Badbelly Project on TG4, Sunday 25 March

Press release

Multi-instrumentalist Tom Hanway (Longford) and harmonica player Mike O'Connor (Limerick) appear this Sunday on TG 4, performing an original composition, for the highly acclaimed documentary series 'Ceird an Cheoil 2'. The programme will be aired on Sunday night, 25 March, 10 p.m., and again on Tuesday 27 March, 7.30 p.m.

Better known as the Badbelly Project, their special segment was filmed late in the evening in the programme's Belfast studio after a harrowing 8-hour road trip, following a cancelled Galway-Belfast flight due to gale-force winds and torrential rains. This inspired the title to their original bluesy breakdown, 'Long road to Belfast'. TG4 producers have compared the unstoppable duo to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

This programme is devoted to the harmonica. The series focuses on top craftspeople and musicians in Ireland, with performances and interviews from leading players, revealing their passion and love for their individual instruments. This series can be described as an exploration of beautiful crafts accompanied by the traditional music from Ireland and beyond. The Badbelly Project were selected by the TV producers specifically for their traditional American (non-Irish-traditional) musical approach.

The harmonica (or mouth organ) is an instrument normally associated with blues music, but has emerged in recent decades as a particularly admirable addition to the traditional Irish music session, thanks to a small handful of players. This programme looks at harmonica-maker and maestro player Brendan Power, and we hear performances from John and Pip Murphy, Mick Kinsella, Rick Epping, the Badbelly Project, and many more.