LIVE FROM SAN FRANCISCO
Irish Music on Uilleann Pipes, Flute, Concertina, Tin Whistles, Melodeon, & Vocals
March 20, 2020, 5 PM PST (8 PM EST)
St. Patrick’s Day Quarantine Concert Series
Donate at:
https://www.paypal.me/concertinachick
https://www.paypal.me/uilleanner
Venmo: @Autumn-Rhodes
https://timhill1.bandcamp.com/album/ceol-ag-an-ngeata-music-at-the-gate
Tim Hill: uilleann pipes, tin whistle, flute
Autumn Rhodes: concertina, flute, tin whistle, melodeon, vocals
Autumn Rhodes and Tim Hill represent a musical pairing that is steeped in traditions of Ireland dating back over 200 years. The pairing of Autumn’s heavily rhythmic and pulsating style on the concertina and flute mixed with Tim’s relaxed yet deadly accurate uilleann piping results in a graceful and infectious sound that has drawn rapt audiences from both sides of the coast and the Atlantic. They continue to perform throughout the United States, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Midwest, as well as in northern New England.
Timothy Hill
One of the top young uilleann pipers in the United States, Tim Hill has spent the last decade studying and performing Irish traditional music in a variety of venues. Born in the Philadelphia area into a relatively non-musical family, Tim started his career with Irish music on bodhran (an instrument which he took first place in on two occasions at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Ceoil) before taking up the pipes at the age of 11. He received his first instruction on the instrument from one of the stalwarts of Irish music in the Philadelphia area, fluter and piper John Donnelly. After learning the basic rudiments of the instrument he moved on to study with legendary New York piper Jerry O’Sullivan, whom Tim counts as his first formative live influence, and Iowa piper Tim Britton, also of Philadelphia. Along with O’Sullivan, Tim also cites the playing of the older players such as Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Willie Clancy, Tommy Reck, and Patsy Tuohy. Brian McNamara, Gay McKeon, Benedict Koehler, Michael Cooney, Pat Mitchell are also strong influences. Tim learned the majority of his music from scrutinizing recordings of master musicians from this century and the last, as well as taking various piping classes. He cites the music of Clare, East Galway, and the Roscommon-Sligo regions as significant source music.
He has performed with the top tier of Irish traditional musicians, including Mick Moloney and The Green Fields of America, Paddy Keenan, Teada, Billy McComiskey, Tony DeMarco, Seamus Begley, Gabriel Donohue, and more. Tim was featured as a guest on Derry singer Paul Carroll’s 2011 album The Road You Take, which reached great acclaim in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.
Autumn Rhodes
Autumn Rhodes was raised in a household full of Irish music. At the age of 12, while living in rural Indiana, she was given a tin whistle for a birthday present and took to it right away. She hasn’t looked back – she started performing professionally the next year and hasn’t stopped since. She progressed to the flute shortly after, learning from master players such as Laurence Nugent, Kevin Henry, and John Williams. Equally renowned for both her flute and concertina playing, of which she is self-taught, Autumn’s musical prowess is further accentuated by her firm grasp of the art of unaccompanied singing in both English and Irish, citing singers such as Joe Heaney, Eithne Ni Uallachain, Aine Meenaghan, Cait Ni Gallchoir, Julie Henigan, Andy Irvine, Nic Jones, and countless others. She has taken first place in the Midwestern Fleadh Cheoil in flute, whistle, concertina, lilting, and sean-nos singing.
Throughout the years she’s toured throughout the United States and Ireland with bands such as Soltré, Míra, The Colleens, Purest Green, Edington, Barton, & Rhodes, The Bardic Apostles, Kennedy’s Kitchen, and The Wrenboys; she has played for various Irish dance groups including Siamsa, Celtic Fire, and Kaleidoscope, and has partnered up with Julie Henigan, Maldon Meehan, Susan Mashiyama, among others. She has lived in San Francisco since 2008, where she teaches music and performs with several of the Bay Area and West Coast’s top traditional music acts.