Irish fiddle virtuoso Martin Hayes and American guitarist Dennis Cahill possess a rare musical kinship, ranking them among the most memorable partnerships of our era. Holding listeners spellbound with their slow-building, fiery performances, the duo is opening the doors of traditional Irish music and releasing its pure, distilled beauty. Martin plays in the unhurried, lyrical style of his native Ireland's East County Clare. His father, P. J. Hayes, was the leader of the famed Tulla Ceili Band and Martin developed a great reverence for the older generation of players, whose music, as Martin puts it, "contains the longing and essence that moves you at the level of your soul." Now residing in Seattle, Martin has been an All-Ireland fiddle champion six times over, and has taken home a National Entertainment Award, the Irish equivalent to the "Grammy." Dennis, a native of Chicago, studied at the city's prestigious Music College before working with Martin. The musical rapport he has with Martin is so strong that it is often said they appear to be playing one instrument, working on a seemingly telepathic level. While Martin pursues a melody, Dennis explores the harmony and rhythms within the tunes, intuitively matching each of Martin's moves with astonishing skill and grace. Their live performances weave tunes in what Martin describes as "a three-way conversation between the two of us and the music." In 1997 the duo released The Lonesome Touch, a recording that takes Irish music to new realms, exposing its inner meaning in an accessible way to listeners of classical, jazz, and modern music. Their second duo recording, Live in Seattle (Green Linnet), released in 2000, captures the fire and chemistry of their concert performances.