The Band
“The Yanks are the next Irish American dream team when it comes to Irish traditional music. Four of the most talented, accomplished, and virtuosic musicians of their generation playing a brand of Irish music that’s both new and yet familiar at the same time. As individuals these four lads are special; as a group, The Yanks are special, too.”
- Kevin Crawford, Lúnasa
“Legendary status lies ahead for The Yanks!”
- Fiona Ritchie, ‘Thistle and Shamrock’
Dylan Foley
fiddle, whistle
A 3-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, Dylan Foley was a student of the great Rose Flanagan (the original fiddler in Cherish the Ladies) and counts Joanie Madden, Brian Conway, Mike McHale, and Monsignor Charlie Coen among his primary influences. He is a vibrant stylist whose playing has been called “impeccable and spirited.” Dylan has played on Jay Unger’s Dancing On the Air show on WAMC four times. Dylan has also performed with the John Whelan Band, Joanie Madden, Brian Conway, Mike McHale, and Monsignor Charlie Coen. He has performed and taught at the Catskills Irish Arts Week, Elkins Irish Week, and runs a monthly session at the Dubliner Irish Pub. These days, Dylan is very busy, attending SUNY New Paltz and performing and playing ceilis and sessions in the NY area.
Dan Gurney
button accordion
Dan Gurney, born in upstate New York to artist parents, first picked up an accordion by chance in a toy store. He learned Irish music from Galway-born concertina player Father Charlie Coen. Over the years he has also been heavily influenced by Billy McComiskey, Jimmy Noonan, John Whelan, Joe Derrane, and John Nolan, among many others. After graduating from Harvard University in 2009, he lived in Galway for a year playing with the likes of Dolores Keane, Johnny Ringo McDonagh, Mick Conneely, Ronan O’Flaherty, and Brian Mc Grath. He has appeared on Public Radio International, at the International Accordion Festival, and has won nine medals at various Fleadh Cheoil music competitions.
Isaac Alderson
flute, uilleann pipes, tenor saxophone, whistle
Isaac Alderson grew up in Chicago listening to his father play blues and jazz. At the age of 12 he discovered Irish traditional music, and began obsessively practicing the uilleann pipes, learning from such players as Al Purcell, Patrick Cannady, Kieran O’Hare, and many others. At 14, he began to study the flute and whistle with Laurence Nugent from Co. Fermanagh. Many trips to Ireland over subsequent years helped to fan the flames of his enthusiasm for the music, and gave him the opportunity to study and play with many outstanding musicians. At 18, Isaac moved to New York in order to attend college and dive into the city’s phenomenal Irish music scene. In 2002, Isaac won the All-Ireland Senior Championships on all three of his main instruments. He is the only American to achieve such a goal in the history of the competition. After finishing college, Isaac toured for two years with Eileen Ivers as part of her band, Immigrant Soul, and afterwards with such diverse groups as Jameson’s Revenge, Runa, Millish, and many others, and also played extensively around New York with fiddler Gráinne Murphy and guitarist Alan Murray. Recently Isaac has been working in musical theater, currently playing flute, whistles and pipes in the band for the full-time touring production of Come From Away, having subbed extensively on the show’s Broadway company as well. He also subbed in the pit orchestra for Sting's musical, The Last Ship, during its pre-Broadway run in Chicago in the summer of 2014. He also did a three-month tour of China with Riverdance for that iconic show's 20th anniversary that winter. In addition to his work in theater and with The Yanks, he also performs with The Bronx Boys, and Ensemble Galilei.
Sean Earnest
guitar, bouzouki
Acoustic guitarist & bouzouki player Sean Earnest’s sensitive yet eclectic accompaniment style has taken him far from his native central Pennsylvania. He is among the most in-demand Celtic traditional music accompanists today and can be heard on stages up and down both coasts of the United States and all points in between. Sean spends most of his time in New York and the greater Northeast, where he can be heard playing and recording with some of the top talents of the genre. Having cut his musical teeth in the vibrant session scenes of Baltimore and New York, Sean honed his guitar and bouzouki craft whilst studying abroad at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music & Dance. Friendships forged across the length & breadth of Ireland lead to Sean’s highly successful 2009 tour with Irish supergroup Téada. For the last three years Sean has worked with the legendary McPeake family of Belfast in bringing their signature sound to American audiences. In the summer of 2011 he rejoined ‘McPeake’ for their third critically-acclaimed American summer tour. Also that year, Sean joined forces with one of the most exciting bands to come out of Scotland, the Paul McKenna Band, for two highly successful tours of the U.S. and Canada. Most recently Sean has collaborated with Boston singer/songwriter Kyle Carey and violin player Andrew Finn Magill in ‘The Kyle Carey Trio’, a project drawing as much upon Kyle’s fluency in Scots Gaelic song as well as her interest in Appalachian poetry and American roots music.