The Isle of Man/Glasgow four-piece have spent the past decade developing their distinctive take on Celtic music, combining virtuoso fiddle and bouzouki with keyboards, synths and drums. The result is fast, powerful and hugely rhythmic, with traditional melody always at the heart of their sound. Their 2027 Celtic Connections appearance comes hot on the heels of a new album, due for release ahead of the festival – their first new studio record since 2020’s critically acclaimed Livewire, which topped the iTunes World Music charts. Since their last Celtic Connections appearance, Mec Lir have continued to take their music to audiences around the world, with recent festival appearances including Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Montelago Celtic Festival, Wickham Festival and Sidmouth Folk Festival, alongside earlier appearances at Celtic Colours, Tønder Festival, Musika Bizian and Schots Weekend. Fronted by virtuoso Manx fiddle player Tomas Callister (Ímar), Mec Lir feature fellow Manx musician Adam Rhodes (Ímar) on bouzouki, David Kilgallon (Neear Nesañ) on keyboards and Scotland’s Greg Barry (Elephant Sessions) on drums. They are joined for their live shows by regular guests Paddy Callaghan on accordion and Lyle Watt on electric guitar.

Description supplied by the event organiser.