Vinnie Kilduff- Musician and songwriter

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Written by Administrator

Wednesday, 03 January 2007

While living on Inis Mor during the 1980s, Grammy award-winning musician, songwriter and producer Vinnie Kilduff was so impressed by the local and visiting musicians and Sean Nos singers on the island that he and Irene Keogh, the former manager of Windmill Lane Recording Studios, held many recording sessions on the island in a bid to capture the music of these extraordinarily talented performers.

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What emerged was a well-recorded, wealth of music from a variety of excellent musicians, some of whom have since passed away. Content in the knowledge that he had captured some special and unique performances on tape, Vinnie put the tapes into storage. Amazingly, these valuable recordings lay untouched until he re-located to Galway last year.

Once word was out that these tapes existed, interest in the recordings came from a variety of other musicians, including the Waterboys, Patrick Bergin, Frankie Gavin, Sean Smith, Steve Cooney and Brendan O'Regan. Vinnie decided to publish the recordings, keeping the link with Inis Mor and benefiting the Aran Islands Lifeboat, the most important lifeline to the Aran Islands. The lifeboat, which is the busiest in Ireland, cost €3 million and its upkeep is very costly.

Several artists offered their music to be included with these lost recordings, which culminated with a double CD being launched on Inis Mor in October. Mike Scott and Patrick Bergin donated original music and poetry performances for the CD.

Vinnie Kilduff is a native of Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo. An only child, his father taught him to play the tin whistle when he was just four years old. He subsequently learned to play guitar, uileann pipes, mandolin, bodhran and harmonica, in addition to singing and song writing.

After secondary school, he attended the College of Music in Dublin. He then worked as a film editor for a time, most notably with actress Fionnuala Flanagan on James Joyce's 'Women', 'The Outcasts' and the 'Hands and Patterns' television series.

Vinnie's first musical break was as a musician on U2's 'October' tour. He also played on the band's 'War' tour, which played both Irish and European dates. Other musical highlights include participating in Clannad's last world tour from 1996 to 1998 and winning a Grammy with the group in 1998.

He was one of the founder members of In Tua Nua with Leslie Dowdall, the first band to sign to U2's Mother label in 1983. Vinnie departed some two years later to work with The Waterboys. He co-produced 'Fisherman's' Blues' with Mike Scott in the late 1980s. After this landmark album, he went on to work on five Clannad records.

The Mayo man found time to record a solo album, the traditional 'The Boys From Bluehill', which was released in 1990. Following a stint in Killarney, he re-located to Barna last year and is busily working on his new solo album, which will be released in 2007. He is also making a documentary of the changing face of the Aran Islands, in addition to writing music for documentaries and films.

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