Box and bow beauty from an all-star beauty

But Gavin has not cut an entire album with an American-born box player until now, and he boldly begins at the top: Joe Derrane.

On either side of the Atlantic, there is no Irish button accordionist who surpasses Derrane for sheer technical skill. His triplets are legendary; his playing of hornpipes, immaculate; his musical understanding, wide and deep. The influence of his playing has seeped into a number of button accordion albums I’ve heard out of Ireland in recent years, and M