IrishCentral trad irish - b5cc3275d518416eacb61d676e8d84d1

Some wonderful discoveries - relishing Irish trad session, The Gathering visitors and more (IrishCentral)

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:33:48 PDT

Illustration by Caty BartholomewCherry blossoms explode gorgeously right across the West, the sun shines, a fat full moon garnishes stilly nights to die for, the small birds begin their courting dances in greening hedges, there is recovery and hope in every breeze that dimples the cheeks of the small loughs in my end of Clare, and my friend Eoin O'Neill calls to bring me into Ennis for a night on a good lively town of music and song and craic The Winter is banished at last Even the news bulletins are brighter More jobs are being created, it seems, than are being lost READ MORE

Temple Bar Trad Festival for The Gathering was a huge treat (IrishCentral)

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 05:01:37 PST

Michael Rooney conducting The De Cuellar SuiteTemple Bar, Dublin -- In the year of The Gathering, the massive Tourism Ireland initiative attempting to stimulate travel to Ireland in 2013 from the Irish Diaspora around the world, you can’t get too early a start reaping the hoped-for harvest So the Temple Bar Trad Festival (TBTF) drew the important role of being the first big festival enticing visitors to the Dublin’s capital city and also marking the first traditional Irish music festival to get out of the blocks as well It’s now in its eighth year of operation under the auspices of the Temple Bar Company representing the many businesses within the confines of the historic district on the south side of the Liffey River near O’Connell Bridge, with Dame Street more or less the main boundary up to Christchurch Cathedral READ MORE

New York pride swells in Dublin at the Temple Bar Trad Festival (IrishCentral)

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:31:31 PST

Pride of New York Band in Dublin (Photo by Martin Donohoe)DUBLIN -- As one of the first big Irish music festivals of the year, the Temple Bar Trad Festival (TBTF) was one of the designated events of The Gathering, an Irish government tourism initiative which hopes to entice many overseas visitors to come to Ireland in 2013While it is too soon to tally how successful the festival was in luring visitors last week, it certainly reached across the waves in recruiting talent in its eighth year Artists came from Europe, Britain, Cape Breton and America mainly to perform in the beautiful Georgian City Hall from the 18th century alongside Dublin Castle READ MORE

Ireland’s most influential trad band The Chieftains set to end US tour on St. Patrick's Day (IrishCentral)

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:36:51 PST

By: RACHAEL LAIRD

The world's most influential and successful traditional Irish band, The Chieftains have confirmed a 28-date US tour kicking off February 9, at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, FL.

The Weekend’s events - what’s going on in trad music in and around New York (IrishCentral)

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:01:04 PST

It's shaping up as another stimulating weekend on the music and dance front in Manhattan with plenty of events on tapChristy McNamara, the Clare musician and photographer from Crusheen outside of Ennis, is opening an exhibit of photographs taken over a two-decade span mostly of traditional musicians revealing much more than spare black and white images thanks to his insights into the times and places where they were captured Entitled “From Clare to Here -- A Journey in Photographs,” the exhibition will hang at the Irish Consulate (345 Park Avenue, 17th Floor) from November 16-December 21 Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaelthacht, Jimmy Deenihan from Kerry, will do the honors of opening the exhibit this Friday at a special reception from 5:30-7:30 p READ MORE

Leitrim trad stars broadcast to the world ahead of The Gathering (IrishCentral)

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:10:17 PST

By: JANE WALSH

Leitrim has announced its own innovative idea to promote the county for the Gathering 2013 by hosting a live Trad session webcast on Tuesday 20th November.

Milwaukee Irish Fest, with over 100,000 visitors, is a must for Irish trad music fans (IrishCentral)

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:00:53 PDT

Kevin Burke and Daithi Sproule perform in Milwaukee (Photo by Patrick Roe)Milwaukee – It is home to the largest Irish festival in North America called Milwaukee Irish Fest held every August on Lake Michigan’s shores It usually tops the 100,000 attendance mark when the weather is fine for its four-day celebration of all things Irish Famous as that festival is for hosting the largest number of entertainment and cultural acts on the 85 acres of the Lakefront Henry Maier Festival Grounds, its work isn’t over when the last notes of the Sunday night scattering are through and the last salvo of fireworks have been fired READ MORE

Irish trad music news and happenings this season (IrishCentral)

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:32:34 PDT

BuaDown in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania lies the town of Bethlehem, once the home of Bethlehem Steel, one of the largest steel mills in the world where furnaces blazed for 140 years helping to build America before it ground to a halt in 1995 Once a symbol of industrial America, it drew lots of Irish and Scotch Irish laborers to the region who settled in the area and helped form a base for a solid Celtic Renaissance once the area turned to culture to help provide a creative alternative to rust-belt obsolescence So out of that vacuum arose the Celtic Cultural Alliance, a non-profit organization that sought to preserve Celtic culture and heritage through education, musical performances and competitions in athletics, piping and dancingEvery year at the end of September is the Celtic Classic Festival, which is celebrating 25 years on September 28-30 in downtown Bethlehem READ MORE

Irish trad musicians the Wolfe Tones’ tribute to Jimmy McGettrick (IrishCentral)

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:00:40 PDT

One year after Jimmy McGettrick's passing, his legacy continues to shine brightly on Wollaston Beach in Quincy Jimmy opened The Beachcomber in 1959 and proudly celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2009 For 50 plus years, The Beachcomber presented an oasis for musicians of all genres The venue quickly gained renown for it's Irish music and became a mandatory stop for headline acts when they visited Boston READ MORE

Documentary “Beautiful People” focuses on Dempsey’s trad sessions - VIDEOS (IrishCentral)

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:35:42 PDT

By: BRIAN DONOHUE

In the documentary READ MORE

Irish trad group Dervish withdraws from Israeli tour after torrent of ‘venom’ on social media (IrishCentral)

Fri, 04 May 2012 04:58:25 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

A Palestine support group has claimed they are responsible for the cancellation of an Israeli concert tour by traditional Irish band Dervish.

Trad look to winning Irish EU logo (IrishCentral)

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:45:17 PST

The graphic look for Ireland’s 2013 EU Presidency was put to a vote last year and this month the winning logo was announced with a fair amount of fanfareWith more than 14,000 online ballots cast on four candidates, voters went with Spirals, the most recognizably Irish of the designMaybe voters were looking for a little visual comfort food and a fond glance back to the Ireland of myth and legend, rather than look ahead with the more aspirational optionsHere’s how Spirals was described:“This logo takes its inspiration from Celtic spirals and knotwork READ MORE

Irish man's Avicii Levels trad session remix goes viral (IrishCentral)

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:00:18 PST

An remix of Grammy nominated Swedish DJ's track 'Levels' has got a new lease of life and is quickly become a viral sensationSean Regan recorded each layer of his traditional Irish set remix and then combined them for a entertaining work of art which has clocked up almost 60,000 views on YouTube, since it was posted on YouTube on Tuesday READ MORE

The Wanted rock Irish trad music with The Irish House Party - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:45:15 PST

The WantedThe latest video to go viral in Ireland is of two of the highly entertaining acts on last week’s “Late Late Show” as they give an impromptu backstage performanceThe Irish House Party played in their traditional Irish style to the tune of The Wanted’s pop song “Glad You Came”, sung by band member Siva Kaneswaran, from DublinThe familiar tune instantly comes alive with the enthusiastic performance from The Irish House Party, known around Ireland for their lively shows, full of craic agus ceol READ MORE

Beoga's "How to Tune a Fish" released worldwide this week (IrishCentral)

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:04:09 PDT

Part of the allure of Irish dance is the strong sense of cultural tradition -- the idea that our sets and ceili dances have been passed on for generations, and we dance to the same tunes as our ancestors But, man, those tunes get a little tired after a while With that said, we like to liven things up on occasion with fresh, fun, lively music And for that, many Irish dancers turn to the musical stylings of Beoga!Beoga -- gaelic for “lively” -- is a favorite band among Irish dancers because its members have a knack for meshing traditional jigs, reels, hornpipes and slip jigs with modern influences READ MORE

Brendan Gleeson: The Good, the Bad and the Funny (IrishCentral)

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:12:56 PDT

By: SHEILA LANGAN

It’s a Thursday morning in late June, and I am sitting at a table in the empty ballroom of the opulent Beverly Wilshire hotel, waiting for Brendan Gleeson. The press conference scheduled prior to our interview is running a bit long, and I feel as though I’m waiting for someone at a grand, abandoned café.

Catskills gears of for Irish Arts Week (IrishCentral)

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:15:16 PDT

Trad music scene from Gogartys, DublinSummer is officially here now, and that means the hamlet of East Durham is eagerly looking forward to welcoming devout traditional music pilgrims from all over the United States and Canada to the rustic Irish American resortThe small inns and motels will be swelled once again as the tradhead cognoscenti convene to study and play with the largest ensemble of musicians plying the trad trade This will happen when they teach and perform at the 17th annual Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW) taking place from July 10-16 READ MORE

Reeling over the midweek hump with Irish trad and folk sessions at Dunnes (IrishCentral)

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:52:08 PST

Brian Conway is a lion among the true Irish fiddlers of New York, coming out of the tradition from a continuum that stretches back to 19th century players who performed and recorded Irish traditional music for the same labels that the earliest jazz recordings were made onConway's new CD "Consider the Source" is testament to his sense of lineage and responsibility to continue and advance from within the tradition, the early masters' work Samples of the CD can be heard here As the premier teacher of Irish fiddle in New York, Conway has been able to bridge the generation of players he learned from directly to the youngest coming up todayDamien Connolly joins Brian this week to keep the tunes driving well into the night Connolly is visiting from Fairfield, Connecticut, where he now lives by way of Clare, having spent much of his teenage years there, amidst a family of stellar musicians Connolly has recently published a tutorial on the button accordion with DVD, being a highly sought teacher on both box and fiddleWednesday night at Dunnes has been an institution, bringing many surprises and often the cream of Irish traditional musicians together Regulars to Conway's seisiún have been many, and include members of the super-group "Pride of New York"-- who with Conway are Joannie Madden, Billy McComiskey and Brendan DolanThey share the experiences of having grown up in the city's old Irish neighborhoods to the live soundtrack of Ireland's master players in exile They have released a critically acclaimed CD of their uniquely important musicSeán Dunne--the owner and key to the Wednesday happening's success--loves traditional Irish music and has been incredibly welcoming to the musicians over the many years The pub is located at 15 Shapham Place in White Plains, more information can be got by calling (914) 421-1451 READ MORE

Gearing up for the trad music Catskills Irish Arts Week (IrishCentral)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:20:35 PDT

By: PAUL KEATING

It is that time of the year again when I am very much in the New York state of mind as the days rapidly approach for another gathering of the trad music universe known as the Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW).

Clancy Brothers' Liam - the last man standing (IrishCentral)

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:22:30 PDT

By: PAUL KEATING