Ricko Donovan

Artist Information

Biography

Lucky Sevens, Lucky You…
The Hot Press in Ireland described Ricko Donovan's live performance as “a steamroller of a show, he gracefully rendered Irish songs. His own songs were engaging and captivating...”

Ricko’s live performances include a host of instruments, featuring the hammered dulcimer. The man of many strings leaves audiences spellbound performing his own great songs with a blend of traditional world music from Ireland and beyond. For his 2009 summer tour of the US Southwest, he engaged the services of loop effects. Playing both solo and with the support of outstanding musicians such as cellist Michael Kott, the performances are rooted in great songs which abound in both Lucky Sevens (2009) and The Kilmoon Road (2005).

Devil At My Door won Nashville's Spree Song Contest in the Alt/Country category in 1998. At theat time, Nashville was a hotbed for the resurgence of more exciting and innovative country styles. The song exemplifies this and is still a staple of the artist’s performance. Donovan decided to forego predictability and took off to travel the European continent in 98 with backpack and Dusty Strings hammered dulcimer, playing on streets, in cafes, in theatres, and clubs. He has busked on the streets of Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin. Madrid, Brussels, Barcelona, Dublin, London, Birmingham, Edinbugh and loves Europe. Settling on Madrid Spain and Counties Cork and Clare in Ireland, he remained until 2006. Graduating to a larger model hammer dulcimer built by Ardie’s Dulcimers, he began recording the Irish folk music that surrounded the beautiful Burren landscape where he made his home outside Doolin, a hotbed of Irish traditional music. Two Irish releases received critical acclaim in Spain, Ireland, Belgium and Germany. The Kilmoon Road is a fine folk album of Ricko's songs which featured some great West Clare musicians. It has sold over 1000 copies at shows and in select stores. The Laughing Silver String, a record of traditional Irish music garnered regular airlplay on Clare FM in Ireland. It has sold over 1000 copies worldwide. Ricko was the featured musician at Gregan's Castle Hotel in the Burren, County Clare from 2003-2005, delighting audiences regularly with his extensive Irish repertoire.
“He renders ballads with the greatest sensitivity and the rest with the reckless abandon of a steamrolling train with no brakes…”–The Clare Champion
"A skillfull master of a unique and beautiful instrument."-Cormac MacConnell, Clare FM Radio Ireland

A singer/songwriter now returned to Nashville, he continues to craft the art of songwriting and playing a variety of styles and instruments. Ricko Donovan now tours regularly in the continental US and Europe.

Venues performed, include:
British and Appalachian Culture Festival
Rugby, TN
Mountain Town Stages
Park City, UT
St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa, FL
UFO Festival
Roswell, NM
Fuller Lodge/ LM Arts Council
Los Alamos, NM
Ocotillo Performing Arts Center
Artesia, NM
Redditch Folk Festival
Birmingham, UK


Links-
www.rickodonovan.com
www.myspace.com/rickodonovan

Instrumentation

Ricko Donovan

Discography

The Hidden Well (2004)
The Kilmoon Road (2005)
The Laughing Silver String (2008)
Lucky Sevens (2009)

Official Website

http://www.rickodonovan.com

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• MySpace

Audio

• Lucky Sevens
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• Devil At My Door
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• This Is Not The Night
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• This Crooked Line
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• Fig For A Kiss Set of Slip Jigs
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• Love Town
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• Liscannor Bay
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• Just Some Girl
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Lyrics

• Lucky Sevens
• Devil At My Door
• This Crooked Line
• Love Town
• Liscannor Bay
• Just Some Girl

Video

LuckySevens

You Are My Sunshine

Photo Gallery

Press

• The Laughing Silver String [+ Show ]
  

  Ricko Donovan is a Nashville-based musician and singer who learned his trade by spending several yea...Ricko Donovan is a Nashville-based musician and singer who learned his trade by spending several years busking and living in Europe, primarily in Spain and Ireland. He played hammered dulcimer on the streets, in cafes, theaters, and clubs for about eight years before returning to Tennessee. Much of his time was spent outside Doolin in County Clare and along the Cliffs of Moher during the summer months. The Laughing Silver String is his fourth release and features Ricko on solo hammered dulcimer and guitar with occasional assistance from Cindy Wyatt on Celtic harp, Sonja O'Brien on fiddle, Franko Hashiguchi on pennywhistle, Marney McCague on Irish flute, Marcel Botteman on fiddle, Rolf Groesbeck on tabla, frame drum and dumbek, and Neal Lee on bohdran. The tunes are mostly staples of the traditional Irish repertoire and include dance tunes as well as several O'Carolan pieces. All are exceptionally well played and nicely arranged. Ricko's dulcimer is well out in front on every track and the other instruments complement his lead nicely when a change of pace is appropriate. Ricko doesn't sing on this recording but his website has several tracks that indicate he is a multi-talented performer who is at home with both traditional and more contemporary music. This album is traditional and is well worth your attention.

• Ricko Donovan [+ Show ]
  

  Ricko Donovan is a Nashville-based musician and singer who learned his trade by spending several yea...Ricko Donovan is a Nashville-based musician and singer who learned his trade by spending several years busking and living in Europe, primarily in Spain and Ireland. He played hammered dulcimer on the streets, in cafes, theaters, and clubs for about eight years before returning to Tennessee. Much of his time was spent outside Doolin in County Clare and along the Cliffs of Moher during the summer months. The Laughing Silver String is his fourth release and features Ricko on solo hammered dulcimer and guitar with occasional assistance from Cindy Wyatt on Celtic harp, Sonja O'Brien on fiddle, Franko Hashiguchi on pennywhistle, Marney McCague on Irish flute, Marcel Botteman on fiddle, Rolf Groesbeck on tabla, frame drum and dumbek, and Neal Lee on bohdran. The tunes are mostly staples of the traditional Irish repertoire and include dance tunes as well as several O'Carolan pieces. All are exceptionally well played and nicely arranged. Ricko's dulcimer is well out in front on every track and the other instruments complement his lead nicely when a change of pace is appropriate. Ricko doesn't sing on this recording but his website has several tracks that indicate he is a multi-talented performer who is at home with both traditional and more contemporary music. This album is traditional and is well worth your attention.

• The Kilmoon Road [+ Show ]
  

  Ricko Donovan is a transplanted Yank who has made his mark in the last few years in the music-rich e...Ricko Donovan is a transplanted Yank who has made his mark in the last few years in the music-rich environs of County Clare as a guitarist for the likes of Christy Barry and Sonja O'Brien. Playing a lively backing in the Irish DADGAD tuning, he infuses American folk with his own songs. He spent much of the winter recording an album of the songs he has penned during his vagabond days as an itinerant busking hammered dulcimer player both here in Ireland and on the continent. The result is The Kilmoon Road, which features some of the traditional musicians he plays with regularly in and around his home in Doolin, Co. Clare. His voice is both gentle and gritty through these tales of travel and unrequited love, tinged with regret, forlornness and beauty-stricken all at once. The sonic landscape here is lush at times, haunting and visceral. The string arrangements are both innovative and the songs have catchy hooks. Donovan is half Irish, but more than half a storyteller. Love Town is a seven and a half minute song that tells a story that leaves you hanging on every word. Emotionally, a rollercoaster ride through twelve tracks. All in all, I'd call the Yank Donovan... a powerful new voice in Irish folk."
  
  -Jackie Hayden

• Out and About Town [+ Show ]
  

  "Meanwhile in Lehinch... witnessed a lively session in Flanagan's with local Ennistymon fiddler Jack..."Meanwhile in Lehinch... witnessed a lively session in Flanagan's with local Ennistymon fiddler Jackie Askew. Playing and rollicking along on one side of her was Will Cullen, an Aussie flute-player with a lovely touch. On the other side guitarist Ricko Donovan set a lively backing and contributed more songs than we usually here in a session. In a very pure voice he renders Irish ballads with the greatest sensitivity and the rest with the reckless abandon of a steamrolling train with no brakes. Indeed the energy bewteen the three of them was contagious and it's great to see the tradition not just continuing in County Clare, but thriving with the spirit these younger lads and lasses bring to it. I'm told they now have residency at The Claghan in Ennistymon for Friday nights, and McHugh's in Ennistymon for the Thursdays. All three of them play regularly in and around Doolin with their respective lineups, and they simply must be heard!"
  Eamonn

• Ricko Meets Garbo [+ Show ]
  

  Nashville indie-folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ricko Donovan is a man of many tric...Nashville indie-folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ricko Donovan is a man of many tricks. Donovan’s catchy They Might Be Giants-meets-Celtic-meets-folk sound is primarily focused on the hammered dulcimer (how often do you hear one of those?). Donovan also plays guitar, mandolin, mandocello, bass, drums and the voice, which he describes as “the purest instrument of all.” With a veritable arsenal of stringed instruments at his disposal, Donovan’s sixth Southwest tour since 2007 (he tours a lot) brings him to fledgling music venue Little Wing. There, he performs original compositions to accompany 1926 silent film The Temptress—a movie about Paris, female charms and chivalry—which stars Greta Garbo.
  
  “People have been bewildered by the production value of the film and, of course, the understated and unbelievable acting presence of Garbo,” Donovan says. Catch a great musician and a great movie—perfect for folk and film fans alike.
  
  
  Where: Little Wing
  Phone: 505-983-5906
  Address: 851 St. Michael's Drive
  Website: candymanlittlewing.com

Setlist

(30 min- 2hr)
Liscannor Bay
Esperanza/ The Lilting Banshee/Blarney Pilgrim
The Lost & Found Set
This Crooked Line
They Sail With Dragons
Love Town
Morgan Meghan
Just Some Girl
Angeline
The Faeries Hornpipe
Carolans Concerto
Devil At My Door/Monaghan Jig

Basic Requirements

Calendar