Kevin Buckley

5/26/23

Lot's of cool stuff happening these days...working in the studio with Eimear Arkins, Opera Bell Band, So Grand Polka Band (to name a few) as well as joining Irish Bluegrass powerhouse JigJam for a number of dates this summer and fall...sifting through a pile of original material at the moment. 

Stay tuned!

Kevin Buckley Lets His Fiddle Take The Lead On Debut Album ‘Big Spring’

‘Big Spring’ is a cross-genre fusion album featuring elements of Irish Traditional folk, Bluegrass, and Swing music with an enticing sparkle. 

ST. LOUIS, MO (January 11, 2022) - Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter Kevin Buckley rings in the new year with the honeyed melody of his brilliant fiddle on his debut solo album, Big Spring, out February 22nd. Having released 4 original albums under the name Grace Basement since the mid-2000’s, Big Spring marks Buckley’s first release to feature the fiddle, as well as original arrangements of traditional folk tunes and beyond. Buckley’s glimmering fiddle leads listeners through vibrant soundscapes on tracks like “Sweeney’s Wheel,” “Hardiman The Fiddler,” and “Marcelle et Marcel,” tactfully threading the assorted genres in a sonic masterpiece that captures breathtaking art from a variety of perspectives. In addition to Buckley’s fiddle taking the spotlight, the artist makes the space for the charm of his buttery vocals to shine on tracks like “Never Tire Of The Road” and “Miss Bailey,” where listeners find him more than at home in his folk background. Buckley especially hooks listeners with his performance on “The Blackest Crow,” where the crooner’s voice decadently intertwines with the bouncy twang of his acoustic guitar. Listeners can expect to hear elements of artists like Martin Hayes, Chris Thile, and Tim O’Brien throughout the record. 

While Buckley is primarily influenced by his Irish traditional background, the multi-instrumentalist also incorporates aspects of Old Time, Bluegrass, Swing, and Tejano music in his work. The artist effortlessly delivers masterful performances over each style of music he approached, yielding a unique, polished collection of 12 entrancing tracks capturing a timeless snapshot of traditional music styles. Beyond the raw talent demonstrated on each of Buckley’s performances throughout the album, Big Spring was impressively recorded from Buckley’s set-up at home. The album settled into its final version in collaboration with mixing engineer Dave Sinko (The Punch Brothers, Bela Fleck), who lent his seasoned ear to bring out the best in the acoustic driven mixes comprising this record.

More About Kevin Buckley:

Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, he started taking Irish fiddle lessons at the age of 9 and spent his subsequent teenage years performing and competing all over the US and Ireland, establishing himself as a valued proponent of Irish traditional music.

During those same formative teenage years, his musical world expanded as he started playing more American styles of fiddle music, including bluegrass, old-time, and swing. The artist also spent a lot of time playing in garage rock bands and soon took an interest in songwriting, influenced by his folk background and the classic rock radio that pervaded his midwest upbringing.

In 2007, Buckley released an indie album of all original music under the moniker Grace Basement. What started as a four track home recording project became a full-on rock band, which is still active today (the 4th album, Mississippi Nights, was released 2018). These sonic experiments also led him down the path of record engineering and mixing. Over the past decade or so, he has recorded a variety of artists ranging from Irish traditional to punk rock. Aside from an occasional rock and roll outing with Grace Basement, Buckley performs in a number of acoustic combos including The Western Satellites, Pappy with a Hatchet, Keeping it Reel and Count Buckley’s Royal Rascals. You can usually find him performing weekly at St. Louis’ treasured Irish pub, John D. McGurks or online via his musical instruction website, String Village. Big Spring being his debut solo album, the artist decided to showcase his professional strengths as an instrumentalist, arranger, and folk interpreter.