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Dónal Lunny is an Irish musician
The early years
Dónal Lunny was born in 1947 in Tullamore, then moved to Newbridge, Country Kildare. As a teenager he joined a band called "Rakes of Kildare", with Christy Moore. The strangely name Emmet Spiceland was an amalgam of two bands. Dónal joined them and recorded one album with them in 1968. They were a vocal harmony group and reached number one in Ireland with a single "Mary From Dungloe". In 1971 he played on "Prosperous", the first album by Christy Moore.
The Irish Bouzouki
Both Dónal Lunny and Andy Irvine have some claim to introducing the bouzouki to Irish music. Dónal ordered a custom-built bouzouki, with a flat back instead of a traditional Greek rounded back. This made it more comfortable to play. In 1981 he went one step further by creating an electric bouzouki.
Three Irish Bands
The musicians from "Prosperous" assembled in 1972 under the name Planxty. The band became a leading exponent of Irish traditional instrumental music for the next ten years. In 1975 Dónal left them to form The Bothy Band, playing guitar and bouzouki. They disbanded in 1978. Dónal became a session musician on "Davey and Morris", the first album to feature Shaun Davey. Dónal then got together with Christy Moore again in 1981, to form Moving Hearts. Another founding member was the young uilleann piper, Davy Spillane. All three of these bands are held in great respect.
Dónal as producer
When Moving Hearts broke up in 1985, Dónal diversified. He learned keyboards and mandolin and became a producer. He played on several Christy Moore albums, and was a producer and session musician on Kate Bush albums. He played bouzouki and bodhran on Shaun Davey's "Granuaille". He played on the soundtrack of the film "This Is My Father" and the TV program "The River of Sound". He was the producer of "Bringing it all Back Home". He produced albums for Paul Brady, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, Indigo Girls, Clannad and Baaba Maal. He appeared on compilation albums - "Gathering" in 1981 and "Common Ground" in 1996. He recorded a solo album "Coolfin" in 1998. He appeared at the 2000 Cambridge Folk Festival and the album that commemorated it. In 2001 Dónal Lunny collaborated with Frank Harte on the album "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte". As an arranger he has worked for the Waterboys, Fairground Attraction and Eddi Reader. "Journey" (2000) is a retrospective album. In 2004 Dónal was part of the reunited Planxty concert. Momas Lunny, also a musician, is Dónal's brother.
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