Leahy (lay-hee) noun, verb, adjective.

A family. A musical group of brothers and sisters, a sound, a style of music, a way of life, a volcanic explosion of talent and energy, intense emotion, and feral passion.

Leahy is a Canadian powerhouse of eight musical brothers and sisters who have been playing together their entire lives. The band’s three acclaimed CDs—Leahy, Lakefield, and In All Things—have world-wide sales of over half a million copies.

The family continues to move forward as musicians and performers. Winter 2007 saw them release their first ever live DVD and CD. PBS audiences are currently watching Leahy’s third television special. They are also in the midst of working on their second DVD and live CD, which are to be released in 2008. On their recent American tour, new audiences learned that this family of instrumentalists, singers, and dancers brings a rare level of originality and musicianship to the stage. This originality includes music that Leahy writes, arranges, and produces. Known for their unique blend of musical styles and genres, their repertoire is more distinct than ever.

All that audiences need to do to understand the style that has come to be known as “Leahy” is look at their awards—Junos for Best New Group, Best Country Group, and Best Instrumental Album, the most played folk/roots song in Canada in 2004 and the Socan award for Folk/Jazz instrumentalist the following year. Their self-titled album rose to number four on the Billboard world music charts and found its way onto the soundtrack of the award-winning movie The Hanging Garden. On stage Leahy brought 175 audiences to their feet when they opened for pop-star Shania Twain on her inaugural world tour.

Leahy brings their whole being to each and every performance. Their life story reads like a Hollywood movie; a large family raised without a television on a farm in the small town of Lakefield, Ontario, Canada. In fact, their life story was so compelling that it became the subject of an Oscar winning documentary—The Leahys: Music Most of All. The film foretold the success that would follow.

Pure, authentic—Leahy continues to be one of Canada’s most sought after exports.

LEAHY BIO

When Irishman Michael Leahy came to Canada in 1825, he brought his fiddle with him. Five generations later comes the band Leahy, a nine-piece whirlwind of Celtic music, dance, and song.

The 11 children of Frank and Julie Leahy were raised just a few miles from the farm Michael established near Lakefield, Ontario. Each of them learned fiddle music from their father and received classical violin and piano lessons as well. Their mother, a champion dancer from Cape Breton, taught them their first routines, and in the evenings the old farmhouse shook with music and dancing. Soon the Leahy Family was performing throughout rural Ontario, and the house filled with ribbons and trophies won at festivals and competitions.

Donnell turned out to be the musical prodigy. By 16 he was an oft-decorated veteran of the fiddle-contest circuit, with a firm command of Celtic as well as jazz, bluegrass, and classical styles, and had developed into a seasoned onstage leader. “Growing up,” he recalls, “we played a lot of rural fairs where people expected a certain kind of fiddling, dance, and country music. We learned how to get the standing ovation, how to set it up and how to get it.”

The Leahy magic was readily apparent. Their raven-haired good looks, electrifying music, and spectacular French Canadian stepdancing provided excellent footage for the documentary film The Leahy's: Music Most of All, which won a 1985 Academy Award for best foreign student film.

Fast forward to 1997: The part-time family act, temporarily halted by school and marriages, emerges as Leahy, a full-time nine-piece group with a sound all its own. Gone are the matching leisure suits and patent leather shoes that dazzled school auditoriums and country fairs, replaced by sophistication, artistic maturity, and a hip, confident stage presence.

At a time when Celtic music is all the rage, Leahy stands alone with its combination of ferocious music and fleet-footed solo and ensemble stepdancing. Their uniquely striking presence is captured in the video The Call to Dance a modern and ethereal piece of cinematography which blazed new paths as it rose to No. 1 on the CMT charts.

Their debut album, LEAHY, followed a similar path to the top. Certified Platinum in Canada – no small feat for instrumental music in Canada.

Meanwhile the groundswell of popular acclaim for Leahy continues to build, driven in part by appearances with The Chieftains on the PBS Celtic music special Gael Force, and as special guests of the Chieftains at shows in Toronto, Montreal and New York.

Indeed, new opportunities present themselves daily. One of the album’s songs, Colm Quigley, is heard in the soundtrack of The Hanging Garden, hit of the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival.

For the past year, Leahy has been touring as special guests with Shania Twain throughout North America. Twain hand picked the group for her much anticipated world tour after witnessing first hand an instant standing ovation at the Juno Awards in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In addition, Leahy has appeared on both of Twain’s concert specials, Live from Dallas and Shania’s Winter Break in Miami.

Fans all over the world are eagerly waiting for Leahy’s second CD which the band will be working to complete this Summer.

Like the furious swirl of a fiddle tune, Leahy is gaining momentum as their music unfolds. “No, this is not a cozy family that holds hands and sings Kumbaya,”, says Julie. “The passion and energy you see onstage is not a false, phony act.”

And that, perhaps, is the true secret of Leahy’s surging success.

LEAHY

Siobheann bass, singer, dancer
Donnell fiddle
Maria guitar, signer, dancer
Frank drums
Agnes dancer, singer
Doug fiddle
Erin piano, fiddle, singer, composer, dancer
Angus fiddle

What they are saying about LEAHY with Shania Twain:

“…the musical heart of the evening was the opening act…(Leahy’s) approach seems so gloriously free of the commercial pollution of so much American pop that it felt like a tonic for the spirit…though limited…to 30 minutes, this is an act whose music is invigorating enough to deserve an entire evening’s presentation…” -Los Angeles Times

“…their music is a turbo Celtic-Scottish-country-Riverdance-pop with enough energy to light up East Toronto…Bottom line, if the Shania road show comes your way, come early, don’t skip the opening act, you’ll miss a world class show that’s already big in Canada, about to get bigger in the USA” -Nashville IQ

“If opening acts could do encores, Leahy would have been working overtime. An enthusiastic standing ovation (rare for a warm-up act…) followed their half-hour set.” -Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, SK)

“…Leahy provided last night’s true artistic innovation.” -The Columbus Dispatch

“I can’t wait for the US to see their act. They were so wonderful. I think they are an act that the world should see.” -The Tennessean

“Opening acts often get lost in the pre-show shuffle…but people will be talking about Leahy long after the show.” -Salt Lake Tribune

And from Shania herself: “I chose them because I wanted something really exciting to warm up the crowd.” -Country Weekly

OTHER FACTS

-“Leahy in Concert”, a 30-minute TV concert special, nationally in US on PBS, CMT, CBC – in Canada, was a favorite.

-No. 1 on Canadian Trade Weekly RPM’s Country Album chart.

-“Call to Dance” – No. 1 Video on CMT

-Won two 1998 Juno awards for Best New Group and Instrumental Artist of the Year and one Juno in 1999 for Best Country Group or Duo.

-Nominated for a Gemini Award for “Best Performance or Host In a Variety Program or Series.”

-Received Citation for “Country Music Program or Special of the Year.”

-Upcoming article in Time Magazine June 1999

-Won Canadian Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo or Group of the Year.

-Won 1998 Big Country Award for Top Group