““We Banjo 3 has something impossibly beautiful at its heart, what they do they do better than anyone else””
Galway-based We Banjo 3 has one foot in Irish music and one foot in Americana music, seamlessly combining the virtuosity and precision in each genre’s traditional disciplines with the artful song-craft and infectious live performance of today’s musical landscape.
This year marks 10 years of We Banjo 3 playing to thousands of dedicated fans – music-lovers who perhaps first discovered the band at an Irish or Bluegrass festival, and are now flocking to headlining shows and mainstream music fests to dance to the dashing rhythms and simmering harmonies of this band of brothers. We Banjo 3’s two sets of brothers—Enda & Fergal Scahill and David & Martin Howley—share a musical intimacy that emanates in the rolling banjos, soaring fiddle and mandolin runs, and bright and vibrant guitar strums that swirl around propulsive vocals and perfect harmonies.
We Banjo 3 grew out of jam sessions among Enda, David, and Martin. After Enda returned to Galway from a tour playing bluegrass and old-time festivals, he called up David and Martin and asked them to come over to his house to play some music, wanting to share with them the music he’d learned on his tour. “We started to play, and I thought, ‘this is really fun’,” says Enda. “We didn’t think of forming a band; it was just a passion project.” In 2009, though, the three started playing small gigs around Ireland, and since they all played banjo they called themselves We Banjo 3. David added vocals and guitar, bringing another dimension to their sound. A few years later Fergal joined the group on fiddle, and though the band’s instrumentation and sound were quickly evolving, their moniker stuck with them.
After a performance at International Arts Festival, the biggest art festival in Europe, We Banjo 3 was awarded a grant from the Arts Council of Ireland, which they used to record their first album and continued to tour Ireland. Three years later, the band had built an impressive and still-growing following, and fans crowded into the band’s sold-out shows. In 2012, We Banjo 3 was invited to perform the renowned Milwaukee Irish Festival, where We Banjo 3’s dazzling musicianship and energetic live show wowed the audience, and this first U.S. play instantly positioned We Banjo 3 as darlings of the Irish American Festival circuit. Today, even as the band has grown to headline their own shows in these cities, We Banjo 3 tops the bill at these festivals year-after-year.
““Our band is much bigger than the sum of its parts,” says Enda. “The familiarity, ease, and respect we have for each other is embodied in our music, and so communicated to the audience.” Indeed, everywhere they go, We Banjo 3 transmits loudly and clearly with their ebullient, joyful, propulsive music.”
We Banjo 3 combines the jet-fueled tempos and rhythms of jamgrass with the swirling melody lines of traditional Irish music to get their fans up and dancing and to lift their hearts. As David says, “We love doing this; we’re grateful our fan community loves it, too. We get to pass the energy back and forth throughout our shows.”
On their upcoming album, it’s the band’s prolific tune-writing skills, and their inciting lyrics that are somehow ubiquitous and intimate all at once, that pull the listener in. Buoyed by musical virtuosity and well-crafted song structure, the complex instrumentation feels nimble and willowy, shaping a contended and canny listening experience.
Like their 2019 Roots to Rise Live, which debuted in August at #1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums Chart, and their 2018 album Haven, which spent 3 weeks at #1, Open The Road elevates the band’s music to new heights–-giving their fans the infectious melodies and musical brilliance they’ve come to expect from We Banjo 3, and introducing the band to an even wider swath of music fans at festivals across the U.S. and the world.
MARTIN HOWLEY
Tenor Banjo, Mandolin, Vocals
Holder of 7 “All Ireland” titles and the first Irish banjo player to play the hallowed Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Martin grew up on a steady diet of Irish and American folk, love of music passed down by his father, Martin, a great folk singer. He has performed with the Chieftains, Carlos Nunez, Mumford and Sons, Ricky Skaggs, and Steve Earle amongst others. He once asked president Obama to hold his banjo, Barrack politely declined, most likely as the banjo is quite heavy. Martin, alongside Enda, has forged a new path in Irish banjo and together they've pioneered a new arena of technical skills. With We Banjo 3, he's been afforded the opportunity to hone his stagecraft and legendary banter - he knows all the sports teams and regularly attempts local language lore, often to clumsy mirth-making results. Martin believes that folk music is an antidote to social ills.
ENDA SCAHILL
Tenor Banjo, Vocals
A four time national champion on banjo and mandolin, Enda studied classical music on piano, violin and pipe organ at the prestigious St Finian’s College in Ireland. Enda has recorded with Grammy Award ® winner Ricky Skaggs, guested with The Chieftains, and toured with Frankie Gavin, The Brock McGuire Band and Stockton's Wing. A banjo wizard, Enda is a leading author on Irish banjo techniques with 2 self-published titles among the best-selling Irish banjo tutorials available. His illustrious recording career includes his ground-breaking solo album Pick It Up and a guest performance on Humdinger with Paul Brock and Green Grass Blue Grass with The Brock McGuire Band, recorded in Nashville, and named by Irish Times Album of the Year.
“Enda does things on the banjo which should be impossible” Bill Margeson Irish American News
DAVID HOWLEY
Lead Vocals & Guitar
With an eclectic musical background, David’s style is a cross weave of rock, country, bluegrass and Irish traditional music. David has played double bass, drums, bouzouki, bodhran, mandolin and banjo, winning national championship titles on both guitar and banjo. However, David truly found his spiritual calling on the guitar creating a style which is really unique within the world of roots music with an uncommon ability to play both rhythm and bass lines congruently. Now with We Banjo 3 David has honed his skills as a world-class performer, singer and front man. His charismatic personality has garnered a multitude of zealous social media followers. A burgeoning songwriter, David has penned some of We Banjo 3’s favorite songs.
FERGAL SCAHILL
Fiddle, Viola, Dobro, Percussion, Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Fergal began his musical career at the age of 5 on stage with The Galway Folk Theatre and hasn’t been far from the stage ever since! An accomplished musician on many instruments, he has won multiple “All-Ireland” titles on fiddle, bodhran, guitar and ceili drums, not to mention countless national titles in group competitions. Of late his main focus has been the fiddle and he has developed a unique style, borrowing from all the folk fiddle traditions. In addition to the 4 albums by We Banjo 3, Fergal is in huge demand as a recording artist and has recorded on over 40 albums to date. He has performed in over 30 countries with numerous bands and shows. When not playing the fiddle, Fergal likes cooking and making stuff out of timber!
“Fergal’s music reflects his personality; it’s full of innovation, enthusiasm and fun. It is intense, fiery and frenetic and at the same time playful” IKTradFolk