PORT TOWNSEND — Button accordion player John Whelan and fiddler Brian Conway, both All-Ireland champions on their respective instruments, will bring traditional Irish music to the Friends Meeting House at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Tickets to the performance at the meetinghouse at 1841 Sheridan St. are available for $20 at the door or in advance online at Brown Paper Tickets, www.brownpaperticdkets.com/event/4297664.
Both men have appeared previously in Port Townsend but separately. Whelan played at the Friends Meeting House last year and Conway was a featured performer and teacher at Centrum’s Fiddle Tunes Festival.
Although they live on opposite sides of the continent now, they have played together over three decades and currently perform in the band Galifean.
Whelan grew up in the London music scene in the 1970s. Along with seven All-Ireland titles, he was twice named “Musician of the Year” by the Irish Music Association.
He has recorded more than 15 CDs, has performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and has had his music featured on a number of television shows.
He currently performs with The John Whelan Band, as well as Galifean.
Conway is one of the premier Irish fiddle players living in America, according to a press release.
He has won numerous All-Ireland fiddling competitions, including the All-Ireland senior championship.
New York born to Irish parents, Conway is a leading exponent of the Sligo fiddling style made famous by the late Michael Coleman and passed on to him by Martin Wynne and Andy McGann.
John Whelan
