Séamus Egan

by Craig Harris
Seamus Egan attained his greatest success with his soundtrack for Edward Burns 1995 film The Brothers McMullen; it spent four months on the world music charts and included the Top Ten hit I Will Remember You, recorded by Sarah McLachlan. Egan, however, has been an important presence on the Irish music scene for far longer. A four-time winner of the All-Ireland award (on an unprecedented four different instruments), Egan has been a member of a trio also featuring Mick Moloney and Eugene ODonnell, as well as an all-star congregate of Irish musicians and singers (Green Grass of America), an Irish trad-folk band (Solas), and a soloist. In addition, Egan has recorded Irish music with Eileen Ivers, John Doyles and African percussionist Kimati Dinizulu, and even hip-hop with Vernon Reid of Living Colour.
 
Egans earliest exposure to traditional Irish music came when he moved, at the age of three, with his parents and five siblings to Ireland. Settling into the small village of Foxford in county Mayo, he studied under button accordionist Martin Donaghue around the age of six or seven. His musical interests were expanded after watching a television show featuring flautists Matt Molloy and James Galway and listening to a radio program spotlighting banjo player Matt Moloney. Within a short time, Egan was playing well enough to enter and win the All-Ireland competition in flute and whistle.
 
Shortly after returning to the United States with his family, and moving to Philadelphia in 1980, Egan met Moloney, who had emigrated to the Pennsylvania city. Egan quickly fell under Moloneys wing and began taking informal banjo lessons. Two years later, Egan returned to Ireland and won All-Ireland awards in banjo and mandolin.
 
In his mid-teens, Egan left the competitive world and began to play professionally with his sisters, Siobhan and Rory. Before long, he accepted an invitation to join a trio with Moloney and ODonnell. The trio recorded an album, Three Way Street, in 1993.
 
After recording his debut solo album, Traditional Music of Ireland, Egan joined Green Fields of America, a large group of America-based Irish musicians led by Moloney and featuring such stellar musicians as Robbie OConnell, Liz Carroll, Eileen Ivers, Jerry OSullivan and Jimmy Keane. The group recorded an album, Live in America, in 1989.
 
Although Egan temporarily lived in Boston to attend Boston College, his home has remained in New York. In the early 1990s, he formed a New York-based band, the Chanting House, with Ivers, Doyles and Susan McKeown. Egan continued to focus on his solo career as well, releasing his second solo album, A Week in January, in 1990.
 
Although the Chanting House disbanded before recording an album, Egan joined with Ivers and Doyle and Kimati Dinizulu to record a track, Ships Are Sailing, on Ivers solo album Wild Blue. He continued work to periodically with Moloney and ODonnell as well, reuniting to perform at Bonnie Raitts wedding.
 
Egans involvement with the film The Brothers McMullen was sparked when producer Edward Burns heard him peforming during a tour dubbed The Young Turks of the Banjo. Although initially a low-budget project, the film was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, where it received a Grand Jury prize. After being picked up for distribution by 20th Century Fox, the soundtrack was recorded and the films quality enhanced. Egans music was subsequently featured in the PBS ary Out of Ireland.
 
When Juniper Sleeps, Egans third solo album, was released in 1996 and marked his debut as a nylon-string guitarist. His subsequent project was a traditional band, Solas, that also featured fiddler Winifred Horan, accordionist John Williams, guitarist John Doyle and lead vocalist Karen Casey. Solas recorded the albums Solas in 1996 and Sunny Spells & Scattered Showers in 1997.