Biography
Ring of Kerry is an Irish music group. All five of its members sing and play several instruments. The group takes its name from a beautiful craggy drive in southwestern County Kerry, Ireland.
Personnel: Paul Finegan Cotton on bodhran, Paul Blondell on fiddle and mandolin, Mike Thole on guitar and vocals, Paul Imholte on hammered dulcimer and mandolin, and Kerie Oberg on vocals, flute, and pennywhistle.
From 2001 until early 2007 the band had the same five-man configuration, until flutist and pennywhistler George Zahn (still periodically included in the lineup) announced his intention to leave the group to devote more time to his family and teaching career.
Gary Currie, Canadian-born accordion player, then joined the band, but in October of 2007, suddenly died of a chronic illness. Oberg then became newest member of the band.
Russell Letson, a contributor to Guitar Magazine, wrote the following for Ring of Kerry's Live-in-Concert CD, St. Paddy's Eve.
"Ring of Kerry is in love with the music that the Irish and Scots took with them as they made their way from the Old World to the New. Here are tunes sweet and raucous, rough and smooth; tunes for dancing or drinking or loving or even working; songs about railroads and robbers, farms and pubs and the odd battlefield. The accents here might be mid-American, but the sentiments cross oceans and centuries with ease. This is living music, played live and lively, so raise your glasses and dance and sing along."
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