The New Celtic Revival radio program welcomes world class button accordion player and composer, John Whelan for an interview on WBGU 88.1 FM this Monday (August 24, 2009) at noon.
Although John was born in England, his father Denis was from Wexford in County Clare, Ireland. As John grew up he won numerous music contests on the traditional button accordion. In 1980, he immigrated to America and in 1983 he won the All Ireland Senior Division, the most prestigious championship in all of traditional Irish music. He was only 14 years old when he released his first recording, the still highly sought after “Pride of Wexford.”
Since then, John has toured around the world and has released many outstanding recordings on the acclaimed Narada world music label. His recording career has including working with top musicians from many genres, such as Eileen Ivers and Joanie Madden from Irish American music, and bluegrass virtuosos Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas and country music star, Kathy Mattea, and Broadway star Bernadette Peters.
Most recently, John performed earlier this month to standing room only crowds at the Dublin (Ohio) Irish festival, which was attended by over 100,000 people.
Now, you might ask, why is this posted to the whistle section? Well, do you love artisan made wood whistles and/or flutes? Then just listen to my interview… 
The New Celtic Revival can be heard every Monday, between noon and 2:00 PM EDT on WBGU 88.1 FM and on the web at http://wbgufm.com
Online at http://test.wbgufm.com/player.html or on iTunes by going to “radio” and then clicking on “College/university radio” and then on “WBGU 88.1 FM.”