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August 2009 will see Pipeline’s 12^th visit to North America. In the last five years, the duo has indeed played all over that continent, from Owen Sound in Northern Canada right down to Memphis in Tennessee, - from New York City to Los Angeles, and from Cambria in Southern California right up to the beautiful wine country of Sebastopol north of San Francisco.The following are some of Pipeline’s favourite North American concert venues over the last couple of years:

Throughout these tours Pipeline has shared the stage with some of the finest musicians in the Celtic genre including Carlos Nunez, Lunasa, Davy Spillane, Sean Keane, Dervish, Tommy Makem, and The Fureys

As well as Pipeline’s regular Easter and Christmas tours of Austria, the duo has played Germany and Switzerland literally from top to bottom, - a concert deep in the bowels of the earth, in a uranium mine in the former Eastern Germany and a concert in front of four hundred very dangerous men in a high security jail in Bavaria! Further towards the East, they have visited The Czech Republic and Poland. Their latest excursion into southern climes, included The Scapoli Festival in Italy and two music festivals on the wonderful island of Sardinia. The annual New Year’s Concert with the celebrated Munich Symphony Orchestra proved one to be one of their highlights.

Pipeline with the Munich Symphony Orchestra

Aoife Clancy with Pipeline

This is the kind of meeting that doesn’t happen often!. The exquisite voice of ex Cherish The Ladies member Aoife Clancy and the combined multi-talents of the virtuoso Celtic duo Pipeline join to present a combination of songs and tunes which leaves nothing more to be said. Clancy and Pipeline’s Dermot Hyde and Tom Hake have met on the US circuit before of course, and it was in New York last year that they decided that the mix and the time was right.

“We are interested in presenting good quality music and it helps a lot if you understand each other,” says Dermot Hyde, uilleann piper , whistle player and vocalist of Pipeline. “Aoife plays great music, and has a fabulous sense of humour, “ he continues, “ She suits us well!” Indeed Aoife Clancy will no doubt have gleaned some of that typical Irish wit from her father Bobby Clancy of the celebrated Clancy Brothers.

“These things, like humour and the ability to feel sadness  are so important, as they are reflected directly in the music and become a part of it and the way you interpret it,” says Hyde. In the Clancy-Pipeline project, there are songs and pieces which will reflect these emotions, - from sad songs about the fate of Ireland during the Great Famine,  the mood changes to a light - hearted dance music  set within minutes. The contrast that is so typical  for the Celtic soul is there!

Clancy and Pipeline have enough experience in the business to know how to Combine Celtic in the right way. Like I said, - this is the kind of meeting that doesn’t happen often!. Take it when it comes your way!

Pipeline with Ralf Sotschek

Pipeline are now collaborating with Journalist and author Ralf Sotschek on a new project which involves humorous readings by Sotschek interspersed with the typical Pipeline sound of whistles, pipes, harps and song.