Amelia Baker -- a.k.a. Cinder Well -- is a native Californian who played in folk/punk bands around Santa Cruz. She was introduced to Irish traditional music through meeting members of the Dublin-based experimental folk band Lankum at a festival in Amsterdam. Subsequently Baker moved to County Clare to enroll in a master's program in Irish traditional music performance at Limerick University. This spring, both Well and Lankum have released new albums which are helping define the current sound of Irish folk music.
In 1981, Irish supergroup Planxty -- then at the point of disbanding -- were commissioned to create a music and dance piece for the Eurovision contest held that year in Dublin. Apparently that project, entitled "Timedance," was an inspiration for Michael Flatley to create "Riverdance" in 1994.