Fastest fiddle player in the world makes stop in Mohawk Valley: What to know

Editor's note: This event has been canceled.

In a world where the likes of pop stars such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, rappers like Drake and Lil Baby and rockers like Metallica dominate the airwaves and the concert stages, fiddle virtuoso Frankie Gavin is perfectly happy to be just what he is: one of the top traditional Irish fiddlers in the world.

“Traditional Irish music today has never been healthier, and that will last,” Gavin assures us. “It’s the most loved tradition across the globe.

“How can we go wrong?”

Become a part of that tradition when the legendary Irish fiddler and his equally accomplished accompanist Catherine McHugh appear in a rare upstate appearance Sunday, June 4 at 3 p.m. at the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley.

Born into a musical family in County Galway, Gavin played the tin whistle from the age of four and, later, the flute before teaching himself fiddle. Influenced by the likes of Joe Burke, the late Sean Keane, Eddie Maloney and 1920’s legends, James Morrison, Michael Coleman, and the Flanagan Brothers, at the age of 17, he gained first place in both the All-Ireland under-18 fiddle and flute competitions.

Gavin burst onto the international scene in 1974 when he co-founded one of the most celebrated bands in Irish traditional music history, De Dannan. After De Dannan broke up in 2003, Gavin embarked on a highly successful career as a solo artist that led to his selection as Ireland's 2018 Traditional Musician of the Year.

Over his illustrious career, Gavin has observed some changes in the world of trad music, and they haven’t all been to his liking.

“Some musicians appear to feel the need to toy with the music, just to put some stamp of their own on it for recognition purposes, which really disturbs me,” he notes. “I don’t get or appreciate it. My advice is, listen to the greats of the past, and you can’t go wrong.”

But while he’s best known as a traditional performer, he’s also not afraid to branch out. Stints on stage or in the studio with artists like The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Stéphane Grappelli, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood have won him a new generation of converts anxious to hear the man named in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest fiddle-player in the world.

“You’d be amazed. At our gigs here and at home in Ireland, I’m seeing kids, teenagers with their parents and grandparents at our shows,” notes Gavin, “and it’s an amazing experience when all of those generations ask for your autograph or for you to sign their CDs.”

Tickets are $20 in advance, available at the Five Points Pub in the ICCMV or online at eventbrite.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Utica to host fiddle virtuoso Frankie Gavin: How to see the show