Irish Instrumental Band of the Decade at Barking Legs Saturday

Every year, the distance between the Appalachians and Ireland expands as shifting tectonic plates separate Europe and North America. Yet musicians on both sides of the Atlantic increasingly are becoming aware of the deep-seated connections between traditional Irish music and old-time/bluegrass.

Last year, Ireland’s Brock McGuire Band set out with five bluegrass luminaries such as mandolinist Ricky Skaggs and guitarist Bryan Sutton to make the metaphorical 7,000-mile round-trip in four minutes or less.

Their efforts resulted in “Green Grass Blue Grass,” an album hailed as “a treasure of trans-Atlantic ear candy” (Bluegrass Unlimited) and “an impressive collaboration between masters of several genres” (IrishEcho.com).

“It just fell into place beautifully. That was such a surprise for us and a delight,” said accordionist/melodeonist Paul Brock, who co-founded the band with fiddler Manus McGuire about a decade ago.