The Kane Sisters

The Kane Sisters put on a superb performance mixed with fast-paced reels and jigs and the whole gamut of traditional music with a blend of duets and solos laced with their charm, wit and down-home style.

Liz & Yvonne Kane come from a small village outside Letterfrack in Ireland’s western Connemara region, near where their grandfather Jimmy Mullen played fiddle for over 50 years. Music was an integral part of their upbringing. They have been playing together for years; learning from their grandfather’s playing and getting the encouragement of South Sligo musician and teacher Mary Finn McCrudden. They have a finely tuned, empathetic musical sensibility as one might expect from siblings.

Early in their fiddle playing they attended all the summer schools like Tobercurry and Drumshambo. Liz thrived as a competitor and won the 1992 Fiddler of Dooney competition in Sligo and became the All-Ireland senior fiddle and duet champion in 1995. She twice won the Fiddler of Oriel title. Yvonne didn’t like competitions and nonetheless became a full-time musician. Teaming up with her sister was a natural.

The fiddling sisters toured all over the world in the late 90s with accordionist Sharon Shannon as part of her Woodchoppers band. In September 2001 they recorded The Diamond Mountain Sessions with Shannon and guest artists like John Prine, Jackson Browne, Hothouse Flowers and Steve Earle. They also had guest appearances on two of Steve Earle’s albums in 2000 and 2002.

They ventured off on their own in 2002 and have been regaling audiences with their twin fiddles ever since. Heavily influenced by the style of South Sligo and the music of the incomparable East Galway composer Paddy Fahey, Liz and Yvonne debuted The Well Tempered Bow in 2002 to critical acclaim. Their second recording, Under the Diamond, garnered an esteemed place as well on Earl Hitchner’s Top 10 list in 2004 and he couldn’t help alluding to their earlier recording either.

"Under the Diamond" is as stirring as the Kanes’ superb debut in 2002, "The Well-Tempered Bow."
   Earl Hitchner, The Irish Echo