London Born Tad Sargent, whose family roots hale from Castlebar in county Mayo, started playing music at a young age on the piano. Learning about Irish music took years of attending sessions run by the London Irish banjo player Mick O’Connor. He played guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, harmonium, piano, and mandocello on Matt Tighe’s debut album, and composed the reel First Born (dedicated to the McAuliffe family) which was used on James Patrick Gavin’s debut album Chewing the Fat.
A multi-instrumentalist, Tad has performed/recorded and worked with many great musicians and groups such as Tony Christie, The Kelly Family, Angelo Kelly, Brian McNeill, Sylvain Barou, Michael McGoldrick, Mohsen Amini, Benedict Morris, Cara Dillon, Steph Geremia, Orlaith McAuliffe, Emma Kirkby, Joby Talbot, Barrule, Kristina Train, Celtic Crossroads, Belinda Sykes & Joglaresa, Luke Daniels, The Dhol Foundation, Ranagri, Crossharbour, Bible Code Sundays, and The Long Notes. He made an album with the Breton uilleann piper Loïc Bléjean which was released in Autumn 2016. His playing can also be heard on recordings and films including the 2010 film “Burke and Hare” (John Landis), Barulle’s album “Mananans Cloak”, Crossharbour album “CrossHarbour”, Ranagri “Tradition”, Tony Christie album “The Great Irish Song Book”.
