Conal O'Kane, third in from the right.
Conal O’Kane. We knew him when.
We first met the Philadelphia-born fiddler/banjo player/guitarist back in May 2006, when he played fiddle with two bands, both of them comprised of young local phenoms, in a traditional music concert at Palmyra Cove Nature Park. Like proud parents, we still have the pictures.
(We also have a photo of him playing at the 2006 Penn’s Landing Irish Festival with a fun little pick-up band called Pat the Budgie.)
Philadelphia has long been an incubator for young Irish musical talents. Conal O’Kane is one of our local kids who has, predictably perhaps, gone on to bigger things as a young adult. Now 23 and a recent graduate of the prestigious traditional music and dance program at the University of Limerick, O’Kane is getting set to make his mark in the traditional Irish music world.
O’Kane is the guitarist for the jazzy little Irish band Goitse (pronounced “gwi-cha”), which will perform in a Green Willow-sponsored concert in Wilmington on Sunday. All the members of Goitse are present or former University of Limerick students. He’s the only American.
Even though his roots are in South Philly, O’Kane from a young age has had deep musical roots in Ireland. O’Kane’s father Patrick is from Buncrana in Donegal, and the family returned there for visits every summer. During one of those visits, when O’Kane was 13 or 14, his dad introduced him to a legendary Donegal fiddler Dinny McLaughlin. McLaughlin taught or inspired many present-day stars, including Liz Doherty, Ciaran Tourish and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.
“Dinny is a great fiddle teacher from my dad’s home town,” O’Kane said in a recent interview. “He taught me half of a jig, the ‘A’ part of Whelan’s Fancy, and he told me that if I couldn’t play it well the next time I came to Ireland, he would strangle me. I don’t think I ever got the ‘B’ part off of him. I had to figure that out on my own.”
Long before his introduction to McLaughlin, O’Kane was on intimate terms with Irish music; his dad loved it. Recordings by groups like Altan, the Bothy Band and Dé Danann played in heavy rotation around the house, O’Kane explained, and he had always enjoyed listening to it. “It was a growing interest,” O’Kane said, “but the thing with Dinny definitely kick-started it.”
When he returned to Philadelphia, O’Kane looked for a fiddle teacher. At a Sunday session sponsored by the Next Generation, a group of young Irish music students led by local talents Dennis Gormley, Kathy DeAngelo and Chris Brennan-Hagy, O’Kane met one of the area’s top fiddle players and a four-time All-Ireland medalist, Brendan Callahan. O’Kane became a student.
Callahan proved to be a major influence right from the start, O’Kane recalls. “I got really lucky there. He’s just an awesome player, and I went to him for a few years.”
Thanks to Callahan, the next time O’Kane returned to Buncrana, he’d learned well enough that Dinny McLaughlin took him under his wing. That summer, and each summer thereafter, O’Kane completely immersed himself in the local music.
“I improved enough for Dinny not to strangle me. That was the main point,” O’Kane quipped. “I mean, when you know you’re going to be playing for Dinny, you want to be solid. I started playing in Irish music sessions with him around Buncrana. I really enjoyed the session scene. That’s what Irish music was about for me—it was playing with other people in sessions.”
O’Kane continued to play fiddle and improve. Along the way, he picked up and also loved banjo, which Callahan had recommended to him as a way to learn to play triplets on fiddle.
And when he was about 16, he added guitar to his arsenal, inspired by the likes of Irish guitar great Arty McGlynn.
O’Kane’s next big move was the University of Limerick, although there was a brief musical detour along the way.
“I took a year off after high school, sort of bumming around Galway playing music, trying to figure out what to do. And then a friend of mine from Philadelphia told me about the program at the University of Limerick. I went down and auditioned for it, and got accepted. I just auditioned on the fiddle. I figured the fiddle would be my main instrument, with banjo as the second, and then just sort of plunk away on guitar on my own.”
About midway through his stay at the university, O’Kane was invited to join the then brand spanking new band Goitse (it means “come here”) after he competed in a local battle of the trad bands sponsored by the university. Goitse won the competition, and O’Kane’s band lost … but the members of Goitse plainly saw something they liked. He’s been playing with the band ever since.
For now, O’Kane is committed to pursuing a career in Irish music. You won’t see him play often, though, because he’s living in Limerick. Philly is where he’s from, but Ireland is where his heart is.
“I go back to Philly maybe once or twice a year. But basically, yeah, I’m still living in Limerick. It’s my home now and all of my friends are there … and there is always good music around. I’m here for the long haul.”
If you want to become re-acquainted with this gifted young man, you can see him in concert with Goitse at Timothy’s on the Riverfront, 930 Justison St., in Wilmington on Sunday,starting at 7 p.m.