Age no bar to genius as piper Potts goes solo at 80

Traditional music legend Sean Potts has proven that age is no barrier to productivity by releasing his first solo recording of music on the tin whistle entitled, Number Six, months before his 80th birthday.

Mr Potts, who will receive the TG4 Gradam Ceoil lifetime achievement award at a ceremony in Wexford next week, is celebrating the launch of his CD, which is a fundraiser for uilleann pipes organisation Na Piobairi Uilleann.

The founder member of The Chieftains and Ceoltoiri Chualann was joined by fellow Dubliners -- film star and keen trad musician Brendan Gleeson and singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey -- to mark the launch of the record, which he hopes will generate much-needed funds to help promote the manufacture of the uilleann pipes and the further development of the piping headquarters in historic Henrietta Street.

Since retiring from touring as a professional musician, Mr Potts has dedicated over 30 years of his life to the promotion of the uilleann pipes in his role as chairman and now honorary president of NPU.

However, it is Mr Potts' whistle playing, described by his former Chieftains colleague Paddy Moloney as "the greatest he as ever heard", that made him famous all over the world and Number Six is a celebration of his rich musical legacy.

Number Six refers to the house of Sean's grandfather John Potts, situated in the Coombe in Dublin's Liberties. John Potts was a prominent piper and his house was an important centre forIrish music.

Irish Independent