An evening of stunning traditional Irish, British Isles, and original holiday music that will transport you to the quiet, small villages of rural Ireland through the songs, tunes, and stories most familiar to these two world-class artists. An open Irish session at 6 pm kicks off the evening.

Their nearly telepathic musical connection began in the truly groundbreaking Irish-American band, Solas. Both now have flourishing high-profile solo careers and periodically come together to brush off some Solas standards and lots of their individual material, played together, for these magical musical evenings. Both natives of Ireland and each from musical families, John Doyle and Mick McAuley are true powerhouses in traditional Irish music.

“Doyle on guitar has risen to a level occupied by him alone. No one in Irish traditional music is a better guitarist” —Earle Hitchener, Wall Street Journal

“Doyle’s superpowered accompaniment in trad-music settings is a marvel.” —Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Acoustic Guitar Magazine

“Mick McAuley’s music has a fascinating electrical energy!” —Irish Music Magazine

“From his stellar role as a member of Solas, Mick McAuley has truly emerged as a solo artist.” —Brian O’Donovan, WGBH

John Doyle

John Doyle’s influences include well-known English folk singers Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson and The Watersons; Scottish singers Dick Gaughan and John Martin; fellow Irishmen Paul Brady and Al O’Donnell; and his father, Sean Doyle — probably the biggest influence of all.

Having started his professional career at the age of 16, John went on to form the highly acclaimed supergroup, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey and Winifred Horan, which took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements.

Since then, John’s flourishing solo career, highly regarded solo albums, and in-demand studio prowess as producer have made him one of the busiest artists in all of traditional music. He is a Grammy nominated artist for his recording with fiddler Liz Carroll, “Double Play”, has performed at the White House, was music director for folk music legend Joan Baez, guitarist for Mary Chapin Carpenter, and has recorded and/or performed with a who’s who of folk, Celtic, bluegrass and old-time music, including Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, Kate Rusby, Eileen Ivers, Karan Casey, Rodney Crowell and the legendary Eric Clapton. His recording credits number in the hundreds.

John’s original rhythmic and percussive guitar style has been emulated by guitarists all over the world. Widely considered the finest Celtic guitarist performing today, John is also a powerful singer and highly regarded songwriter.

Mick McAuley

Mick McAuley is an Irish musician, composer and songwriter who has recorded and toured internationally for many years. While his music is rooted firmly in the Irish tradition, he has been part of a movement which continues to push the musical boundaries of that tradition to bring Irish music to a wider and more diverse audience around the world.

As a long-time member of the Irish-American ensemble SOLAS, he has recorded and toured nine albums with them and received widespread international acclaim. The Boston Herald hailed SOLAS as “the best Irish traditional band in the world”.

A multi-instrumentalist, Mick plays accordion, melodeon, concertina, whistles and guitar and been a guest on many recordings and performances including Patti Larkin, Paul Brennan (of Clannad), Susan McKeown and Mick Hanly among many others. Most recently, Mick spent many months as accordionist for Sting in his Broadway production, "The Last Ship." Mick’s debut solo album, An Ocean’s Breadth, was awarded Best Celtic Album of the Year by The Washington Post.