Blarney Star Concert Series: Joey Abarta & Nathan Gourley

Boston based Uilleann piper Joey Abarta and fiddler Nathan Gourley are two of America’s greatest Traditional Irish musicians, who have been playing music together daily since 2013. Their debut duo album best displays their talents, both as individuals and as a pairing.

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Joey Abarta has spent more than half his life traveling, teaching, and performing music on the uilleann pipes. Originally from California, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club. In 2009, Joey’s wonsecond place title worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. In 2014 Joey won first prize at the An tOireachtas, becoming the the first American uilleann piper to do so since 1969. Currently based in Boston, Joey divides his attention between performance, teaching, and recording. In addition to performing solo, he performs with his wife, old-style step dancer Jaclyn O'Riley, Nathan Gourley of “Life is all Checkered", and has toured with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America. He is currently the acting President of the Boston Pipers Club (1908-present) and through the club organizes uilleann piping workshops and concerts for its members and public. Joey is also the president of The Patrick J. Touhey Memorial Weekend, an annual festival focusing on historical presentations and workshops based around early American piping styles and pipers. In 2018 Joey was invited by Na Píobairí Uilleann to represent piping in America by performing for the president of Ireland at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, Ireland. The concert was a part of the country's celebration of uilleann piping being recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

A former member of Chulrua, the Doon Ceili Band, the Two Tap Trio, and the Máirtín de Cógáin Project, fiddler and guitarist Nathan Gourley started playing music at age five. After college, Nathan moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and quickly immersed himself in the local Irish music community. Inspired by the playing of James Kelly, Tommy Peoples, and Brian Rooney, Nathan started attending and recording all the sessions he could find. In Minnesota he had the opportunity to collaborate with such renowned players as Paddy O’Brien of Chulrua, Daithi Sproule of Altan, Brian Miller of Bua, and Norah Rendell of The Outside Track. It was during this time that Nathan refined his personal style and expanded his repertoire, all the while developing an elaborate network of musical colleagues throughout the country. In 2012 Nathan visited Boston and was immediately drawn in by the city’s vibrant traditional Irish music scene. He decided to move in with his friend and fellow musician, uillean piper Joey Abarta, and hasn’t looked back. Nathan can be seen playing at concerts, ceilis, sessions and festivals in Boston and throughout the United States and Ireland.

Host or Publisher The New York Irish Center