means "Music of the North"), produced by Nicky Ryan and released in 1983 by Gael-Linn Records. The album is a collection of Gaelic songs and Ulster jigs and reels. After the release of their first album, Kennedy and Ní Mhaonaigh were invited to America, and they quickly realised there was a market there. They then took a career break from teaching, which ultimately became permanent. The two started to tour with two additional members Ciarán Curran (on bouzouki) and Mark Kelly (on guitar), performing their first ever live concert as a four-member ensemble on 1 June 1985 at St. John's Church in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, this line-up – with no name yet – being the core of the future Altan band. Inspired by the success of their debut effort, they began to work on a new group of ballads and jigs from the North. The result was the album Altan, released in 1987 on the Green Linnet Records label, named after a lake which sits in the shadow of Errigal near Gweedore, County Donegal. In the Irish language, altan also means "stream". The album features many of the musicians who would later join the band. 1987–1994: Horse with a Heart, The Red Crow, Harvest Storm, Island Angel Shortly after the release in 1987 of Altan, their second studio album, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy named their ensemble "Altan" after the name of the album, the band's line-up remaining unchanged as a quartet including Kennedy on flute, Ní Mhaonaigh on fiddle and vocals, Ciarán Curran on bouzouki and Mark Kelly on guitar. Later on, Dublin's Paul O'Shaughnessy joined the band on fiddle, participating in the first three Green Linnet recordings (1989–1992). In 1989, Altan released their debut album, Horse with a Heart. In 1990, Altan released The Red Crow, which became the first of three Altan albums to win the "Celtic/British Isles Album of the Year" award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufactures (NAIRD). In 1992, Ciarán Tourish on fiddle & whistle and Dáithí Sproule on guitar joined the band for the Harvest Storm recording. With the arrival of Dáithí Sproule, Mark and Dáithí shared the role of guitarist, Mark touring with the band in Europe and Dáithí in the United States. In June 1992, Frankie Kennedy learned he had Ewing's sarcoma, a type of cancer that attacks bone structure. He endured surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy simultaneously