John Doherty (1895 – January 26, 1980) was an Irish folk fiddler.
John Doherty was born in Ardara, County Donegal. He was an Irish Traveller who worked as a tinsmith. The year of his birth is not certain. His father Mickey Doherty was a fiddler. Mickey married Mary McConnell, a singer. Together they had nine children and John was the youngest. In an interview in the 1970s he said that he had to practice in the barn as a teenager, and was not allowed to play fiddle in the company of his parents until he had mastered "Bonny Kate". He heard recordings of James Scott Skinner and imitated his style. His brother, also called Mickey, tended to play more in the style of Michael Coleman. Mickey was also recorded, notably on the album "The Gravel Walks".
From the late 40s to the 1970s he was sought out by collectors. "The Floating Bow" contains recordings made between 1968 and 1974. They are mostly played in the Donegal fiddle tradition, though a couple are Scottish. John played with much ornamentation, including double-stopping, and, having been heavily influenced by the uillean piping tradition, often attempted to replicate the sound of the pipes' drones. According to Alex Monaghan in the magazine "The Living Tradition", he was a significant influence on the fiddle playing of The Chieftains and Altan. Doherty was also a stoty-teller, and some of his tales appear on the liner notes to "The Floating Bow".
Doherty sometimes did not carry a fiddle with him on his travels because he knew that, if needed, he was always likely to be provided with one when he visited "house dances" (folk music parties hosted by a family in their own house). "The Floating Bow" was played on a borrowed fiddle. He once travelled to Dublin to play in the Oireachtas Championships. He was first recorded in 1945 by The Irish Folklore Commission during one of his trips to Teelin in Southwest Donegal and later by the BBC (Peter Kennedy) in Belfast in 1953. 10 of these 1953 recordings were issued on "Traditional Dance Music of Ireland" (various artists). His first full album was "Pedlar's Pack" (1964), issued by the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Sadly, this recording has never been re-issued. Paddy Glackin first met him in 1965, and was heavily influenced by John. He is credited with writing the tune "Planxty Reel". He is also said to have known hundreds of tunes. He could probably described as the last of the travelling fiddlers. He died in Ballyshannon Rock Hospital, County Donegal.
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