 “Wonderful stuff. Very fancy whistling ...”
--Bob Campbell, "Folk Music & Beyond,"
KALW 91.7 FM (NPR), San Francisco

"Affable and intelligent ... Tim stands out for the beauty of his melodious whistle playing, and the intricate rhythms he keeps on the bodhrán."
--Mark Mardon, The Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco

“Tim takes this Irish traditional music and pushes the edges in various ways.  Personally, I think this is exactly what keeps the Irish tradition alive and keeps it dynamic."
-Andrew Doerr, “Roadtunes Sessions,” KCSB 91.9 FM, Santa Barbara

Born a Yank and undergoing intelligent design to become a proper Dubliner, self-taught expat musician Tim Hart is a walking, whistling musical mash-up. A longtime Irish traditional musician, Tim mastered the tinwhistle and low whistle in the US and later in Ireland. He eventually was overcome by a desire to wear shinier shoes while performing and dragged his time-honoured instrument kicking and dancing into the jazz tradition, experimenting with standards and improvisation while crafting boundary-busting original melodies that are somehow at home in both worlds.

What sets Tim apart is his ability to improvise – not unusual in itself but normally unheard of on the whistle, a deceptively simple instrument borne out of a tradition known for unison playing of tightly constructed jigs and reels. By combining a jazz soloist’s sensibility for expression with the time-honoured traditional sounds of the whistle,Tim hopes to give Irish audiences a fresh and unexpected take on an old “friend” they already knew in another context.

Tim recently formed the Tim Hart Band, a Dublin-based quintet, to develop this sound; the band’s debut gigs were in December 2012 at the Grand Social and Bewley’s Café Theatre. Members: Tim Hart (high and low whistles, vocals); Anja Kuncic (piano); Graham Watson (guitar); Cian Murphy (double bass); and Jose Carlos Anselmo (violin). Tim also is a member of Dublin’s The Lazy Band (Americana, folk, roots, country, trad). Earlier efforts include the California trad-folk trio Greenbridge and various performing, recording and instruction projects in the US and Ireland.


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