Tag / traditional music

by shannonchance

Sister Sister

My sister, Heather, is visiting.  She’s come to take acting classes.

Last night, we took in a play… Major Barbara, written by Shaw, performed at the Abbey Theater in Dublin.  I discovered that I’ve really got to concentrate to keep up with Shaw, but it’s worth the effort.  His work is packed with meaning….

Heather has been spending quite  a bit of time down at the Cobblestone. She goes in much later in the evening than I do. Evidentially late hours are the best for finding Tom, the owner, who is a night owl.

On Friday evening, I’d gone into the Cobblestone to hear some singing and I left at 9.  Heather stopped in later and met even more of Tom’s family.  She’d gone to thank Tom because he had taken her to see construction of a new theater that he serves as a member of the board.

I really enjoyed Friday evening there.  Some of the songs transported me back to my first trip to Ireland in 2003.  The country was quite a bit different at that time: songs were full of political strife and pubs were full of families, chatter, and smokey haze. The ban on smoking in pubs, apparent tightening of age limits in pubs, and the economic boom / Celtic Tiger all took their toll on Ireland’s pub culture.  The country’s newfound peace also shifted the tone, and for the peace I’m grateful.

The Cobblestone, however, has managed to retain its charm. And it continues to do that despite being listed in every tourist guide. A lot of that, I believe, has to do with Tom’s warm and generous spirit. He makes every person feel special and welcome.

Heather left town today, but sent me over to hear Tom and his friends from the Cobblestone play at the Northside Music Festival in Wolftone ‘Park’.

Shannon and Heather see Shaw
Heather and Shannon share pizza
Nortside Music Festival
Nortside Music Festival
Nortside Music Festival
Tom Mulligan at Nortside Music Festival
Cobblestone Pub
Fridays are rockin at Cobblestone Pub
Pat Goode and friends at Cobblestone Pub
by shannonchance

Irish Music Radio this Weekend

This just in from Kevin Donleavy:

Pull up your easy chair this Saturday, and have a listen to Irish trad music on-line.  The date is June 1,  and the programme runs from 10 am till 12 noon in the eastern US,  which means 3 to 5 pm in Ireland. Kevin Donleavy is the usual host,  and the show is called ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO.
 
Here are the easy listening steps.  On your computer, go to http://wtju.net. Next, select Listen Live on the right side bar.  Then, choose between Ogg and MP3.
 
Here are some highlights from the music to be broadcast. Mary McNamara will play Co. Clare tunes on her concertina. You can hear songs and two uilleann pipers from the Belfast band Réalta.  Kerry’s own Mary Courtney will sing some ballads, and you can hear Liam Weldon singing that powerful song,  “Where Is Our James Connolly.”  Harper Sue Richards will perform, and you can hear Paudie O’Connor on accordion play polkas and reels with John O’Brien on uilleann pipes.  Dublin singer Pat Broaders will  do a fine version of the US trad song called  “Storms Are on the Ocean.”  That’s just the beginning ….
 
Hope you can tune in. You will also hear the latest news from the only Irish archaeological dig in the state of Virginia,  and there’s more information about it at www.clannmhor.org.  And the latest news from such groups as BRIMS (the Blue Ridge Irish Music School), and the Washington branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann.  
by shannonchance

Irish Music Radio with Mick O’Grady

Charlottesville’s Kevin Donleavy has an Irish music program on air tomorrow.  I hope you’ll tune in via internet!  He explains how, below.  I always enjoy hearing Mick O’Grady play at the Cobblestone pub, and he’ll be featured in the program.

Photo of Stefan Paz Berrios and Mick O'Grady, downloaded from Danny Diamond's Flicker page.

Photo of Stefan Paz Berrios and Mick O’Grady, downloaded from Danny Diamond’s Flickr site.

Hi, music heads and tune-fanciers,

The next radio program of Irish trad music presented by Kevin Donleavy can be heard on-line as usual this Saturday, May 18, from 10 am till 12 noon. (Irish listeners should tune in from 3 to 5 pm that day.) The program is called ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO,  and here are the easy listening steps :
 
To listen on your internet radio, select WTJU in Virginia, USA, or pick up the  “Tune In Radio”  app for your iPhone or other mobile device and easily dial up the station.
 
On your computer,  go to http://wtju.net. Next, select Listen Live on the right side bar. Then, choose between Ogg and MP3.
 
This week’s musical material includes singers Andy Irvine, Paddy Reilly, Tim Browne, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (Maryann McCauley), and Christy Moore. There will  be tunes from banjo expert Kieran Hanrahan and fine box-player Danny O’Mahony. The fiddlers this week are Mick O’Grady and Washington/Baltimore’s own Jesse Smith. And if you like the sounds of uilleann pipes and fiddle, you’ll enjoy tunes from Mick O’Brien and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh. 
 
There will also be some chat about such Irish organizations as Comhaltas, Clann Mhor, and BRIMS (the Blue Ridge Irish Music School). 
 
Hope that you can have a listen on Saturday ….
Kevin
by shannonchance

The Cobblestone Recordings on Air April 6

Kevin Donleavy’s emails are so charming and informative that I just can’t resist posting them in their original form.  Here, he discusses some history of traditional Irish music and his plans to play Tom Mulligan’s Cobblestone recordings on his upcoming radio show.  Anyone can tune in on April 6 by using the Internet (see below).

Hiya again, Shannon,

Whoa, thanks for sending along the Cobblestone recording.  I’m just in the door tonight, and will have a chance to play it tomorrow.  I recognize some of the musicianers’ names, but others are known only to their local fellow-players, I betcha.
 
The entire growth of Irish trad music the past 4 decades is pretty astonishing, as you might already know.
 
Local and private music teachers in loads of communities took a big cue from Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the country-wide music and dance organization which was founded about 50 years ago. Comhaltas lined up the best of fiddlers, uilleann pipers, concertina, and flute players (and loads more besides) to expand the circle of their students.  The overall result is that there are probably 100,000 people in Ireland who play trad music — just my guess, but it probably is close to real. It is the “in” thing for lots of kids — especially if either another family member or a peer plays an instrument.  And they all learn by ear, an astonishing thing. A coupla years ago somebody estimated that a new trad CD is issued somewhere in Ireland or the States every 3 days.  Much more successful growth of Irish folk music than the folk movement in the US.
 
Enough.  Beddyby time.
Thanks again,  
Kevin
Here are Kevin’s instructions for tuning in:
Shannon, hiya —

 
Hope this e-mail addy is good for ya.
 
I listened to the Cobblestone CD today, and heard some great stuff.  More uilleann pipers than I would have imagined would be included — a good sign. Have already chosen 4 cuts for the April 6 (Saturday) radio show on-line, so can you let Tom know the date, please ? Also that the show is  called ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO,  and is found at www.wtju.net,  and that it will be broadcast in Ireland from 3 to 5 pm that day. He and some of the musicianers might wanna have a listen. Since the program is archived for 2 weeks afterward,  they can also listen in later at the Vault spot at the website.
 
Mike Heivly rang today,  and I’ll go share muffins and coffee with him tomorrow morning.  He wants to yammer about setting up his photo-art display at the big Comhaltas convention in D.C. in early April.
 
All for the now,
Kevo
by shannonchance

History of the Horseshoe (and Mike Heivly’s Upcoming Art Show)

News from Charlottesville’s Kevin Donleavy:

Shannon,

I forgot to mention to you that the Horseshoe is quite famous as a venue for trad musicianers over the past 5 or 6 decades.  Lynch can tell you all about why.  It hinges on magnificent fiddler-and-concertina-player John Kelly who ran the shop for aeons.  He’s gone, RIP,  but his fiddling sons James (lives in Florida now) and John (still lives in Ireland)  carry on that family musical tradition. Ah, John Kelly the elder — he attracted the likes of Seamus Ennis and John Egan and loads and tons of musicianers to that wee shop.  Why don’t ya ask Lynch about the pub at the corner where John and others held forth of an evening ? or the pub called the Meeting Place (also fairly nearby).
 
Oh, I also nearly disremembered the following — that Mike Heivly has sent some of his work to the Embassy of Ireland, and will probably have a one-man show sometime in the next few months.  Stay tuned!
Kevin
Incidentally, Mike’s show will be at the Irish Embassy.  Kevin explained:
The Embassy is in DC, on prestigious Mass Ave (ie, Massachusetts Avenue).  A small edifice, but it’s (I’m guessing) early 19th c., sorta French looking with Baroque elements. Neat building.
by shannonchance

At the Palace Bar

My favorite pub in Temple Bar is the Palace on Fleet Street.  Downstairs is great for conversation; the back space is lovely. Upstairs, Palace Bar features Irish musicians.  Hearing Irish music is always great fun.

Kitty, Patty, and I went to the Palace twice during their visit.

It’s a great place to hang out when you need some time off your feet, or are waiting for an evening event to happen.

Patty and Kitty outside Palace Bar…
…with Shannon.
Upstairs we enjoyed the singing.
I later ran into the guitarist at the Cobblestone, and recognized him.
I’m becoming a regular trad. music groupie.
On the way home, we passed Hughes Pub. We went “window shopping” because we were too worn out to go in!
by shannonchance

News from Kevin Donleavy

C-Ville Weekly published a fascinating article about the Blue Ridge Tunnel project.  Also, please don’t forget Kevin Donleavy’s radio show this Saturday:

A chairde and pals,

Time for another program of Irish traditional music on-line.  The date is this Saturday, Dec. 29, and the show is ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO.  It will air, as usual, from 10 am till 12 noon in the States, and 3 to 5 pm in Ireland.
 
What can you expect to hear on this show? Great instrumental music from Andrew MacNamara and The Lahawns will open the show. Other groups you will hear are Skylark, Flashpoint, the Chieftains, and Flash Company. Singers include Brian Moore, Terry O’Neill, Grainne Holland, and Ron Kavana. There will be “Spancill Hill” especially for the memory of Robbie McMahon of Co. Clare, and “The Mad Goat” (Poc ar Buile) for Paidi O’ Se of Kerry. And a lot more….
 
Here are the easy steps for listening on-line :
On your computer, go to WTJU.net.  Next, select Listen Live on the right side bar.  Then, choose between Ogg and MP3.
 
I hope you will have a wee listen this Saturday, and also the following Saturday (Jan. 5) when I’ll bring you another ATLANTIC WEEKLY program at the same time.  What more could you ask to begin a new year ?
Kevin

 

by shannonchance

Peace in Ireland

Musicians Jerry Crilly, Frank Cullen, and Pat Goode playing in the back room of the Cobblestone.

Musicians Jerry Crilly, Frank Cullen, and Pat Goode playing in the back room of the Cobblestone.

Tom Mulligan said I was witnessing history last night.

I’m not aware of all the subtleties of the situation but, essentially, a group of folks from Northern Ireland was in Dublin for the unveiling of a monument.  A friend of the group — a regular at the Cobblestone who hails from Dublin — invited the group over to Tom’s pub after the formal event to hear traditional Irish music.  [Note:  I’ve posted more on this topic since.  See Making History with Fergus and Francis.]

Quite by chance, Jerry Crilly, Frank Cullen, and I happened to be there.  We were celebrating Kevin Donleavy’s radio program that happened earlier in the day.  It had featured quite a few songs from Jerry’s CD.  Jerry rang us up  (as in, called us on the phone) because he wanted to give us copies of the CD.

And while we were at the Cobblestone my musical friends / drinking buddies got invited to the back to sing.

Because I was there with these musical stars, I got to enjoy an evening full of song!  I actually had a seat front and center and felt completely, 100% included.

As much as I love instrumentals, it’s the singing that moves me most.  So this was an incredible find for me — I really lucked out last night!

I sat cozily in a room full of people who, not so long ago, took up arms against each other.

Here, in the shelter of a unified Ireland and the warm embrace of the Mulligans’ pub, men from north and south sang together and reveled in the island’s newly found peace.

When Dave and I visited Ireland in 2003, the tone was much different from today.  Political tensions still ran deep and pub songs recounted strife.

I feel honored to have been part of this event that helped promote peace among nations.  I am proud that an American president helped negotiate the peace accord that paved the way for this evening’s events. (In The Journal of Conflict Studies, Rodger MacGinty noted “that the American influence on the peace process, both from influential Irish-Americans and the Clinton administration, has been profound.”)

I will remain eternally grateful that our nation supports Fulbright programs designed to promote cultural understanding and celebrate — and grow — human knowledge.  We do many things that don’t make sense.  And we fight all too often.  But in the name of Senator Fulbright, we do have programs designed to help us do better.

I take the cultural understanding part of my Fulbright very seriously.  I thank you for sharing in the effort by reading along.

It was amazing to be part of a cultural healing process last night and watch stale old tensions dissolve into the night air.  As an added bonus, I also got to meet Jerry’s and Tom’s significant others for the first time.  This place feels more and more like home every day.

Incidentally, Tom has taken to introducing me as a long-lost cousin, and that term’s growing on me.  It’s much nicer than wee-distant relation, or third cousin twice removed….

Men from Belfast and Dublin playing side by side.
Susan and Pat sharing a tune.
There’s always a warm welcome from the Mulligans!
by shannonchance

Kevin and Jerry — On Air

Remember when I helped Jerry Crilly (my pal from the Cobblestone pub) find his ole pal Kevin Donleavy?  Kevin lives in Virginia, which is why Jerry (a Dublin resident) requested my help.  Well, Kevin has written to me several times since.  He’s going to be featuring some of the music Jerry sent him on his WTJU radio show tomorrow!  I hope you’ll tune in to learn something about traditional Irish music!  See how, below:
———————
A chairde and pals,

Kevin Donleavy. (Photo by Josh Meltzer, The Roanoke Times)

Kevin Donleavy. (Photo by Josh Meltzer, The Roanoke Times)

Just a reminder to switch on your radio this Saturday for another on-line program of Irish trad music. It’s the ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO show, and the date is Dec. 1.  As always, the broadcast time is 10 am till 12 noon, eastern US time (or 3 to 5 pm in Ireland).  If you live near the Charlottesville, Virginia area,  you can listen on WTJU, at 91.1 on the FM dial.
This week there will be whistle playing from both Enda Seery and Kathleen Conneely off their newish CDs.  Among the younger  groups you can hear are Realta from Belfast,  Ioscaid from all over the Wee Six counties, and Flashback from Texas.  Among the individual singers this week are Tadgh Maher and Jerry Reilly,  Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Mairin Fahy,  Jerry Crilly and Lenny Duff.  There’s plenty to entertain even the most sophisticated and jaded ears !  Reels agus jigs galore !
Here are the easy steps to listen in on your computer. First, visit http://wtju.net.  Next, select Listen Live on the right side bar. Then,  choose between Ogg and MP3.
Hope that you can tune in this Saturday, wet the tea, and roll back the carpet.
Kevin
by shannonchance

The Song Collector

Researchers help define and preserve culture. Last night, I got to hear Len Graham (a researcher and collector of Irish ballads) sing songs he has collected over the decades. Here’s a YouTube video of Len performing “at the Big Muddy Folk Festival in Boonville, Missouri on April 4, 2008.”

Len called last night’s performance “It’s of my Rambles… Recollections of Singers and Songs from the Ulster Tradition.” He prefaced each song with an explanation of how and where it was collected and which demographic group claimed to have originated the song (Ulster, the Travellers in Ireland, etc.). He explained some of the meanings behind each song.

Len spends his life singing and tracking down songs and singers.  He transcribes and archives words and melodies so that they aren’t lost to humanity. He’s travelled to Australia to find people who know rare songs and to Arkansas to record missing verses to a known song. These are just a couple of the many travel stories he told.

Len Graham singing at Na Píobairí Uilleann. The placard to the left lists Alfie Mulligan, who I’ve posted a snippet of on this blog (playing uilleann pipes at his brother’s Cobblestone pub).

Here you can see what the uilleann pipes look like (photo downloaded from an online blog).  (There are lots of YouTube videos available of uilleann pipers.)

Len spoke of a time not so long ago when there were just ten or so uilleann pipers in all of Ireland. Today, he says, more than a thousand people play these pipes.

He’s part of a vibrant oral tradition of storytelling that’s alive in Ireland today. But the songs have also been recorded and archived in important libraries–such as the one here in Dublin and another at Brown University. A researcher from Harvard (named Child) did a lot of important research into Irish ballads back in the 1800s.

I especially enjoyed Len’s songs involving heather (the name of a flower that became the name of my sister).  I also found “When Irish men throughout this world are brothers one and all” to be quite catchy.

This event was part of Na Píobairí Uilleann’s monthly Notes & Narratives lectures, which the organization describes as a series of “performance-based lectures on traditional music, song and dance by some of Ireland’s finest traditional artists.” Last night’s event was held at the Na Píobairí Uilleann hall on Henrietta Street.

Thanks, Jonathan Kennedy, my fully-bright friend, for the heads up about this event. Hope you’re putting your uilleann pipes to good use out there in Western Ireland this weekend!