Robbie O’Connell

Friday, April 27 at 7:30pm

“A National Treasure” is how, Ireland’s top music magazine, Hot Press, describes Robbie O’Connell, “… a man blessed with an enviable turn of phrase and a gift for melody bestowed on only the few.”

Robbie O’Connell was born in Waterford, Ireland and grew up in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, where his parents had a small hotel. He began to play guitar and sing at age thirteen and soon became a regular performer at the hotel’s weekly folk concerts. He spent a year touring the folk clubs in England before enrolling at University College Dublin where he studied Literature and Philosophy. During school vacations Robbie worked as an Irish entertainer in the U.S.A. A nephew of the Clancy Brothers, he began touring with his uncles in 1977 and recorded 3 albums with them. In 1979 he moved to Franklin, Massachusetts.

With the release, in 1982, of his first solo album, “Close to the Bone,” Robbie emerged as an artist of major stature. In 1991, he won a prestigious Boston Music Award as Outstanding Celtic Act and was also featured in the highly acclaimed TV series “Bringing It All Back Home.” In 1992 he performed at Carnegie Hall with the Clancy Brothers and was also seen by an estimated 500 million people worldwide on the telecast of a live tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden, a performance that Rolling Stone magazine described as “breathtaking.”

The suggested donation is $15 (all of which goes to the artist). For more information, or to make a reservation, contact Melissa Tatum at melissaltatum AT yahoo DOT com or 520-275-3811. Reservations are required.

You can find out more about Robbie on his website www.robbieoconnell.com