Paul McSherry, hailing from west Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, began playing guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 in 1982 at the age of 14. Inspired by two other great guitarists from west Belfast, Maurice McHugh and Mark Kane, he was self-taught on DADGAD

DADGAD

DADGAD, D modal tuning or Celtic tuning is an alternative guitar tuning most associated with Celtic music, though it has also found use in rock and other genres. Instead of the standard EADGBE tuning, the six guitar strings are tuned, from low to high, DADGAD...

 tuning.

He was a member of a band named the McSherrys who changed their name to Tamalin

Tamalin (band)

Tamalin is a family-based band from west Belfast who originally began playing Irish traditional music in the early 1980s under the name The McSherrys...

 in the late 1980s. He also played in the Belfast band Commonalty who recorded an album in 1989, which was only released on cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

.

In 1997 Tamalin released their debut album Rhythm and Rhyme.

He has accompanied on stage and recorded with a wealth of well-known musicians including Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...

, Paddy Keenan

Paddy Keenan

Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...

, Paddy Glackin

Paddy Glackin

Paddy Glackin is an Irish fiddler from Clontarf, Dublin. His father Tom Glackin was from Donegal and Paddy's fiddle style reflects his family's Donegal roots. Glackin is considered one of the leading Irish fiddlers in the late 20th/early 21st centuries. He became fiddle champion at the All-Ireland...

, Cathal Hayden

Cathal Hayden

-Biography:Cathal Sean Hayden is an Irish fiddle and banjo player of note. He was born on 13 July 1963, in the village of the Rock, Co Tyrone outside Pomeroy, an area immersed in traditional music. The third in the family of eight, he was born into a deep musical background. His father played the...

, Padraig Rynne, Tommy Peoples

Tommy Peoples

Tommy Peoples is an Irish fiddler.He was born near St. Johnston, a village in the Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. He has been a member of well known traditional Irish music groups, including 1691 and The Bothy Band as well as performing...

, Siobhan Peoples, Michael McGoldrick

Michael McGoldrick

Michael McGoldrick is a flute and tin whistle player. He also plays the Uilleann pipes and low whistle. He is well known for his ability to skate switch and regular with the same level of ability.-Bands:...

, Gerry O'Connor (banjo player), Kevin Crawford

Kevin Crawford

Kevin Crawford is a flute, tin whistle and bodhrán player. Born on 6 December 1967 in Birmingham, Englandto Irish parents who emigrated from Miltown Malbay, County Clare...

, Gerry O'Connor

Gerry O'Connor

Gerry "Fiddle" O'Connor is a traditional Irish fiddle player.His family has played fiddle for at least four generations and Gerry learned his music from his mother, Rose O'Connor, and also from hand-written manuscripts passed down through the family.He later came under the influence of John Joe...

 (fiddle player), and John McSherry

John McSherry (musician)

John McSherry is an Irish musician who plays the Uilleann pipes and tin whistle. He is known for being a founding member of Lunasa and Coolfin and has performed on recordings by a number of well-known artists in Irish traditional music.-Biography:...

 as well as singers Tommy Makem

Tommy Makem

Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...

 and Brian Kennedy

Brian Kennedy (singer)

Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...

.

Discography

• Grianan "Maid of Erin" 1990
• Niamh Parson's "Loosely Connected" 1992
• Brian Finnegan "When the Party's over" 1993
• Wild Flowers "Total Vocal" 1993
• Susan Tommelty "Belfast(Live)" 1996
• O'Aces "On oiche go Maidin" 1997
• Tamalin "Rhythm and Rhyme" 1997
• Ray Gallen "Man of the House" 1998
• Cormac Breathnach "Musical Journey" 1999
• Jason O'Rourke "The Bunch of Keys" 1999
• Michael McGoldrick and John McSherry "At First Light" 2001
• John Kennedy "Together in Time" 2001
• Gerry O'Connor "Journeyman" 2004
• Pádraig Rynne "Bye A While" 2005
• At First Light "Tripswitch" 2006