Kevin Lawlor

Kevin Lawlor is a drummer with 16 years of performing experience across the full spectrum of music genres. He is a band leader, composer, session musician and educator and has performed extensively in Ireland, the UK and also in Australia and Europe.

Kevin studied in Newpark Music School in Blackrock, Co. Dublin and graduated in 2007 with a BAJP Degree in Jazz Performance. His education has also included a summer course in JIMS in Austria and in 2009 he was selected from a high number of funding applicants to Wexford County Council who funded his Intensive summer course at the Drummers Collective in New York city. Here he studied with many drum educators including Latin Grammy Award winner Vince Cherico.

He has performed with a lot of jazz projects and recently his Trio has performed a headline jazz show in London and at the international Aberjazz festival in Wales. Kevin has lead bands with some of the top musicians in Ireland including Ronan Guilfoyle, Chris Guilfoyle, Phil Ware and has performed as a sideman for Tommy Halferty, Louis Stewart and Linley Hamilton. He has also recorded and performed with the great Welsh jazz pianist Dave Jones on 2 recent albums, Dave also forms part of the Kevin Lawlor Trio. Kevin is the drummer for Wexford Blues musician Johnny Stewart who has successively claimed the no. 1 spot on the iTunes blues chart with his album ‘Daydreamer’ and 3 singles releases.

Exodus was the first release by Kevin Lawlor as a band leader and was received with much praise – the highlight being five stars and a positive review from UK magazine ‘Drummer’.

Kevin is the voluntary curator of the jazz program at Wexford Arts Centre where he monitors the acts performing at the centre and ensures there is as balance between audience attendance, the quality of music and the rates being paid to musicians.

As Director of Jazz at County Wexford School of Music, Kevin wrote the Newpark Track Jazz course for the school where Music where students are prepared for the courses in Newpark School of Music. As an educator he teaches Jazz ensemble, drums and classical percussion at CWSM and was the drum tutor at Waterford Institute of Technology from 2012 to 2014.

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