Finn & Haddie is the duo of Neil Downey & Barry Finn who first met in the mid seventies while singing and playing at the Irish Music session in the ‘Village Coach House’ in Brookline, Ma. They are New England based and perform primarily a cappella songs related to heavy work and hard labor. They specialize in the performance of traditional sea songs, shanties and work songs originating in the southern prison system.

Neil and Barry have performed individually and as a duo throughout the United States. Both are gifted songwriters who bring their unique styles, talents and experiences to this collaboration. They have performed at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival, New England Folk Festivals (NEFFA), New Hampshire’s Great Bay Festival, the Gloucester (US) Maritime Festival, Boston’s First Night, the San Francisco Maritime Festival, the Salem Maritime Festival, the Boston Antique & Classic Boat Festival, for Sea Revels in Boston, at Sail Boston Tall Ships Parades 88 and 92 and at the Massachusetts State House for the “Welcoming of the Captains” during Boston’s last Tall Ships Parade. They have also performed on board the USS Constitution, the USS Eagle, the USS Salem, the Unicorn, the Schooner Adventure, the Brig Carthaginian, the Polish schooner Zawisza Czarny, the Larinda, Canada’s schooner Empire Sandy, the Shenandoah & Nova Scotia’s Bluenose II.

“Finn & Haddie have performed only sporadically over the last few decades and we have never recorded due to both having day jobs, in nursing (Neil) and construction (Barry) as well as having lives. We apologize to all our fans that we’ve been scarce in the past but now that we are viewed as being unworthy of legitimate work, we have the spare time to record and perform more often, nationally or internationally. We are now more knowledgeble, far more mature and more available than ever so buy our CD and come hear us perform. If you like what you hear, hire us.” (Barry Finn)