16 August 2022

Anthony Hannigan

As the dates of this year's Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival approach, the BIB learns with regret of the recent death of Anthony Hannigan (right), mandolinist of the powerful Pennsylvania band Hickory Project, after a long struggle with cancer. The band played several times in Ireland and were headliners at successive Dunmore East festivals, as well as playing at Omagh.

Hickory Project also toured in Europe, and made an important contribution to the La Roche Bluegrass Festival (now renamed 'Bluegrass in La Roche'), at which they played six times. The news of Anthony's death reached La Roche-sur-Foron on 7 August, the final day of this year's festival (see Michael Luchtan's report on the festival on Bluegrass Today). A tribute to him by French musician François Vola on Facebook has been republished on the European Bluegrass Music Association Facebook.

Hickory Project's dazzling fiddle player Sue Cunningham died nearly seven years ago (see the BIB for 14 Sept. 2015). As well as being stunning performers, the band's members were active in music instruction, both in workshops and online; and the Project's banjo-player David Cavage continues to make hundreds of banjo lessons available, free of charge.

© Richard Hawkins

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