‘The Leitrim Equation’, is a combination of new tunes by local musicians, Lúnasa playing Leitrim tunes and traditional tunes played by Leitrim musicians accompanied by the various members of Lúnasa.

Others featuring on the CD include Charlie, Ben and Maurice Lennon, Eleanor Shanley, Michael McNamara, Dave Sheridan, Mary McPartlan and more.


The newly composed tunes element came out of a regular ‘new tunes’ workshop with Lúnasa members Kevin Crawford and Paul Meehan with the aim of encouraging a group of local players to explore the world of composition following in the footsteps of established Leitrim composers such as Charlie Lennon, Joe Liddy, Brian Rooney and Maurice Lennon. During these workshops Kevin and Paul worked with a group of six Leitrim musicians, teasing out various snippets, ideas or phrases they might have, shaping them into the outline of a tune. Over the course of these sessions a body of work was created out of which nine tunes were selected and explored in full, at which stage Lúnasa members Seán Smyth, Cillian Vallely and Trevor Hutchinson were brought in to add their touch and sound to these. These wonderful new tunes can be heard on ‘The Leitrim Equation’ CD, played by the composers and members of Lúnasa. The next generation of composers in the Leitrim tradition has emerged and this represents a great investment in the future of traditional music in the county