Éamonn Coyne and Kris Drever

started playing together about fifteen years ago.  They met through the vibrant Edinburgh music scene but neither are Edinburgh natives; Éamonn is from Ireland and Kris is from Orkney.  They have performed and toured together at various intervals since then, augmenting the busy schedules they have performing separately with other bands and musicians.

Songlines described Drever & Coyne’s début duo album ‘Honk Toot Suite‘, as ‘a breath of fresh air’ with its ‘mutually attuned musicianship of the first order’ and ‘its immense yet ultra‐supple sophistication’.

Recorded in Scotland in Autumn 2012, ‘Storymap‘ is Coyne & Drever’s second duo recording of trad folk and song. The uniquely talented Éamonn Coyne dazzles on both the banjo and tenor guitar. The highly rated, award‐winning vocalist Kris Drever arranges the trad songs, sings simply and disarmingly, and plays the guitar and mandolin. A host of talented musical friends feature on the new album including Eliza Carthy, Simon Bradley, Megan Henderson, Calum McIntyre, Nico Bruce, Eamonn Nugent and Alan Kelly (of the Eddi Reader Band).

The most recent release from Kris with Éamonn, called Mareel EP,  was recorded in May 2014 at Mareel in Lerwick, Shetland with the help of some fine musicians: Louise Thomason and Freda Leask on backing vocals; Graham Malcolmson on Double Bass; Margaret Scollay on Piano; Maurice Henderson and Ewen Thomson on Fiddles and Ross Couper on Fiddle and Snare Drum.  Some of these Shetland musicians are also Kris’s new neighbours.

Éamonn now lives in Edinburgh but is originally from Ireland (Dublin/Roscommon). His début solo album ‘Through the Round Window’ also featured a few friends including Grammy Award winner Alison Brown, Dermot Byrne and Michael McGoldrick. fRoots called it “utterly stunning” and The Irish Times reported, “…this album comes as no surprise either in its virtuosity or eclecticism”. Coyne has also performed and recorded with a vast array of people from many different musical genres including Tommy Peoples, Bèla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Sinéad O’Connor, Tim O’Brien, and Russell’s House.

Éamonn also currently plays with Salsa Celtica who he has recorded three albums with (‘El Agua de la Vida’, ‘El Camino’ and ‘En Vivo en el Norte’) and Treacherous Orchestra ― the latter were also nominated for ‘Best Band’ in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in connection with their début album, ‘Origins’. Along with other high profile work Treacherous Orchestra played alongside a stellar cast including Smokey Robinson, Jessie J, Manic Street Preachers, Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Jamie Cullum, Josh Groban, Texas and Simple Minds for BBC Radio 2′s Festival in a Day in Hyde Park in Sept 2013. Their most recent recording, ‘Grind’, released Feb 2015, was nominated for Scottish Album of the Year and won Best Album at the Scottish Folk Awards.

Kris is an Orcadian multi‐instrumentalist; from singing and guitar playing to mandolin, banjo and double bass. He has been in great demand since moving to Edinburgh in 1995, playing and singing in a myriad different projects. In 2005 he joined forces with Aidan O’Rourke and Martin Green to form the trio LAU ‐ like himself, also signed to Reveal Records. The multi‐award winning LAU have released four full‐length albums ‐ ‘Lightweights & Gentlemen’, ‘Lau Live’, ‘Arc Light’ and ’Race The Loser’ ‐ along with various other recording projects. Kris’ début solo album, ’Black Water’ (Reveal Records), was released in Oct 2006; it’s a classic album and is produced by and features John McCusker, with friends Kate Rusby, Donald Shaw, Andy Seward, Andy Cutting, Roddy Woomble, and Eddi Reader. Scotland on Sunday said of Kris; “huge abilities on guitar and a highly evolved contemporary singing style” and on another occasion talked of his, “silvery, lyrical tunepicking”.

Kris won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Horizon Award in Feb 2007. He followed this up with ’Before The Ruin’ ( a Mojo Folk Album of the Year) in 2008 with Roddy Woomble (Idlewild and John McCusker) and in 2010 released ‘Mark The Hard Earth’ featuring Tim O’Brien before making two ep’s with Lau, ‘Ghosts’ with Adem and ‘Evergreen’ with Karine Polwart. 2012’s Race The Loser produced by Tucker Martine (Decemberists, R.E.M.) was hugely acclaimed and saw Lau nominated for Best Group and Album in 2013 Folk Awards. 2012 ended and 2013 started well with a televised Hogmanay show in Edinburgh and, in January, a concert collaboration with Beth Orton, Admiral Fallow, Frightened Rabbit and Amy Helm for Celtic Connections in Glasgow in tribute to The Band.

Get more info about Kris Drever from www.krisdrever.com