Frankie Gavin has played fiddle and flute since his teenage years. At the age of seventeen, he won All-Ireland competitions for fiddle and flute. Originally influenced by the great Irish and American-Irish fiddle players, James Morrison, and Michael Coleman, he later found himself playing with stars: The Rolling Stones, Stephane Grappelli, James Galway and Yehudi Menuhin as well as with many of the great contemporary players and singers of traditional Irish music. All have left their mark on his eclectic approach to music. In 2010, he officially became the world’s fastest fiddle player when he played The Foxhunter’s Reel, at a breath-taking 150 beats per minute!

In his time, Gavin has played for four American presidents, starting, as a six-year old, when he played for John F. Kennedy on his 1962 visit to Ireland, then later for Presidents Clinton, Bush and Barack Obama. He has also played for the France’s President Mitterrand, Britain’s Prince Charles (now King Charles III), Prince Albert of Monaco and, in front of the Pope on his last visit to Ireland.

Perhaps most importantly, the name Frankie Gavin is synonymous with De Dannan, the globally renowned band he founded with Alec Finn in the mid-1970s. After a short break, in the early 2000s, Frankie started a new version of the band with a young line-up. But two years, to the surprise and delight of many, the old band reformed and played a few special gigs, perhaps most nostalgically at Spiddal, near Galway where De Dannan was born.

Fans of De Dannan will delighted to hear that there is a stunning new young line-up, comprising, Frankie on fiddle and flute, Catherine Mc Hugh on keys, Dairmuid Ó Meachair on melodeon, Ian Kinsella on guitar, and Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz on vocals and cello. The new band played at a number of festivals in Summer 2023, including Wickham (UK), Tonder (Denmark), and Ballyshannon.

Frankie is also working in a duo with Catherine McHugh, who is widely regarded as Ireland’s foremost piano accompanist and is featured on Frankie’s new album Port Eireann. They are currently touring Ireland to promote this excellent 18-track recording of traditional music. They also appeared at the Lorient Interceltic Festival, Brittany in August 2023. Wherever they have appeared, they have been greeted with rapturous applause and standing ovations. 

Frankie’s other recent musical involvements have included The Princess Grace Symphonic Suite, composed by Frankie and arranged by Carl Hession, which was performed in Monaco with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2022 in front Princess Grace’s son, Prince Albert.  It is expected that the suite will performed in Ireland, the USA, and elsewhere in the not-too-distant future.

The Roaring 20s Irish Orchestra, a band formed to recreate the sound of the Flanagan Brothers, who emigrated to New York in 1911 and became famous for their songs and dance music throughout the 1920s and 1930s.  A recording of this music, By Heck, was released in 2018. This “orchestra” comprises Frankie on fiddle, Emma Corbett on melodeon, Martin Murray on banjo, Carl Hession on piano, and a 4-piece brass ensemble.