Tidewater

Tidewater is a Maryland-based Irish traditional music project bringing together some of the region’s most accomplished musicians to celebrate, document, and carry forward a distinctive musical legacy rooted in Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic.

At the heart of Tidewater are Billy McComiskey (button accordion), Laura Byrne (flute), Donna Long (piano), and Joanna Clare (fiddle). Their musical relationships span decades and generations, connected by the teachers, mentors, communities, and collaborations that have helped make Maryland one of the most important centers of Irish traditional music in America.

The group began in 2005, when McComiskey, Byrne, and Long (along with Irish singer Pat Egan) formed The Hedge Band, later known as Celtic Corridor. With the addition of Clare and frequent vocal collaborators Eileen Estes and David McKindley-Ward, the ensemble has evolved into Tidewater, a broader project that reflects not only the sound of its core members, but the remarkable community of musicians surrounding them.

Tidewater also occasionally draws on other accomplished Baltimore musicians including Jim Eagan (fiddle), Sean McComiskey (button accordion), Matt Mulqueen (piano), and Myron Bretholz (bodhran), whose playing reflects the same history of mentorship, collaboration, and musical lineage at the heart of the project. Along with the core members of the ensemble, these musicians represent interconnected generations of Maryland’s Irish music tradition.

Central to that story is Billy McComiskey, a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow and one of the most influential figures in Irish traditional music in America. Since settling in the Baltimore-Washington region in the 1970s, McComiskey has played a defining role in the development of the local tradition. McComiskey grew up in Brooklyn, NY, in a family steeped in Irish music and learned from the great East Galway style accordion player Sean McGlynn. As a member of The Irish Tradition with Andy O’Brien and the late Brendan Mulvihill, and later through acclaimed groups including Trian and The Green Fields of America, he helped establish a musical lineage that continues to shape generations of players.

That lineage runs throughout Tidewater.

Donna Long, known for her distinct Irish accompaniment style and her solo arrangements of O’Carolan’s music, grew up learning piano from her father.  Moving from California to Baltimore in 1980, she met Brendan Mulvihill and was led deeply into Irish traditional music. They performed together for a decade and recorded the highly regarded duet albums The Steeplechase and The Morning Dew.  Donna later toured internationally with the group Cherish the Ladies for ten years.  Her 2003 solo album,  Handprints, held her critical acclaim and featured her son, Jesse Smith. Donna’s teaching in Baltimore has influenced generations of musicians, and she was chosen by the Smithsonian Institution to represent Irish music in its Piano Traditions series.  

Laura Byrne moved to Baltimore from Vermont in 1989 to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music, earning degrees in flute performance and music education before devoting her career to Irish traditional music. Her playing is rooted in older generations of musicians, shaped by time in Ireland and by mentors and influences including Billy McComiskey, Catherine McEvoy, Matt Molloy, and Mike Rafferty. Laura has performed and taught throughout North America and Ireland, including at The Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Catskills Irish Arts Week, MAD Week, and Goucher College. Her recordings include the solo albums Tune for the Road and Lucky Day, Crabs in the Skillet with The Old Bay Ceili Band, and Forget Me Not, her acclaimed duo album with New York Sligo-style fiddler Rose Flanagan. A central figure in Maryland’s Irish music community, she is a multiple MSAC award recipient and Founder and Artistic Director of the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest.

Joanna Clare, originally from the Finger Lakes region in New York, began violin at age three and later studied Irish fiddle extensively with renowned NY Sligo-style fiddler Brian Conway. Since coming to Baltimore to study at Johns Hopkins University in 2018, she has become an integral part of the region’s traditional music community as a performer, composer, and teacher. Joanna released her debut album, To Keep the Candle Burning, in 2022, featuring Billy McComiskey and a host of leading traditional musicians. She now teaches Irish fiddle, Suzuki violin, and improvisation in Baltimore, and explores collaborations in other musical genres including jazz, blues, and Americana.

Tidewater will be releasing an album in early 2027. The recording will feature rarely recorded traditional tunes and songs, original compositions by band members, and repertoire with particular significance to the region. The album captures a living musical landscape and a regional sound that has been in the making for over half a century.

That sense of continuity is fundamental to Tidewater. The music has been passed from musician to musician through listening, teaching, friendship, family, sessions, rehearsals, concerts, and countless informal gatherings. Tidewater honors those who established the tradition in Maryland while creating space for the musicians who are carrying it forward.

The name Tidewater reflects that connection to place and movement. Maryland’s waterways have always linked communities to one another and to the wider Atlantic world. In much the same way, this music has traveled across oceans and generations, taking on the character of the people and places that have made it their own.

Tidewater is a collective of Irish traditional music from the Mid-Atlantic. It is rooted in Maryland, connected across generations, and still moving forward.