Rachel Hair is one of one of Scotland's finest players of the Clarsach, the traditional Harp. Of mixed heritage (her mother being from Ireland, her father, Scotland) Rachel has developed her own style of playing traditional music on the harp, highly influenced from her time studying alongside folk, jazz, classical, funk, rock and pop musicians, being brought up in the village of Ullapool in Scottish Highlands, and her own Irish family roots.

She has played several times throughout Europe, India, toured twice throughout the USA, as well as playing regularly throughout Scotland and the UK. Rachel is the first of the Scottish acts to play at this year’s Galway Sessions and will be accompanied by fellow Scot, guitarist Peter Francie.

www.rachelhair.com

The Celtic group Dordan consists of a trio of women from County Galway, including tin-whistle player Mary Bergin, harpist Kathleen Loughnane and fiddler Dearbhail Standun. Dordan, whose name means "drone" in Gaelic, released their first album Jigs To The Moon in 1994, and gained more attention for their Narada Christmas album The Night Before … A Celtic Christmas. They released another album for Narada, Celtic Aire, in 1999 and one for Shanachie, Irish Traditional & Baroque Music, the same year. This gig is a must for lovers of the Celtic Harp.