Transatlantic Sessions to Launch Debut U.S. Tour at MerleFest

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here. Watch a performance video of "Route Irish" from TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS here.

Led by 14-time Grammy Award-winning Dobro/lap steel player Jerry Douglas and acclaimEd Scottish fiddle player Aly Bain, the talented group of musicians on this TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS tour consists of Phil Cunningham, James Mackintosh, John McCusker and Donald Shawrepresenting Scotland, Michael McGoldrick (England), John Doyle(Ireland), in addition to Americans Russ Barenberg, and Daniel Kimbro.

"I know that there is a massive audience for good music here in the United States," says Jerry Douglas. "I also knew that if we had the opportunity to play shows here it would be a success. As a music director, especially one with so many built-in talented people as I have in this endeavor, I am trying to bring forward a show that is fresh and appealing to a very broad audience. One thing we have for certain is the ability to bob and weave our way through so many genres of music, always trying to bring out the best in each of them. When the Celtic boys are turned loose with a set of tunes that make the ancient blood boil within our friends in the audience, that might be my favorite moments of the night. It certainly lights a fire under me, and I think the audience with take away a feeling that they have witnessed something they may never see again. But I want them to be given this opportunity again and again."

Originating as a Pelicula/BBC Scotland television series and having enjoyed several celebrated tours through the British Isles and Ireland,TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS continues to forge new ground while revisiting shared roots between today's finest Celtic and American musicians. The first (Original) TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS episode was produced in 1995, a project conceived by Douglas Eadie, Mike Alexander, and Aly Bain. Subsequent seasons were produced in 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011 and2013. For each season of the sessions, the producer and director scout a distinct setting, typically a country manor, lodge, or estate, in the Highlands of Scotland where the musicians perform and reside for the duration of the recording. Each season was set in a different location, with the exception of Series Four and Five which were both recorded in the hunting lodge on the Glenlyon Estate near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Series Six was filmed and recorded at the Lodge on Loch Lomond.

Catch TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS on tour:

Friday, April 28, Wilkesboro, NC

MerleFest

Special Guests:

Sarah Jarosz

Karen Matheson

Joe Newberry

Maura O'Connell

Declan O'Rourke

Monday, May 1, Alexandria, VA (Washington, DC)
The Birchmere

Special Guests:

Milk Carton Kids

Maura O'Connell

Declan O'Rourke

Karen Matheson

Tuesday, May 2, Glenside, PA (Philadelphia, PA)

Keswick Theatre

Special Guests:

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Karen Matheson

Milk Carton Kids

Declan O'Rourke

Wednesday, May 3, Boston, MA

Orpheum Theater

Special Guests:

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Aoife O'Donovan

Declan O'Rourke

Karen Matheson

Milk Carton Kids

Thursday, May 4, New York, NY

The Town Hall

Special Guests:

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Sarah Jarosz

Karen Matheson

Aoife O'Donovan

Declan O'Rourke

For more information on TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS USA, visit: