Sliotar

Spring 1997 three guys were asked to play a gig on St Patrick's day in Porterhouse, Dublin. As a result, Sliotar was born. Ray MacCormac (Whistle, Uilleann pipes, Vox), Des Gorevan (Percussion) and Klaus Harvey (Guitar, Vocals) started playing regular concerts around Dublin and soon gained strong following. Rays virtuoso whistle playing and Klauses song writing skills helped to create Sliotars trademark sound. Soon Sliotars annual concert schedule had extended to over 200 concerts per year and regular visits to continental Europe. Klaus was finding it hard to balance between working fulltime as a teacher and musician, and on autumn 2000 retired from Sliotar. The bands first album, The Porterhouse Sessions is a great document of Sliotars early years, with some of the material still gets played regularly on Bands concerts.

For many bands, loss of a member is more than the unit can take, but Des and Ray were not about to give up. And as it happened, J.P. Kallio (Guitar, Bouzouki, Vox) happened to be in need of some fresh musical ground which Sliotar was able to provide. So J.P. joined the band. After eight months of regular gigs in the Porterhouse and abroad. The bands set was as tight as ever and with the help of a good friend Paul Thomas, Sliotar went to the studio to record their second album. Eight months later Bi Liom Bi was released. The new album has brought Sliotars music to broader audience than ever and has expanded their concert circuit tremendously. Today Sliotar seems to be more confident and happier ever and 2003 is going to be their busiest year so far. So catch them on one of their live shows and it will be a night you wont forget.