James Patrick Gavin is a North London-born multi-instrumentalist and composer whose roots stretch from County Fermanagh in Ireland to the Basque Country. Renowned for his expressive fiddle and guitar playing, he fuses Irish traditional music with contemporary, jazz, and experimental influences. His acclaimed solo debut Chewing The Fat(2018) was praised by Folk Radio UK and The Living Tradition for its daring blend of heritage and innovation, while KLOF Mag called it a deeply personal and imaginative record.
Gavin’s playing features prominently across the modern folk scene, from his work with Jez Hellard & The Djukella Orchestra—where his fiddle is a driving force behind albums like Heavy Wood and The Fruitful Fells—to The Rad Orchestra, whose genre-defying mix of Celtic and desert-blues influences was described as “exciting” and “cross-cultural” by Pennyblack Music.
He is also one-third of Gavin Fairhall Lever, whose 2025 album Tearing Down Walls earned strong reviews for its “razor-edged instinct for arrangement” (Spiral Earth) and “an exhilarating mashing together of Celtic traditional music and jazz harmony.” (The Guardian).
His more recent work includes A Curious Dance (2023), a collaboration with Paddi Benson and Grace Lemon that Tradfolk.co hailed as “four incredible musicians making music that is effortlessly strange…the soundtrack to a dancefloor overrun by unquiet ghosts.”
Gavin also appears on Rooftop Assembly’s 2024 EP Storeys, expanding his reach into string-driven, genre-blending projects.
Whether performing solo or within these ensembles, Gavin’s music remains rooted in a sense of place, storytelling, and experimentation—bridging traditional folk authenticity and contemporary edge, and earning him both critical acclaim and a reputation as a performer of warmth, virtuosity, and fearless creativity.
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