ABOUT Brendan
Brendan McCreanor is one of Ireland's most acclaimed traditional musicians — a performer, educator, BA (Hons.) Music graduate, founding member of the celebrated County Louth band Kern, and co-founder of Your Roots Are Showing (YRAS), the internationally recognised music conference and global music network based in Belfast.
Born and raised in Dunleer, County Louth, Brendan's music is rooted in the rich Oriel tradition of the Ulster-Leinster border. His early years were deepened by time spent in County Kerry and Glasgow, where he immersed himself in the broader world of Celtic music before taking his playing to stages across the globe.
Over more than 25 years of international performance, Brendan has shared the stage with some of the most respected names in Irish traditional, Americana, folk, and country music — among them Rhiannon Giddens, Sharon Shannon, Jim Lauderdale, Donal Lunny, Alison Brown, Ron Block, Peter Rowan, Dirk Powell, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Enda Scahill, Gerry O'Connor, Kenny Sharp, Amy Grant, Sandy Kelly, and Michael Flatley. He has performed on stages across Russia, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Indonesia, and throughout Europe — and has been honoured to perform for Irish Presidents Michael D. Higgins and Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Ian Paisley Jr.
With Kern, Brendan helped shape a distinctly modern voice in Irish folk, blending uilleann pipes, fiddle, and vocals with an indie-folk sensibility across two acclaimed albums, False Deceiver and The Left and the Leaving. His music has been featured on RTÉ, TG4, and RTÉ Radio 1, and was a longtime fixture of Irish traditional programming on Boston's PBS station WGBH — making him a familiar and trusted voice in the Irish-American community.
Brendan is also a published contributor to The Companion to Irish Traditional Music — the definitive academic reference work on the tradition — across all three editions, placing him among the small group of musicians and scholars considered authoritative voices on Irish trad.
A formally trained musician with a BA (Hons.) in Music, Brendan began teaching at the age of 16. In the quarter century since, he has guided hundreds of students from complete beginners to serious traditional musicians, including acclaimed young piper Fiachra Meek. His teaching spans whistle, uilleann pipes, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo, as well as the often-overlooked art of session playing — how to listen, respond, and hold your own among other musicians.
Alongside his performing and teaching career, Brendan has also worked with Music and Health Ireland, bringing music into hospitals, healthcare settings, and care homes. Through this work, he has seen firsthand the power of traditional music to connect people, support wellbeing, and create moments of comfort, memory, and joy across generations.
Whether you are a member of the Irish diaspora looking to reconnect with your roots, a folk or Americana musician drawn to the trad tradition, or simply someone who has always wanted to learn — you will be in exceptionally good hands.