CARTHAGE — Irish singer and flute player Nuala Kennedy is touring “Noble Stranger,” her third solo release on Nashville’s Compass Records Label, and will make two stops in Maine in September.

She will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, at Skye Theatre; and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, at Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts in Unity.

Known for her vocals, adventurous instrumentation and an imaginative mix of influences, Kennedy grew up on the east coast of Ireland in a musical area steeped in mythology and historical links with Scotland.

She started to play traditional music at age 7  when her father introduced her to her first whistle teacher. Five years later,  she graduated to wooden flute and became a member of a local ceilidh band Ceoltoiri Oga Oghrialla. The band, comprising several now highly respected traditional musicians, won the all-Ireland Gradam award for the under 21 age group when she was 13.

“I never dreamed when I started playing in that very social and visceral way that something that was such an organic part of my childhood would lead to a career in music. All I knew was that I loved the music and I wanted to play all the time,” Kennedy said in prepared release.

She took lessons in classical piano, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin and, at 18, moved to Scotland to study at Edinburgh College of Art. There, she made many friends, including fellow Irish expatriate Cathal McConnell, who has mentored her over the years. It was in Edinburgh that she honed her instrumental skills.

Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive; UCCPA is at 42 Depot St., Unity. For tickets, $15 at the door, call Skye Theatre at 562-4445 or UCCPA at 948-7469.