BRIER a very popular three piece folk group from Co Down in Northern Ireland are enjoying their second year working as full time professionals after fifteen years together as part time entertainers. During that time they worked mainly within travelling distance from home with occasional tours to New York, Florida, Iceland, Jersey, England, Scotland Wales and the Isle of Man, Costa Del Sol & Ibiza.

Practicing New Songs

Now the band are concentrating on corporate engagements, festivals, concerts, tours and are becoming very popular at weddings with 22 already booked this year.They spend all day with the bride and groom playing at the service, an informal sing song before the meal when photographs are being taken, three hours live music after the meal and then provide a lively disco into the wee small hours. Plans are well under way to work for two weeks on a cruise ship in Scandanavia, also a return to America for ten days and spending Christmas working on the Costa del Sol for Enjoy Travel as well as a trip to Manchester.

The boys feature a lively and sometimes emotional mix of ballads, instrumentals, stories and craic and always get the audience involved with requests, birthday celebrations and often special nights out. They really enjoy a concert setting but are equally at home with a dance or lively function and are often invited to work at sporting events, even a day at the races where the atmosphere is sure to be great also this is where the band get a chance to include some rock and roll and country music which is a nice change for a folk / ballad group.

This is their 8^th year as the resident band in Fibber Magees Belfast every Wednesday night ( opposite the Europa Hotel ).

BRIER take the business seriously, having adequate public liability insurance, a good accountant and Paddy is a member of the Institute of occupational safety and health and also secretary of the Belfast/ NI branch of the musicians union. As yet Brier are not required to register for VAT. For the technically minded the band use a 3 Kilowatt Studio master public address system with six EV stage 300 speakers, 4 bass bins, 16 channel studiomaster mixing console, behringer super X crossover system with echo / reverb and a 10 channel Dynacord 1000 watt Monitor System so the sound can be whisper soft or with some punch depending on the client / audience requirements. The stringed instruments are made by Techamine, Gibson and Fender.

Click on the band members names to see their profile.

The members of Brier are PAUL O KANE on lead vocals / harmonies, songwriting, acoustic guitar, tin whistles, low whistles and bodhran. As well as ballads Paul has a good selection of lively music in his repertoire. He lives in Drumaness with his wife Brenda, two dogs and 2 cats and enjoys golfing at Royal Co Down with an occasional pint or two at the 19^th hole in the Mourne Golf Club.. Paul's former profession was a head chef working in London and Ireland specializing in main course dishes. On stage as well as performing he is responsible for the bands sound system and also a lot of the driving between venues. He still has happy memories of a trip last year to Las Vegas

Paul with wife Brenda

JOHN RODGERS also excellent on lead vocals / harmonies, traditional singing, song writing, acoustic guitar, tin whistle, bodhran and mandolin and he has been known for some late night sessions. John lives in Ardglass, enjoys keeping fit, organising Viking events, and sipping a pint of Guinness with maybe a small powers whiskey chaser in the company of Nuala. On stage John has the extra responsibility of looking after the bands lighting system and the stage monitors. Johns profession was a PE teacher and he also is a competent golfer playing off single figures. A highlight for John was playing music in a 5* hotel in Bahrain.

John at Photo Shoot 2002

PADDY GORDON plays Bass guitar, and is also responsible for a lot of the craic on stage, he manages the bands affairs which includes looking after the paperwork, income tax, health and safety, equipment maintenance, transport, publicity, recording, arranging tours and not forgetting the booking of boats, planes and beds which can be fun. In his spare time he also enjoys a pint of Harp with Barbara and helping out on the family farm. Paddy’s profession was a vehicle and driving examiner with the Department of Environment. His best memories of touring was Iceland 1999, Jersey 2000, California 2001 and New York 2002.

Paddy getting ready for recording RTE Open House

BRIER recently released a new 18 track album( Paddy's on the net ) on the I&B label London (IRBCD 2044) and this is available from the band or from your local record outlet, the album has been well received and gets regular radio play.

In 2002 BRIER received an award as the best ballad group at the Irish World awards ceremony in London in the company of Brian Kennedy, Aslan, The Indians, John Hume, Gloria Hunniford, Paul Brady and others.

John with Malachi from Fame Academey

Booking enquiries can be sent by e-mail to brier@paddygordon.com or contact Paddy at 02897 563975, (Mobile 07702 472135). This year paddy is the secretary of the Northern Ireland branch of the Musicians Union.

Monthly accounts with receipts are available by prior arrangement for corporate engagements, local councils, race meetings, hotels and tourist boards etc.