Eddie Delahunt is Kansas City’s favorite Irish troubadour, and it's Irish Fest weekend in Kansas City. That's enough reason to spotlight Delahunt, but we'll get a bit more specific.
3 reasons we're listening to Eddie Delahunt this week:
1. Delahunt moved to the United States from his native Ireland in 1989. He’s been a mainstay of Kansas City’s music community for more than 20 years.
2. Unlike the many musicians featured at Irish Fest who incorporate pop, rock and bluegrass into their hybrid forms of Irish music, Delahunt plays a traditional form of the folk music of his homeland.
3. Irish Fest organizers claim the event attracts 100,000 visitors each year, with performers on nine stages throughout the weekend. A delightfully personable performer, Delahunt is capable of making even open-air shows at large-scale events like this one feel like intimate affairs.
Eddie Delahunt performs at noon on Saturday, September 5, and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, at the Kansas City Irish Fest.
Bill Brownlee’s writing appears weekly in The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine. He blogs about Kansas City’s jazz scene at Plastic Sax.
