The Kerry Boys
The Kerry Boys are Mark James, originally from the County Kerry Ireland now a Cheshire, CT resident, and Pierce Campbell from Prospect, CT who is also the Connecticut State Troubadour for 2007 & 2008. These two dynamic and popular Connecticut Irish balladeers have been performing together for over 15 years, dazzling fans of all ages from Maine to New York. Their humorous, high-energy show will have you clapping and singing along in no time, engaging you from start to finish with their wide collection of traditional and original songs.
In their years performing together they have been welcomed throughout the North East at Irish festivals, library and municipal performances, schools, Irish pubs, clubs and fairs. The Kerry Boys have released three CD’s, KB3 in July '06, Live in the Studio in August of ’03 and their first self-titled recording in March of 1997. The Kerry Boys are members of the ConnTours roster of The Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.
The Kerry Boys sing with pristine harmonies rarely heard anymore, backing them up with powerful and expressive mandolin and guitar. For larger shows,Tony Pasqualoni joins the group on bass.
The Kerry Boys got their start at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA where Vince McDonald who was the Lion’s Den manager at the time dubbed them The Kerry Boys. In a conversation with Vince one day during a solo performance at the Inn, Pierce mentioned that he had a friend from Ireland who was also a performer and that it would be fun to do a show as a duo with the focus on Irish music. Vince, originally from Ireland himself, quickly agreed and The Kerry Boys were born. Since Mark and Pierce could not think of a name for the group they ignored the subject. When they showed up for their first performance, Vince had dubbed them The Kerry Boys after the county which Mark is from, and the name has stuck ever since.
Here are some of the places we've played over the years.
Festivals & Fairs
The Big E, CT Pavillion
Durham Fair
Chester Fair
Ledyard Fair
Wolcott Fair
Arts & Ideas Festival, New Haven,CT
Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival, Hunter, NY
Great American Irish Festival, Mohawk, NY
The Connecticut Irish Festival, N. Haven, CT
Riverfront Recapture Irish Festival, Hartford, CT
Danbury Irish Festival, Danbury, CT
Fairfield Irish Festival, Fairfield, CT
New Haven Street Festival, New Haven, CT
East Durham Irish Festival, East Durham, NY
Municipal Performances
Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, NY
Ashford Parks and Rec
Bethany, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Bethel Park & Rec
Bolton, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Brookfield Parks and Rec
Cheshire , CT, Chamber Of Commerce Festival
Cheshire, CT Parks and Rec. Concert
Cheshire Library
Chicopee, MA, Elms College Ethnic Music Series
Colchester Arts Commission
Coventry, CT, Parks and Rec. Concert
Danbury, CT Library
Enfield, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Haddam-Killingworth Park & Rec
Hebron, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Litchfield Parks and Rec Concerts
Madison, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Manchester, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Mansfield, CT Park & Rec Concert
Marlborough, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Meriden, CT, Arts at The Crossroads Festival
Middlebury, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Middlefield, CT Parks & Rec Concert
Milford, CT, Milford Police Union Benefit Concert
Morris Park & Rec
Naugatuck, CT Arts Commission Concert
Naugatuck, CT, St Michael’s Church Fair
Newington Narks & Rec
Norwalk Park & Rec
Oxford Cultural Arts Commission
Redding, CT Park & Rec Concert
Seymour, CT Arts Commission Concert
Shelton, CT, Valley River Celebration
Simsbury Arts Council, Opening Night
Simsbury, CT Chamber Of Commerce, September Fest
Simsbury, CT Library Concert
Southbury, CT - Parks and Rec. Concert
Southington Apple Festival
Stamford, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Stratford, CT Stratford Library Concert
Teikyo Post College, Middlebury, CT
Thompson, CT, Park & Rec Concert
Trumbull, CT , Trumbull Library
Willamantic Street Festival
Winsted, CT – Park & Rec Concert
Woodbridge, CT - Woodbridge Library
Woodbury Library Concert Series
Woodbury, CT Parks and Rec. Concert
Clubs and Pubs
Kitty hoynes Irish Pub, Syracuse, NY
Half Door, Hartford
Irish American Home, Glastonbury
The Banshee, Scranton, PA
Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA
Pittsfield Irish Club, Pittsfield, MA
Tigin, Stamford, CT
McKinnon’s, Hartford
Cleary’s, Waterbury, CT
Old Dublin, Wallingford, CT
O’Driscoll’s, Wilbraham, MA
Black Rock Castle, Bridgeport, CT
Jessie Camiles, Naugatuck, CT
Maggie McFly’s, Middlebury, CT