Frank Torpey

• Active: '70s, '80s
• Genres: Rock
• Instrument: Guitar

Biography

A master bodhran (Irish drum) player, Frank Torpey has played with Michael O'Suilleabhain, Luka Bloom and the Brandan Power Band and has appeared in Michael Flatley's Riverdance. In addition to playing on albums by Alan Stivell and Mel Mercier, he collaborated with Donal Lunny and O'Suilleabhan on several compositions for the Irish TV series, River of Sound. Since 1990, Torpey has worked with fiddler Liz Doherty, mandocello player Gerry McKee, and concertina player Niall Vallely, in the traditional Irish band, Nomos. Initially a banjo and piano student at the University of County Cork (U.C.C.), Torpey switched to the bodhran after attending jam sessions conducted by Mel Mercier and Colm Murphy. Torpey continues to balance his career as a musician with a teaching position that he holds at U.C.C. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide