Seamus Grant 1934-2005

On the 22nd of November 2004, at the age of 70 Seamus Grant recorded 17 tunes with Ryan Mac Neil, piano accompanist, Canada. At the time of recording it was intended that along with these solo tunes from Seamus’s repertoire that the Two-Hand dance tunes and the music of the Clonmany Ceilí Band would also be recorded. Sadly, Seamus became ill and passed away in November 2005.

This CD is the only collection of Seamus’s music to become commercially available. It allows a real glimpse into the technical mastery and the diverse musical tastes of Seamus. On the album Seamus performs compositions of Scott Skinner, James Hill and Neil Gow and from further a field, the music of the great Canadian Fiddlers such as Rudy Meeks and Graham Townsend. Seamus had a great affinity with the music of both Scotland and Canada. Already, an admirer of the music of the MacNeil family of Cape Breton, he was very pleased at the prospect of recording with piano accompanist Ryan MacNeil.

This album is a collection of the music that Seamus played through his lifetime. It includes local dance tunes, ceile dance tunes, airs and melodies popular in Irish music at the time and other pieces made popular by the great fiddle masters.