Liam O'Connor (Irish musician)
Encyclopedia
Liam O'Connor is a multi-instrumentalist musician, described as "the Jimi Hendrix
of the accordion".
While young, O'Connor won the Beamish & Crawford award for best all-around musician from Conhaltas Ceoltori Eireann and was named an All-Ireland Champion.
and Lord of the Dance
. O'Connor toured with Lord of the Dance for two and a half years.
An innovative performer and multi-instrumentalist, O'Connor's live show combines elements of blues, jazz, reggae, samba, cajun and classical and is highly energetic. The show has attracted guests including Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley
, award-winning composer Mike Post
, Boy George
, actress Maureen O'Hara
, actor Patrick Bergin
, actor Terry O'Quinn
, and Candy Rock
.
O'Connor has sold out tours in the United States, Scandinavia, Italy and Australia. He has had the opportunity to perform in venues including: The Point, Slane Castle, World Expo China 2010, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Radio City Music Hall
, Sydney Opera House
, and Wembley Arena
. He is the only Irish musician to be asked to perform at the Ryder Cup
twice and performed in front of 170,000 people at the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Finals (Ireland's Superbowl) in Ireland's National Stadium six times. O'Connor has also played with the famous Artane Band and at the JP McManus pro-am golf tournament.
He also played at Thomand Park Stadium for Munster vs. Australia rugby match.
In 2006 O'Connor recorded the official anthem for the Gaelic Athletic Association
(GAA) "Morning Dew" with GAA broadcasting legend Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
and topped the Irish charts for six weeks.
O'Connor is listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 2008 as having the fastest fingers in the world. He has appeared on numerous television programs including Gay Byrnes The Late Late Show
, Kenny Live
, RTÉ
's Live at 3
, Open House (Ireland)
, Michael Aspels This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
, Seoige
and O'Shea, Vodafone Allstars, Michael Flately's tribute on the Late Late Show, Christie Hennessy
's TV documentary, RTÉ
News, Pat Kenny
's Late Late Show, and Ryan Tubridy
's Late Late Show.
in London by Geoff Pesche. The album was produced by John Themis. The record features many high profile performers including Themis himself, and seven-time Grammy winner Paul Wertico
, ex-Pat Metheny
Group member.
O'Connor performs at the Killarney Avenue Hotel May to October in Killarney
as the Liam O'Connor show. The show is in its eighth season.
He has an album releasing in mid-2011 featuring a new, original concerto with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
composed by Brian Byrne
.
Additionally, O'Connor is traveling to Nashville, Tennessee
to grow his presence in the United States.
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
of the accordion".
Early life
O'Connor was born in Newmarket, Co Cork to a musical family. At the age of 10 he joined his family's band, The O'Connor Family. The band was composed of O'Connor, his three brothers, his three sisters and his parents. They travelled the country playing with Comhaltas.While young, O'Connor won the Beamish & Crawford award for best all-around musician from Conhaltas Ceoltori Eireann and was named an All-Ireland Champion.
Music career
O'Connor signed a contract with MCA Universal Music in 1993 and released his debut album The Awakening with vocalist Lisa Aheme. The album was nominated for an IRMA award and caught the attention of Michael FlatleyMichael Flatley
Michael Ryan Flatley is an American Irish dancer, choreographer, actor, musician and occasional television presenter. He became internationally known for Irish dance shows Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and Celtic Tiger...
and Lord of the Dance
Lord of the Dance
Lord of the Dance may refer to:Personalities* Nataraja, Shiva in his dancing posture* Lord of the Dance, a title given to Jesus Christ in some musical adaptationsLiterature* Lord of the Dance , a 1984 novel by Father Andrew GreeleyMusic...
. O'Connor toured with Lord of the Dance for two and a half years.
An innovative performer and multi-instrumentalist, O'Connor's live show combines elements of blues, jazz, reggae, samba, cajun and classical and is highly energetic. The show has attracted guests including Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley is an English pop singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.-Early life:...
, award-winning composer Mike Post
Mike Post
Mike Post is an American multi-Grammy and Emmy Award winning composer best known for scoring some of the most popular TV theme songs in the United States, for primetime series such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, among numerous...
, Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
, actress Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
, actor Patrick Bergin
Patrick Bergin
Patrick Connolly Bergin is an Irish actor and singer. He may be best-known internationally for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy and is also known for his role as Irish terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in the film adaption of Patriot Games....
, actor Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
, and Candy Rock
Candy Rock
Candy Rock is a 2003 album by the Japanese rock group Shonen Knife. It is one of their few albums not to be released in the United States...
.
O'Connor has sold out tours in the United States, Scandinavia, Italy and Australia. He has had the opportunity to perform in venues including: The Point, Slane Castle, World Expo China 2010, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, and Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...
. He is the only Irish musician to be asked to perform at the Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
twice and performed in front of 170,000 people at the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Finals (Ireland's Superbowl) in Ireland's National Stadium six times. O'Connor has also played with the famous Artane Band and at the JP McManus pro-am golf tournament.
He also played at Thomand Park Stadium for Munster vs. Australia rugby match.
In 2006 O'Connor recorded the official anthem for the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
(GAA) "Morning Dew" with GAA broadcasting legend Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for the Irish national radio and television, RTÉ. In a career that has spanned six decades he has come to be regarded as the "voice of Gaelic games." His prolific career has earned him a place in Guinness World Records.-Early...
and topped the Irish charts for six weeks.
O'Connor is listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 2008 as having the fastest fingers in the world. He has appeared on numerous television programs including Gay Byrnes The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
, Kenny Live
Kenny Live
Kenny Live is an Irish weekly chat show on RTÉ that was hosted by Pat Kenny. The show debuted in 1988 and aired every Saturday night, except during the summer months, directly after the main evening news...
, RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
's Live at 3
Live at 3
Live at 3 was a popular Irish afternoon chat show broadcast live on RTÉ 1. Presented by Thelma Mansfield and Derek Davis, it was RTÉ's flagship daytime show from 1986 until 1997.-History:...
, Open House (Ireland)
Open House (Ireland)
Open House is an Irish afternoon television show broadcast on RTÉ One between 1998 and 2003. The last episode was broadcast in 2004. It was presented by Mary Kennedy and Marty Whelan and focused on lifestyle, cookery and human interest issues. Presenters included Dermot O'Neill, the popular...
, Michael Aspels This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
, Seoige
Seoige
Seoige was an Irish television chat show. The show, hosted by sisters Gráinne and Sile Seoige, was broadcast live on weekdays at 16:30 on RTÉ One, with a hiatus in the summer months. Episodes were repeated at 08:20 the following weekday morning on the same channel.The programme was originally...
and O'Shea, Vodafone Allstars, Michael Flately's tribute on the Late Late Show, Christie Hennessy
Christie Hennessy
Christie Hennessy was an Irish folk singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
's TV documentary, RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
News, Pat Kenny
Pat Kenny
Patrick "Pat" Kenny is an Irish broadcaster and former disc jockey and continuity announcer. He is employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is their highest paid presenter. He presents Today with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning between 10:00 and midday...
's Late Late Show, and Ryan Tubridy
Ryan Tubridy
Ryan Tubridy , affectionately known as "Tubs", is an Irish broadcaster and writer, a presenter of live shows on radio and television in Ireland. He has been described as "one of Ireland's most gifted broadcasters"...
's Late Late Show.
Current
In 2010 O'Connor released the album Tico Mystico, recorded at Shabby Road Studios and mixed at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in London by Geoff Pesche. The album was produced by John Themis. The record features many high profile performers including Themis himself, and seven-time Grammy winner Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests. Metheny heard the Simon Bard Group with Wertico and bassist Steve Rodby, and invited...
, ex-Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
Group member.
O'Connor performs at the Killarney Avenue Hotel May to October in Killarney
Killarney
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region are home to St...
as the Liam O'Connor show. The show is in its eighth season.
He has an album releasing in mid-2011 featuring a new, original concerto with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of the two full time professional orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to...
composed by Brian Byrne
Brian Byrne
Brian Byrne is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, best recognized as the second vocalist for I Mother Earth.-Biography:...
.
Additionally, O'Connor is traveling to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to grow his presence in the United States.
Discography
| Album | Performers | Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Awakening | Liam O’Connor and Lisa Aherne | 1996 |
| Live at City West Hotel CD | Liam O’Connor and Lisa Aherne | 2001 |
| Live at City West Hotel DVD | Liam O’Connor and Lisa Aherne | 2001 |
| Reel Spirit DVD | Liam O’Connor and Lisa Aherne | 2003 |
| Reel Spirit CD | Liam O’Connor and Lisa Aherne | 2003 |
| The Morning Dew | Liam O’Connor | 2006 |
| Tico Mystico | Liam O’Connor | 2010 |
Credits
| Album | Performers | Role | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord of the Dance Lord of the Dance Lord of the Dance may refer to:Personalities* Nataraja, Shiva in his dancing posture* Lord of the Dance, a title given to Jesus Christ in some musical adaptationsLiterature* Lord of the Dance , a 1984 novel by Father Andrew GreeleyMusic... |
Original Cast | Accordion | 1997 |
| Feet of Flames | Lord of the Dance Cast | Accordion | 1999 |
| The Two of Us | Christie Hennessy Christie Hennessy Christie Hennessy was an Irish folk singer-songwriter.-Early life:... |
Accordion | 2008 |
| The Day of My Return | Mike Denver | Accordion | 2009 |
Recognition
| Award | Date |
|---|---|
| 1st Ambassador of Killarney, Ireland | 2010 |
| IRMA Nomination | 1996 |
| Beamish & Crawford Award | |
| Guinness World Record- Fastest Fingers | 2008 |