Jamie O'Brien
Jamie - legal resident alien
need work ... will play!
laundry list (calendar of upcoming performances)
laune ornaments (CDs and other goodies for sale)
launies galore (Jamie's murky musical past)
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It was in 1990, soon after his arrival from Europe, that Jamie O'Brien first gained attention on this side of the Atlantic: as guitarist with Medicinal Purpose, the Pennsylvania-based old timey band. With this group, he helped lead the current revival in contradancing and old timey music in the area. At the same time, he also continued to develop his career in Irish music, initially in the Philadelphia area.
Coming from a London-Irish family, he was introduced to Irish music at a young age. His earliest recollections are of family gatherings at which songs were sung, dances danced and stories told. Although he has performed in a number of styles over the years, he has always enjoyed returning to his Irish and Londoner roots.
He performed throughout the British Isles and Europe (he still tours Germany and France most years) and since arriving in the US has played across the Mid-Atlantic region and at top venues from Chicago to Washington, DC, from New York to the Hawaiian Islands, appearing at festivals large and small, concerts, house concerts, clubs, pubs and dances. He has established a reputation as a fine singer and inventive accompanist.
As a solo singer and guitarist, he presents his own individual approach to songs old and new: tradition with a contemporary touch. He is usually accompanied by fiddle, concertina, mandolin and/or percussion, as well as step dancers, occasionally.
For many years, he has been a highly sought after accompanist among Irish and celtic musicians -- he has played with such performers as John Brennan (fiddle, guitar), Aoife Clancy (vocals, guitar), Jim Eagan (fiddle), Ken Kolodner (hammered dulcimer, fiddle) and Mary Staunton (accordion, vocals) among others -- and has sat in with such bands as the Brennans, Last Night's Fun, Fieldstone and more.
Not only is he a founder member of Medicinal Purpose, he is also part of Fánaí, a noted traditional Irish band based in Alaska which he also helped form, as well as central PA's foremost Irish band, the Laune Rangers, and Shades of Green & Blue, a group which explores musical connections between the Old World and New. He performs annually with Grammy winner George Kahumoku Jr. as part of the “Celtic Aloha: Oceans Apart – Islands Together”.
After nearly two decades of living in Pennsylvania, Jamie has made his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He is available for bookings throughout the area. He also returns regularly for performances on the East Coast and is available for work throughout the US -- he also still tours Europe.
For more information, please contact Jamie at:
PO Box 741, Cortaro, Az 85652-0741
and this way to everything else...
media kit
phone: (717) 802-5783
email: jobrien @ launies.com (no spaces in that email address)
website: www.launies.com