At Iowa Irish Fest, the music flows as easily as the pints. This year, I sat down with Belfast-born musician Ian Gould, who’s been sharing Irish music around the world for years.

Known for weaving stories and history into his performances, Ian also hosted a bodhrán workshop during the festival, giving curious festival-goers a hands-on introduction to Ireland’s frame drum.

This article is based on podcast episode 285 featuring Irish trad musician Ian Gould.
Use the player below to listen or scroll to continue reading the article and get resource links.

We covered a lot of ground in our chat – a surprising fact about the bodhrán, thoughts on trad versus contemporary Irish music, and even the tours he leads to Ireland and Scotland.

Despite its deep, drum-like heartbeat, the bodhrán is a relatively recent addition to traditional Irish ensembles. While a few historic paintings hint at its earlier presence, the instrument only became a standard part of the trad music scene in the 1960s and 70s, popularized by groups like The Chieftains.

Drums have existed in every culture for centuries, but in Ireland, the bodhrán’s construction often uses ash or oak for strength, with goat skin stretched across the frame for its pliable tone. Some feature decorative woodwork, though functionality comes first.

At Iowa Irish Fest, Ian’s workshop stood out for actually supplying bodhráns for attendees to try – though pizza-box substitutes were on hand if needed. Players learned how different beaters (or even brushes) create varied sounds, from crisp snaps to soft swishes.

Traditional Irish music tends to be defined by its core instruments – fiddles, whistles, and, in more recent decades, the bodhrán. Older singing styles, such as sean-nós, were unaccompanied and uniform, without harmonies.

Contemporary Irish bands, like Gaelic Storm or Screaming Orphans, often start with that traditional base and expand into modern arrangements and global influences. While they may still feature the fiddle or pipes, their sound reaches beyond the boundaries of strict trad.

When Ian isn’t performing, he’s traveling – sometimes hosting tours through his boutique travel company, G&W Irish Tours, which he co-owns with Paul Ward. They run several small-group trips each year to Ireland and Scotland, focusing on exploring smaller regions in depth rather than racing “all over everywhere” in a week.

This autumn (2025), they’re running a foodie-focused trip, followed by a music-themed tour next April (2026), a Scotland trip in May, and an Ulster-focused “Nine to the North” tour in June that includes Ian’s hometown of Belfast.

For details, visit G&W Irish Tours and see if one of their itineraries fits your calendar. If you can’t join me in Ireland, traveling with Ian might just be your next best option.

The post The Beat of Ireland: Ian Gould on the Bodhrán, Trad Music, and Tours appeared first on Ireland Family Vacations.