The Harvey Brothers

New Album "The Lads of Laois" Out Now!

The Lads of Laois

The Lads of Laois is Robert and James Harvey’s first duet album on flute, banjo, mandolin and tin whistle on a set of sixteen new tracks accompanied by Caoimhín Ó Fearghail on guitar, Ryan Molloy on Piano and Niall Preston on bodhrán. The album showcases music from County Laois and its environs, combining tunes by composers Sean Ryan, John Brady, James Harvey, Jerry O’Sullivan, Robert Gleeson, Joe Keegan among others, with tunes from older publications of traditional music since the 1780s.

The project was inspired by lockdown projects for Laois County Council and Comhaltas which led to Robert and James reflecting on the lesser-known repertoire from their homeplace, resulting in an introspective selection of tunes that showcases the beauty of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The CD was recorded at Roundwood House in July 2023 produced by Laoise O’Brien and engineered by Grammy Award winner Ben Rawlins.

James Harvey

Banjo and Mandolin player, James Harvey, studied Irish Music at the Irish World Academy of music where he graduated with first class honours in 2012. By the age of 16, he achieved many accomplishments including four in a row All-Ireland Banjo titles, a further 3 All-Ireland Mandolin titles and became the Senior World Fleadh Banjo Champion. He recorded four studio albums with the band Goitse, with whom he won a number of awards including Live Ireland’s ‘Trad Group of the Year 2015’ and the ‘Freiburger International Leiter Music Award’ in 2016.He has also become a sought after Banjo Teacher with a number of his pupils winning All-Ireland titles. He has taught at many workshops in Ireland and in Europe and has taught master classes at University of Limerick. He is currently working as a secondary school music teacher and he also teaches in ‘Peter Dee’s Academy of Music’, Limerick, directed by Denis Carey.

“…virtuoso James Harvey. His ability to transcend genres, combined with his unparalleled technical ability is a joy to behold.” – Journal of Music 2015.

Robert Harvey

Seven times All-Ireland Champion, flute player Dr. Robert Harvey was selected by Donal Lunny as flute player for the TG4 series “Lorg Lunny”, which resulted in the formation of the band Ciorras,with whom he released the album ‘Silver Lining’ and toured extensively internationally. In 2020, Robert released his critically acclaimed solo flute album ‘Feochán’. Robert played the part of ‘Frank the Robin’ in Universal Studio’s ‘The Christmas Letter’ narrated by Kate Winslet and also features in the RTÉ produced animated children’s show ‘Peak Zoo’ as well as the recently released CD ‘Songs of Zelda: A Link to the Celts’, produced by Eimear Noone and Craig Garfinkle. As a member of the National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, he has featured in the shows Boroimhe, Macalla 1916, Legacy and Oriel Wave.

Robert has also toured internationally with the Katerina Garcia Band, the Traditional Arts Collective, among others. Notable performances include a concert at Celtic Connections broadcast on BBC, Forbidden City Concert Hall Beijing, National Centre for Performing Arts Beijing, Saarang World Music Festival Chennai, The Barbican Theatre London, National Concert Hall Dublin in addition to performing at numerous state events including at Áras an Uachtarain, Dublin Castle, The Mansion House for Presidents Michael D. Higgins and Mary McAleese and visiting international dignitaries. Robert is currently co-ordinating a project on behalf of Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann which will result in the publication of a book and CD titled Feadáil: The Whistling Tradition in Ireland.
Robert is musical director of Ceoltóirí Óga Laighean and the DCU traditional music ensemble. In 2024, Robert released a duet album with Tara Viscardi entitled ‘Beara’. Robert studied music in Trinity College Dublin and Conservatory of Music and Drama DIT, where he graduated with first class honours and was presented with the President’s Gold in 2010. Robert recently completed PhD research on Traditional Composition in the East Galway Style. Robert currently lectures in Irish music in Trinity College Dublin, and is a well-established teacher of flute, tin whistle, whistling and lilting with numerous all-Ireland Champion students. He is in demand as a teacher and guest lecturer at festivals and workshops having taught at Scoil Eigse and Bernard’s Summer School in Prague among many others.