About River Drivers:

The River Drivers have cultivated a unique passion-infused style of music that draws from Celtic, Americana and Appalachian influences. Anchored by Kevin McCloskey (vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass) and Mindy Murray (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass) with accompaniment by Marian Moran (tin whistle, low whistle, concertina, melodica) and Meagan Ratini (fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle), their music is known for its high energy and pervasive themes of hard-working men and women and social justice.

At a very early age, Kevin was playing guitar and banjo and singing harmonies to Irish standards with his father, Irish tenor Tommy McCloskey. In his early twenties, he cut his teeth playing weekly at a Trenton, New Jersey, pub alongside his father and “Irish Billy” Briggs. Kevin developed a passion for songs portraying the plight of working men and women and all the places they toiled. He brings this intensity to the River Drivers.

Mindy was in her early teens when she started singing and playing guitar and dulcimer in coffee houses, pubs, and campus radio stations. While in medical school in West Virginia, she witnessed firsthand the struggles of day-to-day life in Appalachia. The music of the mountains and the miners infused into her repertoire. Years later, she and her daughter Meagan would play music together long into the night and eventually formed the musical duo Port Murray.

Marian’s family roots lie in the town of Ardara in County Donegal–known throughout the world as an epicenter of Irish traditional music. Whenever she can break away, she steals back to the rugged coastline village to recharge at its nightly sessions and the many music festivals held there–including the famed Cup of Tae and Johnny Doherty festivals. She has since brought the River Drivers to Ardara to play at the venues of the Cup of Tae.

Meagan grew up in a house that seemed like it had more musical instruments than practically anything else. She learned how to play the flute and dulcimer when she was quite young and then moved on to other instruments, eventually picking up the fiddle and the tin whistle and falling into Irish music. While helping direct the New Jersey Folk Festival in college, Meagan was introduced to the world of the traditional Irish session by some of the best trad musicians in the Mid-Atlantic. She and the other River Drivers have since taken their high-energy blend of Celtic- Americana to the main stage of the New Jersey Folk Festival and other great international music festivals including the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Musikfest.

The powerful music of the River Drivers can be heard on radio stations in all parts of the US, worldwide in podcasts and radio shows, and onstage at festivals and pubs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Socials:

About River Drivers:

The River Drivers have cultivated a unique passion-infused style of music that draws from Celtic, Americana and Appalachian influences. Anchored by Kevin McCloskey (vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass) and Mindy Murray (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass) with accompaniment by Marian Moran (tin whistle, low whistle, concertina, melodica) and Meagan Ratini (fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle), their music is known for its high energy and pervasive themes of hard-working men and women and social justice.

At a very early age, Kevin was playing guitar and banjo and singing harmonies to Irish standards with his father, Irish tenor Tommy McCloskey. In his early twenties, he cut his teeth playing weekly at a Trenton, New Jersey, pub alongside his father and “Irish Billy” Briggs. Kevin developed a passion for songs portraying the plight of working men and women and all the places they toiled. He brings this intensity to the River Drivers.

Mindy was in her early teens when she started singing and playing guitar and dulcimer in coffee houses, pubs, and campus radio stations. While in medical school in West Virginia, she witnessed firsthand the struggles of day-to-day life in Appalachia. The music of the mountains and the miners infused into her repertoire. Years later, she and her daughter Meagan would play music together long into the night and eventually formed the musical duo Port Murray.

Marian’s family roots lie in the town of Ardara in County Donegal–known throughout the world as an epicenter of Irish traditional music. Whenever she can break away, she steals back to the rugged coastline village to recharge at its nightly sessions and the many music festivals held there–including the famed Cup of Tae and Johnny Doherty festivals. She has since brought the River Drivers to Ardara to play at the venues of the Cup of Tae.

Meagan grew up in a house that seemed like it had more musical instruments than practically anything else. She learned how to play the flute and dulcimer when she was quite young and then moved on to other instruments, eventually picking up the fiddle and the tin whistle and falling into Irish music. While helping direct the New Jersey Folk Festival in college, Meagan was introduced to the world of the traditional Irish session by some of the best trad musicians in the Mid-Atlantic. She and the other River Drivers have since taken their high-energy blend of Celtic- Americana to the main stage of the New Jersey Folk Festival and other great international music festivals including the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Musikfest.

The powerful music of the River Drivers can be heard on radio stations in all parts of the US, worldwide in podcasts and radio shows, and onstage at festivals and pubs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Socials: