Tim Edey is 27 years old and is regarded by many leading musicians wordlwide to be one of the finest DG melodeon/accordeon and guitar players and multi-instrumentalists of his generation in the Celtic music folk scene worldwide

 

From Broadstairs in Kent, a coastal town where the sea serves an important role in everyday life, and this along with his parents strong folk&jazz music+song interests with his fathers guitar playing, has influenced Tim’s music a lot having lived since childhood mostly afloat on board family built wooden yacht’s!

 

A mixture of dazzling technical ability, soulful feel, musical charisma and amazing instrumental improvisation have made Tim a highly in demand session musician both in studio+on stage.

 

He is a current master of more than ten instruments including; melodoen, accordeon, guitar, banjo, bass, piano, mandolin, whistle, bodhran and bouzouki. Tim’s biggest musical influences are; his parents, Steve Cooney, Ed Boyd, Django Rheindhart, Sharon Shannon, Seamus Begley, Luke Daniels, Michael McGoldrick+Capercaillie and more recently harmonica genius Brendan Power.

 

To date Tim has appeared live on the Jools Holland show on the BBC with the Brendan Power trio, has composed a track for Sharon Shannon, “Little Bird” which appears on Sharon’s latest cd “the Sharon Shannon collection”  which has been very high in the Irish charts and is selling internationally very well with platinum status in Eire. And also has been a member of the Sharon Shannon and the Woodchoppers band with whom Tim toured with in the Uk+Ireland in the year 2000 and Tim recently played on BBC Tv with Sharon on the Blackstaff sessions and Ireland’s biggest morning breakfast show the Pat Kenny show. Tim played+filmed with Ireland’s greatest female singer Mary Black in Dingle for the Rte Rnag Tv special “Nollaig an Daingean” or Christmas in Dingle in 2005. He played a sell out concert with The Frankie Gavin band on St. Patrick’s day 2006 in Dublin, has played, filmed+recorded with legendary Dingle accordeonist+singer Seamus Begley of Begley+Cooney fame in both Ireland+London numerous times and as a member of the Michael McGoldrick trio playing to more than 15,000 people in galicia also later that night playing on stage with world famous band Capercaillie and on stage with Donal Lunny+Altan while with Michael McGoldrick and Bodhran legend Jon Jo Kelly in the renowned O’Riada concerts at Dublin’s National concert hall, played sell out concerts in Scotland with supergroup Session A9 and appears on numerous recordings with:

 

Michael McGoldrick, Mary Black, Session A9, Frankie Gavin+Rick Epping, Steve Cooney, Lunasa “Se” latest album Tim co-arranger/guitarist, the Daily Planet, Frankie Gavin, BBC Southeast/Scotland/Northern Ireland, Seamus Begley, Charlie McKerron+Donald Shaw, BBC Scotland, Kate Purcell, Steafan Hannigan, Su Hart from Baka Beyond, Troy MacGillivray, Breda+Cora Smyth and more.

 

Tim started playing Irish folk music at the age of four on the piano followed by piano accordion at six and whistle. Encouraged by his parents his father Richard is a fine guitarist, both sets of grandparents and local Dubliner Enda Mccabe to play. his Mum is from Dublin and very much into the Irish music of her native land and his dad is a fine guitarist+singer who grew up in Ireland and plays lots to this day.

 

Tim was also brought up listening in his parents kitchen and on family boating holidays, to the legendary French jazz musicians Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli who are still regarded as the best Jazz guitar and violin players of all time. Tim loves improvising and has often been described as an Irish jazzer!  

 

Tim attended the many sessions at his local Broadstairs Folk festival from an early age and played lots with musicians who travelled to the festival like; Dave Mallinson, David Taylor, John Smedley, Gina Le Faux, Brendan Power and two box players Luke Daniels and Ben Dauncey who were Tim’s earliest squeezbox heros and still remain a big influence.

 

At the age of fourteen Tim was introduced to the melodeon by Ben Dauncey and Gareth Turner and was sold a tape, by Sharon Shannon from local record man Andy Pigg and Begley+Cooney by his close friend Rick Clarke who introduced and encouraged Tim lots and orchestrated the trip to Ireland to record at Steve Cooney’s studio in 1997.

 

The tape, Sharon’s first ever solo album, was to change Tim’s musical life forever! Tim fell in love with her music and also Steve Cooney’s guitar+bass playing and these to musicians along with Seamus Begley and Dermot Byrne+all other people mentioned here, have hugely influenced Tim’s music.

 

At the age of fifteen while out of school for musical reasons, he practised the d/g melodeon and later classical guitar from 8am till 8pm quite literally every day till he was eighteen while gigging most nights with Enda McCabe.

 

Determined to play in the style of his heroes Tim was taken to see the West Kerry/Aborigine duet of Seamus Begley and Steve Cooney “Begley+Cooney” play on Easter Friday at the Swan, London’s best Irish trad pub when he was fifteen by two close musical friends Enda McCabe and Rob McGoerge.

The concert was another turning point in his life even at such a young age.

 

Tim was astounded by the duo, their music, the craic, the singing and how a duo could make a sound bigger than most rock groups! With just a classical guitar+accordeon!

Tim was introduced to the men after the gig upstairs at the Swan and Steve played for a couple of hours with Tim playing the box and also gave Tim a guitar lesson.

 

The generosity of musicians like Cooney and Begley to take time to encourage and teach after a gig like this was and still is a lesson that every successful musician should heed.

 

To cut a long story short Tim was introduced to  then joined Red Ciel guitarist Ed Boyd’s band and featuring bodhran supremo John Price R.I.P.

Touring the Uk and Norway with them Tim was again influenced heavily this time by Ed’s unique and original style of playing and it was Ed who introduced Tim to the music of the Mancunian Michael McGoldrick at a Ceoltas ball in Manchester in 1998, Tim was amazed at Mike’s ability to play any instrument handed to him including the melodoen! and feel’s that Michael sets the standard of todays Celtic music.

 

Tim lived and worked in Sweden and Finland from the year 1998-2000 playing  guitar on board the Silja cruise line ships on the Baltic routes in the popular Irish Dance show “Irish folk ballet company”.

He was accordeon player in German based Magic of the Dance from 2000-2001 touring every country in Europe.

 

Tim’s biggest break came in 2000 when he joined the Sharon Shannon and Woodchoppers band on an extensive tour of the Uk and Eire playing in the Royal Albert Hall alongside Paul Brady, Jack L and the Hothouse Flowers. Not bad for a boy from Kent!

 

Then joining bands Anam and Lunasa  with whom he recorded one album “Se” also co-arranging and composing with them and touring all over Europe playing most of the biggest folk festivals. There followed other gigs including

tours with Michael McGoldrick in Belgium, UK and Spain;

 playing guitar with Mary Black and Pat Crowley on the RTE rnag tv special “Nollaig an Daingean” along with playing live on the Jools Holland show on the BBC with Brendan Power+Lucy Randall has given Tim great experience in television performance.

 

Currently Tim plays in his solo project The Tim Edey Band featuring Brendan Power+Lucy Randall plus he is a member of Scottish supergroup session a9 and the Frankie Gavin+Hibernian Rhapsody band. And plays+tours regularly with Seamus Begley, the popular Denmark based groups Trad Lads and dance group Greensteps with whom he guests regularly in Copenhagen, The Sharon Shannon band, Julie Fowlis Band and with Michael McGoldrick+Dezi Donnelly.