From The Hob
by Paul KeatingRecent Posts
- Danu never fails to deliver
- Altan marks 25th anniversary with new CD
- St. Patrick’s trad season is fast approaching
- Eileen Ivers Takes the Music out of the Bog
- Shannon magic by O'Suilleabhain's University of Limerick
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Danu never fails to deliver
There are some Irish music bands that fly a little too far under the radar for no real fault of their own, and it can lead to their being overlooked when it comes to discussion about bands that bring a lot to the tradition and its performance values.
One of those bands is Danu, who came through the greater New York area this past weekend including a wonderful Sunday afternoon matinee up at the Quick Center for the Arts on the campus of Fairfield University in Connecticut where I was in attendance.
Altan marks 25th anniversary with new CD
When you are 25 years on the road, no matter how good you are, you have to come up with some new ways to help widen your appeal or at least enhance what you have done that allowed you to stay in the game that long. Just go and ask Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains.
Even though, Altan -- the quintessential contemporary trad band -- has a live stage presence second to none and a driving sound and enchanting vocals by founder Mairead ni Mhaonaigh that have pleased audiences around the world for a quarter of a century, it helps to try a new approach.
St. Patrick’s trad season is fast approaching
The St. Patrick’s season is tip-toeing towards us, and as usual I like to share some of the trad highlights coming our way that will mushroom when the calendar turns to March.
Getting a head start on his bandmates in Sliabh Notes, Corkonian fiddler Matt Cranitch (pictured above) is arriving stateside early to get a little fiddle tutelage in. Since he is one of the most popular teachers on the Catskills Irish Arts Week roster and author of a respected fiddle tutor book and an outstanding exponent of the Sliabh Luachra style of playing, one of his students, Phil Weir, organized a workshop in Middletown, New Jersey on Sunday, February 28 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the Middletown Arts Center.
Triple treat for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Hall of Fame
Mere brick and mortar is not enough to do justice to all the great memories of music and musicians who populate the Comhaltas Mid-Atlantic Regional Hall of Fame over the 20 years of its existence.
Rather, it is the yearly gathering of its faithful to a gala night that serves to recognize musicians whose lifelong efforts helped foster the love of traditional music in its realm from New York and New Jersey to Pennsylvania down to Virginia and Maryland.
Once again this historic occasion will take place at the Irish American Center in Mineola, Long Island, the hospitable home of so many of these annual soirees on Saturday, February 20, where three more honorees will be inducted into the venerable roster of traditional musicians on the night.
The importance of the Culture Ireland showcase
The large task force that Culture Ireland amassed for the January artistic invasion has mostly come and gone, but not without planting seeds which will prove fruitful in the months and years ahead.
I firmly believe that the arts matter in fostering communications and dialogue down many a path that opens to wider opportunities and understanding, making it a wise investment. It’s one which I am thankful for as a traditional music writer because it allowed me to sample some of the finest talent that Ireland had to offer the weekend before last, some of whom were known to me already and others whose talent I experienced for the first time.
Trad culture thriving in NYC
In times of economic stress there are always concerns in the wider arts community about government funding allocations and programs that play a vital part in making them available to their constituents.
With Ireland’s well-documented financial woes in the past two years those fears surfaced as people braced themselves for massive cutbacks or total shutdowns of important agencies like the Arts Council, Culture Ireland and even the Department for the
Celtic Colours International Festival salutes the Great Jerry Holland
Published Friday, October 23, 2009, 8:51 AM
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – The Big Fiddle stands guard over Sydney Harbor at the entrance to the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion signaling the importance of the violin to Cape Breton culture.
A well deserved honor for Helen Gannon
Published Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 4:50 PM
Last month in Dublin at the annual Tionol Leo Rowsome at the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Culturlann, a marvelous weekend was held to celebrate the achievements of the cultural movement founded back in 1951 to preserve and promote the traditional way of life as manifested through Irish music, song, dance and the Irish language.
Cathie Ryan brings 'Danny Boy' to Life
Published Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 3:08 PM
Back in 2008 a midtown pub garnered more than its share of notoriety for banning the singing of “Danny Boy,” the melancholy song penned to the Londonderry Air.
Karan Casey showcases new CD on U.S. tour
Published Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 11:53 AM
It was over a year and half ago when I first visited the Highline Ballroom in yet another of New York City’s recaptured neighborhoods that show the resilience of the Big Apple and the artistic community that is attracted to them.
Multi-talented Kathleen Collins releases CD
Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 3:11 PM
Taking its cue from the verses written by William Butler Yeats, there is a very prestigious prize awarded to an Irish traditional fiddler who rises above stiff competition every year to garner the honor.
Darrah Carr Dance Company shines in New York
Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 3:11 PM
The Darrah Carr Dance Company completed another New York season with their weekend performances at the Irish Arts Center this past Sunday.
Celtic Christmas music for the holiday season
Published Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2:22 PM
As the Christmas holidays roll around again, it is an especially great time to see and hear some wonderful music in the seasonal and Celtic or acoustic vein.
Dermot Grogan remembered with new CD
Published Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 4:18 PM
From time to time, if you are fortunate or astute, you will come across a musician in the Irish traditional music scene who typifies how much the native folk music means to those who are uprooted from its soil in the great Irish diaspora.
Tommy Makem's legend will live on
Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 6:22 PM
Every Irish American who has ever listened to a note of Irish music probably has their defining moment when they realized what a hold the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem had on them, conscious or otherwise. Mine came decades after they first blazed a trail on the scene destroying all notions of what Irish folk music was and would be. Like the Beatles, they impacted a generation of us Irish boomers who moved from radio to TV in the 1960s and made us proud to be Irish when these four lads splashed across the screen on The Ed Sullivan Show and launched a highly successful career on their 15 minutes of fame on the popular show that was the American Idol of its day, giving rise to so many wonderful performers.
Liam Clancy is gone, but not forgotten
Published Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 2:30 PM
The weather was gray and damp, but only a little liquid sunshine fell on the day that a prince of folk music was being laid to rest on the first Monday of December.
As the assembled family and friends sang “The Parting Glass” and “Wild Mountain Thyme” --staples of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in happier times when closing out so many wonderful concerts -- the remains of Liam Clancy were being hoisted into his grave in An Rinn, the Waterford Gaeltacht where he made his home until his passing last Friday, December , the age of 74 from pulmonary fibrosis.
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