The Duo:
After playing together on and off for a few years previously, we came together to form the na-mara duo in 2006. Since that time, we have been playing across many of the clubs and festivals in north London and the counties around our home town of St. Albans.
Over this time, we have increasingly explored music from all corners of the Celtic diaspora, in particular Brittany and Asturias.
One of our specific projects has been to take songs from the French speaking world and translate them into English to bring them to a wider English-speaking audience. We have also been researching tunes from the Spanish-Celtic regions of Asturias and Galicia to include in our sets.
More recently, we have increasingly been writing our own songs in the traditional style. A number of these songs have been included on our second major album, ‘The Bite’, released on the Rightback Records label.
Rob Garcia:
I was born in London and am of Spanish descent; my parents arrived in the UK as child refugees from the Spanish Civil War in 1937. I trained as a professional musician and classical guitarist, played solo and duo recitals in the UK and Europe and worked as a music teacher. I play mandolin, mandola, bandurria and classical guitar in the duo.
Paul McNamara:
I was born in Middlesbrough where as a teenager I played around the local folk clubs. After many years living in Scotland and Oxford, my family settled in St Albans in 1987. I play Lowden (DADGAD - tuned)and Taylor (EADGBE - tuned) guitars in the duo.
