Award-winning Leahy returns to Diana Wortham Theatre - March 5 and 6

A Canadian family band of extraordinary talent, Leahy performs its exciting blend of step-dancing and music in two nights of shows: Tuesday and Wednesday, March 5 and 6 at 8:00 p.m. at Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville. Leahy is comprised of eight brothers and sisters who have been playing together their entire lives; all are talented dancers in the Cape Breton style and brilliant musicians on a variety of instruments. Winner of multiple Juno awards (the Canadian version of the Grammys) including Best New Group, Best Country Group and Best Instrumental Album, Leahy also had the most played folk/roots song in Canada in 2004, and won the Socan award for Folk/Jazz instrumentalist the following year.

With a life story that reads like a Hollywood movie—a large family raised without television on a farm in the small town of Lakefield, Ontario, Canada—the Leahys play for the joy of making music. Their genre-defying style and intense emotion continue to delight audiences across the United States and Canada. The band’s three acclaimed CDs Leahy, Lakefield and In All Things have sold more than half-a-million copies worldwide, and in winter 2007, the band released its first-ever live DVD and CD. Its self-titled album rose to number four on the Billboard world music charts, and was featured on the soundtrack of the award-winning film The Hanging Garden (1997).

On stage, Leahy brought more than 175 audiences to their feet when opening for Shania Twain on her inaugural world tour, and on screen PBS viewers were captivated by Leahy’s third television special, released in 2008. A band whose repertoire is more distinct than anything out there, Leahy continues to be one of Canada’s most sought-after exports.

Leahy’s Asheville performance is made possible by Performance Sponsors Renaissance Asheville Hotel and Arby’s, and by Mainstage Music Series Sponsors BMW of Asheville and Henry LaBrun, with additional support from Media Sponsors 880AM The Revolution, New Radio 570 WWNC, and WNC magazine.