Introduction
Tommy Peoples (20 September 1948 – 4 August 2018) was an Irish fiddler who played in the Donegal fiddle tradition.
Biography
Peoples was born near St. Johnston, County Donegal, in Ulster, Ireland. He was a member of traditional Irish music groups, including 1691 and The Bothy Band as well as performing solo from the late 1960s. He played in the fiddle style of East Donegal.
After moving to Dublin in the 1960s, where he was employed as a Garda (member of the Irish police force), he subsequently moved to County Clare and married Mary Linnane, daughter of Kitty Linnane, long-time leader of the Kilfenora Céilí Band. He lived in the village of St Johnston. His daughter Siobhán Peoples is also a fiddler.
Tommy Peoples was the Traditional Musician In Residence at The Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, County Donegal.
In July 2015, he launched a self-published book Ó Am go hAm - From Time to Time. The book combines a fiddle tutor by Peoples, along with illustrations and a complete notation of 130 original tunes by Peoples. The book also includes many stories and incidents from his life and musical career.
He died on 4 August 2018.
Discography
With The Bothy Band
- The Bothy Band (1975)
Solo
- An Exciting Session with One of Ireland's Leading Traditional Fiddlers (1976)
- The High Part of the Road (1976)
- A Traditional Experience with Tommy Peoples: A Master Irish Traditional Fiddle Player (1976)
- The Iron Man (1985)
- Fiddler's Fancy: Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes Collected and Performed by the Irish Fiddle Legend (1986)
- Traditional Irish Music Played on the Fiddle (released in 1993, but recorded in 1982)
- The Quiet Glen/An Gleann Ciuin (1998)
- Waiting for a Call (2003)
With Matt Molloy and Paul Brady
- Matt Molloy . Paul Brady . Tommy Peoples (1977)
With Paul Brady
- Welcome Here Kind Stranger (1978; remastered on CD in 2009)