Avourneen, a talented Irish-influenced band from Colorado, visited KGNU for a local gold performance, showcasing their Celtic roots and multi-genre influences. The band members—Kieran, Adam, and Alice—shared their musical journeys, discussed their instruments, including fiddle, guitar, bass, and the Irish bouzouki, and performed both traditional tunes and Leonard Cohen tributes. They also talked about upcoming shows, including a Leonard Cohen tribute at Swallow Hill and the Colorado Highland Games, and shared plans for a new album slated for early 2026. Listeners got a rich blend of Celtic, classical, and contemporary influences from a band celebrated for both musicianship and creative versatility. (Local Gold: 9/15/25)
Wendy Mills: This is so exciting. The band Avourneen—if you can hear me, we’re kind of waving at each other. Yep, there they are. They are absolutely fabulous. Their name actually means “Dear One” or “Beloved” in Irish. Irish is not the easiest language to learn, but Avourneen is just fabulous, besides me going on and on.
Let’s give a listen here in the studio at KGNU.
Wendy Mills: Bravo! That was fabulous.
Avourneen: Thank you.
Wendy Mills: So, why don’t you—actually, I guess I could introduce all of you, but you know who you are better than I do. Then I can kind of give the Rhapsody around you musicians. You’re all amazing with what you’ve done in your musical lives.
It seems like you all started playing music very young.
Avourneen: I think I probably started the latest—I began playing guitar when I was 12. Kieran and Alice both started very young, so I’m the late arrival. I was also a late arrival as a violinist; I started piano really young but didn’t start violin until I was eight. In the violin world, that’s considered late.
Wendy Mills: Alice, that’s amazing. Absolutely amazing. Why don’t you just introduce yourself and say a little about what instruments you play? I know many of you are multi-instrumentalists, and then we’ll get on with it.
Avourneen: Beautiful. Kieran, want to start?
Kieran: Yeah. I mostly play fiddle, a little mandolin, and a little piano—not so much in our usual context, but for these cover shows, and certainly for this one, I get to play keys a little more than in everyday life as a straight-ahead Irish band.
Avourneen: I’m Adam. My main instrument is guitar, but over the past five years, I’ve started playing the Irish bouzouki, which is being incorporated more and more into the music. Those are kind of the two main string instruments I play.
Wendy Mills: Adam, not to interrupt, but for those who may not know, can you describe what a bouzouki is like?
Adam: It’s sort of like an octave mandolin—but bigger. Traditionally, the bouzouki is a Greek instrument. If you go to a Greek festival, the Greek version has a round back and looks a little like a lute or big mandolin. In the seventies, some Irish players went to Greece, discovered the bouzouki, and modified it to fit Irish music. The Irish bouzouki is bigger than the Greek version, usually four or five courses, producing double tones. It’s akin to a mandolin but with a really lush sound. I discovered it during COVID to keep myself sane. I’ve been incorporating it more and more and recently got a new one I’m obsessed with.
Wendy Mills: Maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Alice: I usually play a big upright acoustic bass, but since we’re doing the Cohen tunes, I’ve got my electric today. I’ve been playing for a long time. In the bass world, it’s typical to start young—I did with the bass guitar—but I played a lot of keys before that.
Wendy Mills: And you all got into Celtic music around high school?
Kieran: I have the deepest roots. I grew up learning mostly Suzuki violin. My dad has always been really into Irish music, so I grew up with sessions in the house and a youth fiddle group. My younger brother, four years younger, also played, and we sort of worked it out amongst ourselves. I came back to it toward the end of high school and into college.
Wendy Mills: Kieran, you played in a lot of orchestras and string quartets.
Kieran: Yeah, I played with Nexus Strings, a classical crossover group. Fiddling is the main thing I do these days.
Wendy Mills: And you studied at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. That’s impressive. Why don’t you delight us with another piece?
Kieran: Sure. The last one was a group of traditional session tunes on our record Sparrow, released in March 2020, two weeks before the world shutdown. The next piece is for our new album, which we’ll start recording in a couple of months. It’s called Dulin Waltz, about a little town in Ireland Kieran and I visited 10 years ago. I wrote it after playing a session there; it came to me full-formed. [00:08:00]
[Performs “Dulin Waltz”]
Wendy Mills: Very nice, sweet. Alice, I understand you also have a background in classical music?
Alice: A little bit.
Wendy Mills: That’s fabulous. Lamont as well?
Alice: Ironically, classical music is where I first encountered folk music, playing wind band arrangements by Holst and Vaughan Williams. On our first record, we include a traditional Irish tune with an instrumental quote from Vaughan Williams in the middle. We try to mix as many elements as possible.
Wendy Mills: You mix up a lot of different musical genres.
Alice: Yes, it reflects all of our backgrounds. This week we’re focusing on a Leonard Cohen tribute show at Swallow Hill on Friday, which is far from Irish music. We all bring our classical and folk influences to it. I grew up in Aurora, listening to folk, rock, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa. I didn’t get into Irish music until 17 or 18, but Kieran introduced me to instrumental sides. It’s really become a fusion project. We’re all enamored with John Doyle; most of my biggest musical heroes are Irish players. [00:13:00]
Wendy Mills: There are so many incredible Irish players. You’ll also be performing at the Colorado Highland Games, right?
Avourneen: That’s right. We go from Leonard Cohen to one of our favorite festivals in the Front Range, formerly the Scottish Festival, now the Highland Games. We have three sets planned.
Wendy Mills: The Highland Games used to be in early summer. I remember it was incredibly hot.
Avourneen: They moved it to September to avoid the heat. It’s at the Denver Polo Grounds in Sedalia. The venue is beautiful and expansive.
Wendy Mills: And a shout-out to Mouse from the Commoners, organizing this year’s event.
Wendy Mills: Back to the Swallow Hill show—having an Irish band do a Leonard Cohen tribute is brilliant. Why choose him?
Avourneen: I love Cohen’s lyricism and poetry. We’ve done other tribute shows, like Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks and a Beatles tribute. For Cohen, we have an expanded lineup, including Katie Burns on cello and Christopher Rose on drums. Cohen’s later work with synthesizers and electronic music also opened up creative directions for us. [00:16:00]
Wendy Mills: Can’t wait to hear your take on Cohen.
Avourneen: Sweet. We’ll start with Dance Me to the End of Love. [00:17:00] [00:18:00] [00:19:00] [00:20:00] [00:21:00] [00:22:00] [00:23:00]
[Performs several Leonard Cohen songs including “Dance Me to the End of Love” and “So Long, Marianne”]
Wendy Mills: Thank you. That was beautiful. Your renderings of Cohen’s music are excellent.
We’re going to do Hallelujah next, probably one of the most covered songs in pop music—Cohen’s “Whiskey in the Jar,” if you will.
Wendy Mills: For anyone just joining us, you’re listening to an in-studio performance by Avourneen, a great band from Colorado. You may know them from Katie Mullins’ house band before the pub closed. They still play frequently at the Avalon for contra dance.
Wendy Mills: Multifaceted musicianship, multifaceted performance—just fabulous. You’ll also catch them on burlesque stages.
Wendy Mills: Avourneen will be performing at Swallow Hill on Friday for the Leonard Cohen tribute. Their name, Aine, means “Dear One” or “Beloved” in Irish. They’ll also be at the Colorado Highland Games, September 20–21, at the Denver Polo Grounds. You can find their music on all platforms, and more information is at avourneen.com—spelled A-V-O-U-R-N-E-E. New album coming early 2026. [00:26:00]
Wendy Mills: Thank you, Adam Goldstein, Kieran Morden, and Alice Alistair. It’s been a real privilege having you here. You can find more information about Avourneen’s upcoming shows on our website, kgnu.org.
