Anam
THE MUSIC:  Anam’s music is continually evolving.  Although predominantly rooted in the Celtic traditions they have always sought to push the traditional boundaries forward while still respecting their rich musical heritage.  With Irish, Scottish, English and Cornish members in the group, there is a wealth of influence and tradition among them. 

Their material is an eclectic mixture of traditional and original songs and tunes, which are drawn not only from the Celtic idiom, but also from other musical styles including jazz, blues, singer/songwriter, Eastern European and other world music.  The group’s live instrumental line-up is vocals, guitar, bodhrán, bouzouki, mandolin, fiddle, button accordion and whistle.

Music critics often comment on the strength of their arrangements of traditional and contemporary songs and tunes.  Anam’s popularity with all ages and musical tastes has been attributed to this refreshing approach, along with the band's original compositions and the stunning vocal harmonies. 

Anam continue to record, tour and play to new audiences around the world.  Over the past 3 years Anam have played major international festivals and venues, including: Folk Alliance Conference (official showcase), Memphis, USA; Port Fairy Folk Festival, Australia; Taipei National Concert Hall, Taiwan; Altan Festival, Tokyo, Japan; The Fleadh, London, England; Sidmouth Festival, England; Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland; Dranouter Festival, Belgium, Milwaukee Irish Festival, USA; San Francisco Celtic Festival, USA.

HISTORY:  Anam was formed as a college band by Brian Ó hEadhra in Dublin, Ireland in the autumn of 1992.  Their first concert appearance was at the L’Orient Interceltic Festival in Brittany, where they were awarded a trophy for being the best band of the festival.

The concept of the band was to play original and traditional Celtic music with a b Gaelic language influence.  Over the next few years Anam continued to evolve, changing instrumentation and members while touring as a semi-professional unit.

Anam returned to L'Orient in 1994 where they met Aimée Leonard, from the Orkney Islands, Scotland.  Aimée joined Anam that winter.  By February 1995 Anam had released two albums, 'Anam' and 'Saoirse', on their own record label, 'Ceirníní Anam', both of which have been very well received by critics.

With increased touring, Anam soon became a fully professional band, and in the summer of 1995 were joined by Dubliner, Treasa Harkin.  Soon after, the band were approached by JVC/Victor Entertainment (Inc), the Tokyo based record company, and a recording deal was signed for Anam to record an album which was to become 'First Footing'.

Anam relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland in January 1997 where they met with mandolin/bouzouki player, Neil Davey, from Cornwall.  Neil joined the band in May of that year and Anam released their fourth album, 'Riptide' in the spring of 1998. 

Aimée Leonard left Anam in December 1998 and was replaced by Fiona Mackenzie from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, on vocals and Bodhrán.  Another musician, Anna-Wendy Stevenson from Edinburgh joined at the same time playing fiddle.

'Tine Gheal' (Bright Fire) was to be the name of Anam's fifth album, which was recorded by the group in April 1999.  The album is a musical progression again for the band with various musical genres in evidence.  This album was released in spring 2000. 

Anam's parent record company is the Japanese JVC/Victor Entertainment and their albums are licensed to various labels around the world including Linn Records in Europe, New World Records in Australia and New Zealand, and Friendly Dog in Taiwan.

THE BAND

Brian Ó hEadhra (Pronounced Bree-in Ohara)
Brian, from Dublin, Ireland, sings, plays acoustic guitar and bodhrán.  He comes from a very musical background – both his parents are folk singers.  Between the ages 2-7 Brian lived in Newfoundland, Canada, which is where he first experienced traditional Irish music, song and dance.  He started writing music in his early teens and formed Anam while studying for a BA (Hon) degree in Irish Folklore and English Literature.  Brian also pursues an active solo career as a singer-songwriter and is to record his first solo album in 2000 on the Linn Record label.

Fiona Mackenzie. 
Fiona comes from a family of traditional Gaelic singers from the Isle of Lewis, off the West Coast of Scotland.  Over the past few years she has performed on television, radio and in concert, often with her two sisters Eilidh and Gillian.  Collectively known as Mackenzie, they recorded an album in 1997 entitled Camhanach on the Macmeanmna label.  She has also been the singer in the Scottish band Seelyhoo and while studying for her degree in Scottish & English literature, she recorded two albums with them on the Greentrax label - The First Caul and Leetera.  As well as playing bodhrán and singing traditional songs, Fiona writes songs in Scottish Gaelic and English.

Anna-Wendy Stevenson.
Anna-Wendy from Edinburgh, Scotland, comes from a very musical family.  She studied classical music at college (violin and piano) and won a scholarship to study music in Texas.  Anna-Wendy always had a keen interest in traditional music.  After returning to Scotland in 1994, she became involved in the very healthy Edinburgh traditional music scene and studied for a post-graduate degree in Social Anthropology.  She has toured with The Anna Murray Band and with Savourna Stevenson as well as recording on Savourna’s album Tusitala.  She also plays and records with the band Calluna.

Neil Davey.
Neil, from Newquay in Cornwall, first played music professionally in his mid-teens with the influential Cornish band Bucca, with whom he toured, broadcast extensively and recorded the album 'The Hole in the Harper’s Head' (Plant Life Records).  Between then and the present day he has been involved in numerous line ups.  Most recently he worked with singer songwriter Lorraine Jordan, and also fused traditional Celtic music with Eastern European, African and other dance music from around the world in his Edinburgh based band Tusitala.  Aside from his musical misdemeanours Neil also acquired a degree in Artificial Intelligence, worked as a Software Engineer, and spent a few years working in mental health support work, which he thinks equipped him well for life with Anam!  Neil also plays in a Cornish music duo called Dalla with Hilary Coleman.