky Puppy), Ethan Jodziewicz (Aoife O’Donovan) and Justin Watt (the Glenn Miller Orchestra) and has performed at performing arts centers and theaters all over the country.

David McKindley-Ward is an award winning musician and singer who grew up in the DC area steeped in folk, traditional, and protest music from all over the world. From his folk foundation of Pete Segeer and Stan Rogers, he found a love for Irish music from cassette tape recordings of the old folk revival balladeers from the 50s and 60s; the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem, the Dubliners, The Wolftones, and many more. His interest in traditional singing grew when exposed to such greats as Paul Brady, Dolores Keane, and Donal Maguire, and much of his style and repertoire is based on these three. Currently, David collaborates with many Irish singers and instrumentalists, including, Eimear Arkins, Liz Hanley, Brenda Castles, Joey Abarta, Allen Murray, and many others. He has recorded three albums with singer-songwriter Letitia VanSant, their latest release “Eye of the Storm” will be released this year.  Over the last few years, he has made a name for himself as a touring artist across the US, Ireland and the UK and a regular performer and instructor at festivals including O’Flaherty’s Irish Retreat, Atlanta Irish Fest, Baltimore Tradfest, Celtic Fest Mississippi, the Ashokan Center, The Philadelphia Céilí Group Traditional Irish music and Dance Weekend, and the Augusta Irish Retreat.