For over thirty-five years, including multiple studio recordings, musical collaborations, and awards, Cathie Ryan has been in the vanguard of Irish music. She sings with luminous clarity and has a gift for unearthing gems from the Irish and American song traditions, as well as crafting originals that fit perfectly along side them.

Cathie is a captivating performer whose shows are renowned for their intimacy and power – and a typically Irish sprinkling of storytelling. “There is nothing like a live show. I love the energy, the give and take, of being with an audience. And I love to have fun up there!” she says. Cathie happily shares the stage, and the show, with her award-winning band. Featuring Patsy O’Brien on guitar and Patrick Mangan on fiddle, the band weaves subtle arrangements and harmonies around Cathie’s vocals and raises the rafters with sets of traditional tunes.

Patsy O’Brien “is Ireland’s best kept musical secret” according to the Irish Examiner. He is an award winning songwriter and one of Irish music’s most respected guitar accompanists. Patsy’s guitar playing moves from driving rhythm to delicate and melodic finger picking. Of the range of emotion he draws from the guitar, The New Haven Advocate writes, “His music is stomping and ocean breezy – sure footed and fragile …” He has performed with The Cathie Ryan Band for the past eleven years and his interpretive skill and great wealth of talent shine out in Cathie’s concerts.

Fiddle virtuoso Patrick Mangan is held in very high esteem in the world of Irish traditional music. Earle Hitchner, critic of the Wall Street Journal, recently wrote that Patrick “embodies all that is admirable and durable about the Irish tradition in America.” At sixteen, he was invited to appear in Riverdance on Broadway, becoming the youngest fiddle player in the show’s history. He has twice earned the coveted All-Ireland fiddle championship – there is no higher honor for a traditional musician. And Patrick is no ordinary traditional musician.

Cathie has built a loyal following by touring internationally and singing “songs of the heart” at performing arts centers, festivals, folk clubs, and with symphony orchestras. She has been featured on national and public television and radio throughout the world, Irish America Magazine twice named her one of the “Top 100 Irish Americans” and liveireland.com has twice honored her as “Irish Female Vocalist of the Decade.” When not singing, Cathie leads tours of Ireland that focus on Irish music, folklore, myth, and history.