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Dennis Cahill

Dennis Cahill was an American guitarist who specialized in Irish traditional music. He was born in Chicago of parents from County Kerry, Ireland. He began playing guitar at the age of nine and studied the instrument at the Chicago Musical College. He was active in the Irish traditional music scene in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1980s, he and Irish fiddler Martin Hayes formed a band in Chicago called Midnight Court, which combined traditional music with rock and roll. The band, in which Cahill played a Fender Telecaster and Hayes an electric fiddle, was active between 1989 and 1992. After its demise, Cahill and Hayes continued to work together and formed an acoustic duo in 1996, developing an "unrushed, lyrical, highly expressive interpretation" of traditional Irish music. Cahill's chordal accompaniment used standard tuning. In 1999, a New York Times reviewer described Hayes and Cahill's approach as "stripping old reels and jigs to their essence, leaving space between the notes for harmonics and whispered blue notes," resulting in "a Celtic complement to Steve Reich's quartets or Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain. From Wikipedia (

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The Sheep In the Boat / I Shall Ne'er Wean Her / Return To Camden Town / The Widow’s Daughter (feat. Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill)

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Jig And Reel: The Pipe On The Hob / The Colliers' Reel

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March/Reel: The Battle of Aughrim/Joe Bane's (Live)

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A Harvest Saved

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Tell Her I Am / Gallagher's Frolics (Live)

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A Harvest Saved

Single • 2011

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Rolling in the Barrel / The Morning Dew - Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, 1996

CR's Video Vaults • 36K views

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Martin Hayes - My Love is in America | Live at Other Voices Dignity (2022)

OtherVoices • 9.3K views

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The Kerfunken Jig (Hammy Hamilton) - Celtic Flatpicking DADGAD

Philip Taylor • 1.8K views

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Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill • 171K views

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"The Clare Reel", "The East Clare Reel" & "Sporting Nell", Kevin Crawford, Martin Hayes & Josh Dukes

Institute of Musical Traditions • 52K views

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Kerfunken Jig

MAMM Folk Music • 627 views

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Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill

fiddlefestival • 253K views

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The Night Poor Larry Was Stretched

Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill • 6.1K views

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Paddy Fahey's (reel) | solo mandola | tablature

Colin Botts • 822 views

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East Clare Reel Set

Ekhart Topp • 3.8K views