Month: July 2012

Exciting Updates and Great Bands on next Sunday’s Ourland Fest, NYC

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It is great to know what’s happening around the world in terms of Celtic music related events. What I love about blogging for Celtic music? The scene! Yes it is great to keep the scene alive. The more events we have and more people attending, will support its strength for generations to come. This is our community, our friends …our life. I got this from our New York correspondent Anita Daly.

Exciting updates on next Sunday’s Ourland Fest, NYC’s first ever day long free festival celebrating Irish culture at Lincoln Center…

 

PULITZER PRIZE, GRAMMY, TONY, OSCAR WINNERS, R&R HALL OF FAMERS Join OurLand Fest!

Sunday July 29, 2-10pm, Lincoln Center Out of Doors presents

OurLand: Celebrating Irish Culture in America!

The Music, The Bards, The Magic!

Artistic Director Joe Hurley

Presented in Partnership with The Gathering Ireland 2013

In Association with The Consulate General of Ireland

A day of Irish Music, Poetry, Literature, Theatre, Dance and more!

Just Announced!

Pulitzer Prize Winner William Kennedy! (Ironweed)

New York Dolls’ Syl SyLvain

Ireland’s only 2 Star Michelin Chef, Conrad Gallagher

Get Smart’s Barbara Feldon

Cara Seymour (Gangs of New York)

Lez Zeppelin’s Shannon Conley

JOIN

Angelica Page (“The Best Man”)

Tony Winner Michael Cerveris (“Evita”)

The Cast of Once, 2012 Best Musical

Malachy and Alfie McCourt

Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley

Best-Selling Novelist Peter Quinn

R&R Hall of Famer Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper)

Bob Dylan’s band leader, Tony Garnier

Joe Hurley & the Gents

Irish Supergroup Cherish The Ladies

Thomas Bahler “We Are The World”  and Soul Legend Tami Lynn (Stones “Exile”)

And for the finale!!! JOE HURLEY’S ALL STAR IRISH ROCK REVUE!

http://www.roguesmarch.com/irishrevue

http://www.facebook.com/JoeHurleysAllStarIrishRockRevue

Introduced by Irish Consul General Noel Kilkenny, and Artistic Director

Joe Hurley,  “Our Land” will celebrate the artistic, literary and musical heritage of Ireland, the mark it made on America and the  cross-cultural ties that bind the two countries.  An all-day extravaganza exploring how the Irish helped to build NYC, with ‘Nothing But Their Genius’, while shining a light on Irish and Irish-Americans contribution to the American Songbook and culture, OurLand takes place at multiple spaces on the Lincoln Center campus.  We’ll move through the fair and into the night with song, dance, poets, authors, artists, street performers, exhibits, book and CD signings.

Gathering The Bards: From Galway to Rockaway 2pm, “The Bards Stage”  aka

Hearst Plaza

Weaving the art of storytelling with original works & classics, Irish-American culture in verse and song …

Pulitzer Prize Winner William Kennedy, Actors Cara Seymour, Angelica Page, Barbara Feldon Aedin Moloney, Malachy McCourt, Alfie McCourt,  Novelists Peter Quinn, Tom Kelly, John Swenson, Thomas Bahler, and Mike Farragher,  Kirk Kelly, Niamh Hyland, Colin Broderick,  David O’Leary, WB Yeats Society of NY, Gerard McNamee,  Salina Mailer, Faith Hahn, Marni Rice, Dana McCoy, Honor Molloy, John S. Hall,Trisha McCormack, IAW&A and more in a wildly eclectic and interactive parade of The Jewels of Ireland’s Bards.

The Auld Triangle – “Nothing but my Genius” – at 5pm, Josie Robertson Plaza

Take a wild,magical stroll on Raglan Road with buskers, poets, painters, and dancers that will stir your soul. Behan to Beckett, Christy Moore to James Joyce, bring your voice, Alive-Alive Oh! (w/ Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley, The Mercantillers, Marie Reilly, Seamus Kelleher, Theatre 80 Siamsa)

6pm Thousands Are Sailing -’The Sailing Stage’ aka Damrosch Park Bandshell

A Performance from the cast of ONCE, winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards incl: BEST MUSICAL!

Then it’s A Parting Glass: Celebrating  ALAN LOMAX’s work preserving

Ireland’s Musical Heritage. Lomax’s  recordings in Ireland  will be honored with Round Robin-style Irish-Americana performances led by Lomax archive director Don Fleming, Cherish the Ladies, Lianne Smith, and special friends. With the original 2-track recorder onstage used to capture these historical Irish recordings,  The 78 rpm project will also be there for new live versions of these gems!

 

At 7pm, Joe Hurley and The Gents take the stage

The New Yorker called Hurley “One of the city’s deepest pop singers, both in his vocal rangeand the level of his soulfulness… mesmerizing.” Their set will include a performance of Hurley’s CD Let the Great World Spin, created with and inspired by Colum McCann’s  Award Winning novel. The Gents feature Tony Garnier ( Dylan Bandleader) Ken Margolis, Megan Gould, Steve Goulding, special guests Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley, Antonique Smith, Tami Lynn

8pm  Joe Hurley’s All-Star Irish Rock Revue!

A Beloved NYC institution, “that receives rave reviews every year” NEW YORK MAGAZINE.  The All Star Irish Rock Revue celebrates Ireland’s musical gifts to the world as guests diveinto “The Great Irish Songbook,” performing the timeless classics of Thin Lizzy, U2, VanMorrison, The Undertones, Pogues, Elvis Costello, Stiff Little Fingers, John Lydon & more.

Co-hosted by the critically lauded Edward Rogers- With The New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain,  Willie Nile,  Michael Cerveris, Ellen Foley, Tami Lynn (Dr. John, The Stones) Hall of Famer Dennis Dunaway ,Film Star Antonique Smith , The New York Dolls’ Syl Sylvain, Lez Zeppelin’s Shannon Conley,Uk’s Stephen Frost, Tish & Snooky, Mary Lee Kortes, Sam Bisbee, Joe McGinty, Sherryl Marshall, Tricia Scotti, Blue Coupe, Jamie Noone, Al Landess, & members of Rogue’s March, The Mekons, Cracker, The Ian Hunter Band, Blue Oyster Cult. MD is Chris Flynn.

Artistic Director  Joe Hurley has sung and recorded with artists ranging from The Chieftains to Judy Collins and Shane Macgowan, Sam Shepard to Flogging Molly, Jimmy Webb to Maude Maggart. His collaboration with Irish Novelist Colum McCann, on The CD ‘Let The Great World Spin’, led to their acclaimed tours of Europe together.

Hurley, Johnny Depp and Keith Richards recently won two Audie Awards for their narration of Richards’ international Best-Seller LIFE, including the ‘AudioBook of the Year’ Award. With Rogue’s March and The Gents he’s released many heralded CDs, and his ballad ‘Amsterdam Mistress’ is featured on SONY MUSIC’s ‘Whiskey In The Jar-Essential Irish Songs’ alongside classics from The Pogues, Dubliners, and Clancy Brothers. Hurley and 75 authors entered the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records for their 24 hour live- broadcast global readings on peace, with http://www.AuthorsForPeace.org

‘OurLand’ is an outgrowth of the annual All-Star Irish Rock Revue Charity Concerts that Hurley has held at sold-out venues around New York, since 1999.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors is one of the largest free performance festivals in the U.S. Over its 41-year history,Out of Doors has commissioned some 95 works from composers and choreographers and presented hundreds of major dance companies, renowned world-music artists, and legendary jazz, folk, gospel, blues and rock musicians.

It has highlighted the rich cultural diversity of New York City and partnered with dozens of community and cultural organizations. Since 2008 the festival has been produced by Lincoln Center’s director of public programming, Bill Bragin, with associate producer Jill Sternheimer.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE and take place on the Lincoln Center campus. Visit LCOutofDoors.org for a complete schedule of events or call 212-875-5766 to request a brochure.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2012 is sponsored by Bloomberg and Pepsico Foundation and SofTrek Corporation.

For updates of artists, performances visit and “Like” our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/JoeHurleysOurLandFest

Follow us on Twitter: @OurLandFest

https://Facebook.com/JoeHurleymusic

Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeHurleyMusic

Web: http://www.roguesmarch.com/

MEDIA: Anita Daly, Daly Communications

212 772 0852 /anitadaly@yahoo.com

Web: http://www.roguesmarch.com/irishrevue/

CD’s at http://JoeHurley.bandcamp.com

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hurley

We hope to see you at the OurLand Gathering.

‘The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a year-long celebration of Ireland and all things Irish.  A once in a lifetime opportunity to come and experience all that is great about Ireland.   2013 is the year to visit Ireland or come home. Be part of it.’

www.discoverireland.com

One on One with Luke Fraser of The Bombadils.

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I  like both The Bombadils and Raftmen. The former is a Celtic fusion band and the latter a classically influenced folk/rock band. What do they have in common? Both are from Canada and they are bands where my featured artist Luke Fraser plays for. He is a native of Nova Scotia . Now he is basking under the musical diversity of Montreal, Quebec where the rest of the band members are located. We both like  The Punch Brothers and I remember how he was excited about going to their concert when they toured Canada. These days, he is busy with music. The Bombadils has just released an album called “Fill Your Boots”. Music can be sampled via streaming through their website http://www.thebombadils.com/ 

By the way I just heard the first track from “Fill your Boots!” while writing this introduction and I love it! So let’s get to know more about Luke:

Favorite color: Blue

Guitar man.

Zodiac sign. Cancer
Pet peeve: Apathy

Tell us what Raftmen is all about?
* The Raftmen started as the brainchild of the lead singer and bassist Ben Duinker. He is a great musician all around and thought that it would be fun to bring together all of us Nova Scotian friends to start a rock project. This is the second time we have all played together – the first time was in a cover band, put together to play the Dalhousie University music faculty ball. The first album is based on selections from an old popular TV commercial series entitled “Canadian Heritage Moments”. Some of them were used in the lyrical content of a few of the songs.

What are the challenges playing an electric guitar for the Raftmen, as opposed to the usual mandolin/acoustic guitar type of music you do for The Bombadils.
* I began playing electric guitar before acoustic guitar, so it is easy for me to switch back to electric for this project. Since I have been focusing on acoustic guitar and mandolin these days, I forgot how different it really is between acoustic and electric. For one thing it is so much easier to play and you don’t have to really have great technique to play it well, although it helps. You don’t have to really worry about tone production in the picking hand because most of the tone comes from the guitar and amp you use. I enjoy electric for different reasons, but nothing will ever replace my passion for making a hollow sound chamber resonate. It just feels more personal to me.

You list Chris Thile as one of your heroes. How was the Punch brothers concert?

Session.Picture by Aaron Hull

* The Punch Brothers show in Montreal was amazing. Chris Thile and the band are a huge influence on me and they are such solid musicians on their recordings and especially live. They are returning the September, 2012 to Montreal and I will be in the front row again!

Fans are waiting for the Bombadils album. How’s it going in terms of recording and production?
* The Bombadils album has arrived! We are very proud of our first full length album and we will be officially releasing it this Friday at Burritoville in Montreal.

How’s your own solo project?
* At the moment I don’t really have a solo project, but I am thinking about new future side projects, which may take the form of a duo project with Sarah Frank, and/or a full-on bluegrass band with some of Montreal’s finest players.

What are the funniest moments you experienced being on the road/tour?
* We are a crazy bunch of bandmates, so there were a lot of funny moments. We had a lot of fun carrying on during the drives and especially making the Vlog videos that can be found on Youtube.

Sad experiences while on tour.
*Overall, it was a great tour. We were all sad to see it end!

With Raftmen

Is it true that you are originally came from Cape Breton? I have friends from that region and all of them are very musical. Can you give us a little picture of the Fraser household when you were a kid?
*Actually, I am not from Cape Breton specifically, but I am from outside Halifax which is in the same province where Cape Breton is located. That being said I have been influenced by the music of CB. We sometimes perform a song by one of CB’s hometown heros, J.P. Cormier.
In the Fraser houshold when I was a kid, you would find me alone in my room listening to cassette tapes of the Beatles, The Rankins, Alvin and the Chipmonks, The Eagles, Lovin’ Spoonfull, and lots more. Also, CBC radio was constantly on in my house.

With The Bombadils

What are the albums that you listen to right now.
* I am currently listening to my new vinyl collection, inherited from my lovely aunt. Aka-everything bluegrass, newgrass, classic rock and blues. Also on constant spin – Punch Brothers. (go figure).

Complete the sentence: ” I dreamed of________________ last night and I____________ when I woke up this morning.

” I dreamed of the ocean last night and I did songwriting exercises when I woke up this morning.

You can get your copy of Fill your Boots by The Bombadils through:

CD Baby

Band: https://www.facebook.com/thebombadils

Wow! The vocal capabilities of Sarah Frank even without the mic shocked me. This is outdoors. She is one of a kind singer/fiddler.

What Happened to the Website?

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Some of you might be asking what happened. Why the sudden change in the design. Well folks, first, thank you for taking notice of the changes that happen here, and for  complimenting my fashion sense (@#$R%G!). I was thinking since summer is here, it is time to appreciate the warm colors of nature. A great Monday to you all. I am several hours ahead because I am in Asia. I want to urge you to take time to read the blog of this harpist by the name of Amy. I used some of her ideas in my Got Harp Blisters article. Apart form the great thoughts she has written, I love the header design.

http://amykortuem.blogspot.com

Tremolo @ The Black Box and Whelans

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The guys of Tremolo are geared up for their performance at The Black Box in Belfast this Monday 23rd, and Whelans in Dublin this Thursday 26th. I have been following them since they came out. You Dublin people are so lucky.  Folks don’t miss them. I am sure they will give an ear-widening and jaw dropping super performance!

Donall Donnelly- (Fiddle)

Donncha Moynihan- (Guitar)

Stijn van Beek- (Uilleann Pipes, Low Whistle)

Karl Nesbitt- (Flute, Bouzouki, Bodhran)

http://www.tremoloband.com/

Get updates from their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tremolo.trad

 

Robots, bagpipes and Celtic music

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This entry originally appeared in The Celtic Music Magazine . I have Marc Gunn’s permission to re post it here. I think this is an interesting essay about how Celtic music found a home in the Czech Republic. I remember the first time I went online(after discovering the Internet), I met a couple of friends from over there. They are from a band called WMV Trio. After 2000, life took over  and we all drifted apart. But memories are precious and I still recall the great times we had sharing music, poetry and everyday things.

Robots, bagpipes and Celtic music

by Jeremy King

Here’s a little quiz for you. What do the following have in common? Skoda cars, robots, pistols, and Vaclav Havel. Got it? They’re all Czech. Really? Mr.Havel and Skoda cars, sure, but robots and pistols? Both are Czech words which have been completely assimilated into the English language.  Now, if I were to add to this list of things Czech ‘bagpipes’ and ‘Celtic music’ you might start to question my state of mind. Too much strong Czech beer, perhaps. Nope, not at all. Bagpipes have been used in the Czech lands since time immemorial and Celtic music, well, the pipes and Celtic music are inseparable aren’t they? Find more about Czech bagpipes here And, unlike those Czech words which have been assimilated into the English language, Celtic music hasn’t been assimilated into Czech culture; it’s always been here.

Central Europe has long been known to have nurtured the Celtic tribes which later migrated across the rest of Europe, taking their bagpipes with them, to end up in the Atlantic coastal areas of Spain, France, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and then finally, much, much later, in emigrant ships to America and Australia. Of course the music and culture and the bagpipes of the Celts changed, adapted and diversified as the tribes spread out on their millennia-long journey, taking on influences from the tribes and lands that they passed through and inhabited. So here we come back to the idea of assimilation. It’s always been a two-way thing, this cultural exchange between peoples living in close proximity. It’s something us humans do well. It’s a way of showing off, but it’s also a way of making friends. Let’s take a modern example-just think about that song by Aerosmith and RUN DMC- ‘Walk This Way’.

 

You may not like it, or you may love it. That’s not the point. The point is that it’s a great example of how two vastly different styles of music (metal and hip hop) played by musicians from very different musical scenes got together and had a load of fun creating a great piece of music. I’m sure you can think of lots more examples in Celtic music. One springs straight to mind; the Afro-Celt Sound System . There’s another example of how very different musical styles meld together and create something exhilarating.

This is all quite a long way from the Czech Republic and Celtic music, though. When people listen to our music they are usually surprised to find out that we’re from the Czech Republic.

Poitín

For those of you whose geography is a bit fuzzy, I should say that the country has Germany and Poland on its left and right, and below it on the map you’ll find Austria and Italy.  Naturally, people quite justifiably want to know how it is that we are playing this style at all. The first thing we usually say to these inquisitive souls is that we like it, which should go without saying, really. So then they ask, but how did you get into Celtic music in the first place? And for the majority of the band it is the same answer: via Czech folk music. So here we are again. We’ve come around full circle. So what is it about Czech folk music that connects with Celtic music? Bagpipes for one thing.

But there’s more than that, of course. Czech folk music still resounds with the echoes of the music of the ancient Celtic tribes that once lived here. And some musicians aren’t content with regurgitating fossilized folk tunes. They want to move on and create something new, whilst respecting the traditions from which they have grown. Music schools in the Czech Republic have a great and well-deserved reputation. Many parents send their kids to after-school classes to learn the violin, piano, and even traditional folk dance too. My son goes twice a week to a very patient and lovely music teacher to learn the accordion- he’s going to play with us one day. And in these classes they naturally learn to play Czech folk music. Our bouzouki/banjo player Honza and guitarist Kuba both went to Folk dance and music classes – they have fond memories of attending folk festivals around Europe when they were children and where they were treated like stars. But for some, Czech folk music is just a starting point or a stepping stone to something else. Many children don’t carry on with music at all when they get older, but those who do either continue with their Czech folk music and play in wedding bands and so on, or else move on to other musical genres. And it is this last group which we’re most interested in, as a lot of these musicians seem to gravitate towards the very broad genre known as Celtic music.

Next time I’ll be looking in more detail at Celtic music and culture in the Czech Republic, from the traditional to the experimental; from bands which sing traditional Irish songs translated into Czech, to bands which have given a modern twist to traditional Czech music; bands which have gone into Celtic rock, punk and metal; I’ll also look at some Scottish and Irish dance companies based in the Czech Republic which compete in international competitions. There is a lot to discover here in one of the world’s oldest Celtic countries and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

Oh, and here’s a Czech robot.

About Jeremy King

Jeremy King sings and plays bodhran in the award-winning Celtic band Poitín. He is also a member of the country and bluegrass band Lignit and writes songs for doom-death-heavy-speed-gothic-celtic-pagan-metal band Mortal Destiny . Jeremy lectures at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Keep up to date with news from Jeremy and Poitín on Twitter, FaceBook and ReverbNation .
Purchase Poitín’s award-winning music on CDBaby , Amazon and iTunes

Poitin and Sliotar performed together at Zach’s Pub earlier this week. It was an amazing musical event. Here is one video taken by the flutist of  ” Cheers!” Kateřina Hofmanová.