Songs for the Ancestors
Judy Collins on finding inspiration in the experience of her antecedents. Shortly before Judy Collins was inducted into the...
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Music Archives
In This Issue
Sláinte!
Music: The Food of Love
With Father’s Day in mind, our columnist writes about her own dad, “a true Irish bard.” ℘℘℘ I live with a disc jockey. No, not like one you’d find in a dance club, not at all. My jock...
MoreAn Irish Music Playlist Just in Time for St. Patrick’s Day
From Turlough O’Carolan to The Chieftains, The Cranberries to The Corrs, Ireland has always had a world-wide reputation for musical prowess. This St. Patrick’s Day weekend, enjoy this...
MoreIrish American Director to Helm Washington National Opera
Timothy O’Leary (right) has taken the United States opera scene by storm as the recently-appointed general director of the Washington National Opera at the John F. Kennedy Center for the...
MoreThe Last Word:
Irish American Agitation in the Age of Trump
U2, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, and the Irish trying to save America. ℘℘℘ In autumn 2017, U2 released their 14th studio album, Songs of Experience. Critical reception on the album was mixed – was...
MoreWeekly Comment:
Redeeming Bing Crosby,
the Voice of Christmas
Bing Crosby was once considered the greatest crooner of all and his recording of “White Christmas” remains the best-selling single of all time, with an estimated 100 million copies sold...
MoreWhen Irish Eyes Are Smiling
The world has been enriched by many distinctly Irish songs. “Danny Boy” and “MacNamara’s Band” are among the diverse offerings. But no song is more deeply embedded in hearts than “When...
MoreIrish American Musician Advocates for Syria
Dylan Connor is an Irish American singer/songwriter who, inspired by his Syrian wife, Reem Alhariri Connor, has become a celebrated activist for Syria and its refugees. Connor, who is the first...
MoreForward the Music of the Gael
There’s more to piping than meets the ear. Kristin McGowan talks to Joe McGonigal, the highly sought after musician and teacher, about his upcoming plans and the influence of his grandfather on the...
MoreMusic Reviews
A number of albums released this year and last have has strong thematic links to the Easter Rising. ℘℘℘ Rising Black Bank Folk A debut album years the making, Rising, tells the human...
MorePlaying in the Band
For the perfect pairing of Grateful Dead and traditional Celtic sound, look to Wake the Dead, a California group of experts musicians. ℘℘℘ For almost 17 years, Wake the Dead has dug deep into...
MoreWhat Are You Like?
Keith & Kristyn Getty
The Northern Irish duo reinventing the hymn. ℘℘℘ Keith and Kristyn Getty have written music together since 2001 (and have been married since 2004). Both born near Belfast, they now live between...
MoreMusic Reviews
New music of Irish and Irish American interest. ℘℘℘ Legacy, Volume 2 Celtic Thunder This familiar, favored collection of incredible talent begins with an extraordinary rendition of the...
MoreBeyond the Bog Road
The first new album in 10 years from fiddle virtuoso Eileen Ivers traces traditional Irish music to Canada’s Nova Scotia, and through the Scots/Irish root of Bluegrass and Old-Time music of...
MoreIn New Joyce Musical, Nora Barnacle Comes First
A new Off-Broadway musical seeks to tell the story of the passionate, tumultuous, and prolific relationship between James Joyce and Nora Barnacle through Nora’s perspective of their nearly 40-year...
MoreThe Celtic Heart
of North America
For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture, with the finest of storytellers, musicians, and dancers from around the globe taking part in the...
MoreWhat Are You Like?
Michael Flatley: The Last Dance
Michael Flatley, 57, who has turned traditional Irish dancing into an international phenomenon, is retiring. It’s been his dream since he was a little boy to be on Broadway and that’s where he...
MoreJoanie Madden:
The Christmas Letter
A forgotten Irish song of emigration tells of a mother’s longing for her children who have gone so far away, is a big hit for Cherish the Ladies. ℘℘℘ Irish music was the soundtrack to life...
MoreThe Willis Family
The Willis Clan have carved out quite the reputation for their musical skills and now have a new reality TV show on TLC. There is a moment during a Willis Clan performance when the stage lights seem...
MoreFoot Tapping…
Modern Trad in New York
There is always a welcoming buzz of familiarity at the Irish Arts Center. On a night in late April, This Is How We Fly made their New York City debut. The quartet of fiddle, clarinet, drums, and...
MoreCherishing Joanie
As the Cherish the Ladies 30th Anniversary Tour begins, Kristin Cotter McGowan talks to founding member, the award-winning whistle and flute player Joanie Madden. Irish music was the...
MoreAccolades for Ward’s
Irish Music Archives
Following the Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History, the Ward Irish Music Archives, the largest public collection of Irish music in America, is receiving national...
MoreGemma Hayes:
Crowd-sourcing Her Sound
The Irish musician, singer-songwriter, and composer Gemma Hayes on making music her way. I’ve never done an interview with a baby before,” says an apologetic Gemma Hayes who has just run off to...
MoreSongs for the Ancestors
Judy Collins on finding inspiration in the experience of her antecedents. Shortly before Judy Collins was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in New Ross, County Wexford, this magazine...
MoreIrish Folk Bonanza
If ever you’ve been mid-St. Patrick’s Day party hunting through your collection for the perfect blend of Irish music, this is the CD you’ll wish you had. The Ultimate Guide to Irish...
More“The Hard Way Home”
Paddy Homan’s newest CD reflects the Irish tenor’s philosophy of life. In the tradition of a lively rambling house, Irish tenor Paddy Homan has been presiding for six years every Sunday night at...
MoreA Jazz Age Love Story
Irving Berlin and Ellin Mackay put aside their differences in culture, background, and age to form one of the best-known, enduring and loving relationships in New York social history. At the same...
MoreA Winter’s Tale and a Garden Party with the Merry Men
After his turn as Inspector Javert in Les Miserables, Russell Crowe’s passion for music is no longer a secret. In fact, he has been playing for years with a number of close friends and musical...
MoreSisters Sharing Musical Talent and Health Issues
Joyce and Ruth O’Leary are your average pair of young Irish sisters in their early twenties. They share outfits, finish each other’s sentences, and cheer each other up when one is having a hard...
MoreJudy Collins: El Troubadour
Judy Collins, one of the most influential folk singers of the sixties, and the voice that has been called the voice of the century, still believes that music can heal the world. Interview by Patricia...
MoreHarrington: Taking Classical Music out of the Concert Hall
Greg Harrington doesn’t look like your average classical violinist. When we met at a pub in Manhattan’s Upper West Side on a recent snowy evening, he was wearing a gray hoodie and peppered his...
MoreThe Great Victor Herbert
The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts” is the subject of a five-month-long exhibition at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Jack...
MoreThe World Peace Jubilee & International Music Festival
For 18 days in the summer of 1872, Patrick S. Gilmore, an Irish-born impresario, led the largest concert in history. Some 20,000 singers and 2,000 musicians from around the world descended on Boston...
MoreThe Luthier: George Lowden
Irish guitar makers are rare, and George Lowden, the man behind Lowden Guitars, is the best of them. Here, he tells Tara Dougherty about the beginnings of his craft and the future for Lowden...
MoreA Lineup of Legends
The Teetotallers is one of those remarkable flash in the pan moments of the seisiuin genre that seems too good to be true. The trio is lineup of giants, Martin Hayes on fiddle and viola, Kevin...
MoreA Gaelic Storm Lights Up St. Louis
Patricia Harty writes about Helen Gannon and the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Convention. Storm clouds gather over St. Louis, but Helen Gannon is unfazed as the tornado warning siren blares and we move into...
MoreMusic Reviews
At First Light • Idir A debut release from the newly formed At First Light, Idir is a perfectly-paced, delightful addition to any Irish library. What sets Celtic music apart from most other genres...
MoreThe Chieftains At 50
The Chieftains, Ireland’s top traditional group, celebrate their 50th anniversary with a compilation album featuring many young recording artists. In traditional Irish music, the road to success is...
MoreThe New Irish Songwriter: James Vincent McMorrow
A spring tour in Australia on the immediate horizon, thoughts brewing of a sophomore album and the world at his feet, James Vincent McMorrow has stormed onto the scene from virtual nothingness in the...
MoreMusic Reviews
A look at recently released music of Irish and Irish-American interest. Altan • The Poison Glen In their newest album, The Poison Glen, Altan reverts to the sound that their fans initially fell in...
MoreMaking of Monongah
Gaelic Americana musician and songwriter Kyle Carey writes about the ups and downs and ins and outs of recording an album. An album isn’t finished when the musicians go home. One could argue in...
MoreMartin Hayes:
Rhythm and Strings
Whether playing solo or with the newly formed The Gloaming, Martin Hayes, the marvelously gifted fiddler, finds his mesmeric rhythm in the Irish tunes he learned from his father – the leader of the...
MoreMusic Reviews
A look at recently released music of Irish and Irish-American interest… Traditional Irish Music on the Button Accordion Dan Gurney Among the most exciting releases to come from an Irish...
MoreProvidence Gives Regards to Cohan
George M. Cohan will always be remembered on Broadway. A statue of the late composer and performer, who penned such influential songs as “Over There,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and...
MoreOther Voices NYC
“Well the weather tonight is Irish,” seemed to be the joke of the evening as four hundred lucky audience members packed into downtown New York venue Le Poisson Rouge on a wet October evening. The...
MoreMusic Reviews
A look at recently-released music of Irish and Irish-American interest. For the Holidays… The Blair Band • Christmas with the Celts This Christmas, Ric Blair and his merry band of Celtic...
MoreOnce: The Musical
The beloved Irish film adapted to the stage. It is hard to forget the little Irish movie that could, Once. Released in 2006, Once was shot in Dublin over a 17-day period, with a scant budget of...
MoreComhaltas: Making Music for Sixty Years
It was a social network phenomenon before Facebook, blogging and Twitter came along, and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann is still going strong. For sixty years, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann – Irish...
MoreMusic Reviews
The latest in Irish and Irish-American music Beoga’s How to Tune a Fish • Beoga An exciting new release from Compass Records, How to Tune a Fish by Beoga is sure to be a lively hit amongst...
MoreCharting Celtic Music’s Way Forward
Nashville-based Compass Records has grown to become the most reliable and exciting source for new Celtic music. While it seems there is no conventional story of musical success, Irish American Alison...
MoreThe Seisiún Network
Dubliner Tony Lawless may prove to be the Mark Zuckerberg of the traditional Irish music world. On April 28th, he launched TradConnect, a new website that aims to connect trad players all over the...
MoreOnce Upon a Stage
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s Once to be a musical Written by Irish playwright Enda Walsh, the very anticipated stage adaptation of the acclaimed film Once will debut at the New York...
MoreReeve Carney: Spider-Man
Reeve talks about his Irish roots, the premiere of Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, and his band Carney It started out as a highly anticipated but eyebrow raising idea: the transformation of a comic...
MoreMusic Reviews
The Latest in Irish and Irish American Music Grá agus Bás • Donnacha Dennehy with Dawn Upshaw, Iarla O Lionáird, Crash Ensemble and Alan Pierson The tradition of sean-nós singing is one not...
MoreComhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Celebrates 60 Years
Held in San Antonio, TX for the first time, CCE’s annual celebration marked the organization’s 60th anniversary. Hundreds of devoted Irish music and dance fans descended upon San Antonio...
MoreJulie Feeney:
The Impossibly Talented
The Irish chamber-pop princess talks with Tara Dougherty about her recent world tour, her second album and her innovative sound, which is breathing life into the contemporary Irish music scene. The...
MoreMusic Reviews
Reviews of recent releases from Irish and Irish American artists. CONTEMPORARY Cashier No. 9 To the Death of Fun Belfast has for many years been a hub for contemporary Irish music. One of the newest...
MoreMusic Reviews
Reviews of recent releases from Irish and Irish-American artists. Barleyjuice Skulduggery Street A band sure to come under their fair share of Pogue comparisons, Barleyjuice’s new album...
MoreAn Irish Tune-Up for Cuba: Una Corda, The Soft Pedal
Since 2006, many visitors traveling from Ireland to Cuba have carried slightly heavier than usual suitcases. In addition to their clothes, toiletries and other necessities, they have been carrying...
MoreCeltic Thunder’s Global Appeal
The latest Irish invasion offers a cross section of music from traditional to pop – to everyone’s delight. As I sit down in Radio City Music Hall, I think I know exactly what I’m getting myself...
MoreMusic Reviews
Susan McKeown and Lorin Sklamberg Saints & Tzadiks In this self-titled album, Saints & Tzadiks, Susan McKeown and Lorin Sklamberg come together on a musical endeavor which takes traditional...
MoreThe March of the Forgotten: Paddy Moloney’s San Patricio
Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains talks to Tara Dougherty about the group’s newest project, San Patricio. In a moment that history books would rate as a minuscule act of defiance, famed Irish...
MoreSongs of Ireland: PBS Documentaries Celebrate Irish in Music
PBS is celebrating March and St. Patrick’s Day with a series of Irish music specials and documentaries, exploring the history of Irish music in America and offering fantastic in-concert footage of...
MoreCeltic Woman
The women behind the Irish musical phenomenon that has taken America by storm In 2008, Celtic Woman’s album The Greatest Journey Essential Collection debuted at number one on Billboard’s...
MoreMusic Reviews
Tony DeMarco: The Sligo Indians Tony DeMarco’s fiddle is something of a modern legend in the New York City traditional Irish music scene. His new CD, The Sligo Indians, demonstrates why with...
MoreThe Maestro: Kenneth Montgomery
Santa Fe Opera House is truly one of the wonders of the world. Perfectly situated on a mesa a 30-minute drive from historic downtown, and offering breathtaking views of the Jemez Mountains to the...
MoreAndrew Strong: Life After The Commitments
It is difficult to think back to the Irish film The Commitments without remembering the stunning vocals by Andrew Strong playing the character Deco Cuff, the lead singer in the film’s eccentric...
MoreFrankie Gavin Back with De Dannan
De Dannan, along with The Bothy Band, Planxty and The Chieftains, is one of the seminal super-group Irish traditional bands that started up in the heady days of the 1970s and have powered along in...
MoreThe History of the Clancy Brothers
As Liam Clancy remembers it, being asked to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show did not seem like a big deal. “We just did not understand the significance,” he told Irish America in a recent...
MoreSpread the Music!
Ian Worpole casts his eye over the latest CD offerings in the world of trad/folk music. Lots of great CDs this month, and by way of a preamble, I’ve been thinking lately about how the great...
MoreThe Original Irish Tenor: John McCormack
The year was 1906. The setting was a stage in Savona, Italy, a northwestern port town south of Milan. The opera to be performed that particular evening was L’Amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni, with a...
MoreLove, Laughter and Solas
Ian Worpole talks to Solas stalwarts Seamus Egan and Winifred Horan, and meets the band’s newest member, Mairéad Phelan. As I’ve mentioned in past columns, Irish-American legends Solas are...
MoreStill Fiddlin’ Away
From his days with The Bothy Band, some thirty years ago now, to the present, Kevin Burke, who was born in London to Irish parents, has been one of the most widely admired fiddlers on the Irish...
MoreAshley Davis: Finding Herself Through Her Past
Ashley Davis has only released one CD so far, but it’s a gem, garnering her much attention in the Irish musical community. Ian: Ashley, you’re a resident of New York City, but right now...
MoreTrad Music is a Family Affair
A couple of years ago I went along to my regular Sunday session in Rhinecliff, New York to hear The McCarthy Brothers, and I have never been quite the same since. The three brothers and a few friends...
MoreU2 Has Gone 3D
U23D, the new movie of the world’s favorite Irish band shot using the latest 3D technology, wouldn’t have happened without the American connection. The crowd gathering outside Cineworld on a...
MoreMusic Reviews
Straight from the Bottle Anyone who wants to hear what a great seisiún sounds like in full throttle, with a glorious mix of live tunes and songs from virtuoso performers all: pick up the latest...
MoreTop Honors for Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne
Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway received Irish America’s “Artistic Achievement Award” at this year’s Top 100 Awards ceremony. The presentation came at the end of the Galways’...
MoreThe High Kings are Stepping Out
Celtic Woman took the world by storm when they debuted in 2004, topping the charts and touring to standing-room-only audiences. Now it’s the boys’ turn. Meet the High Kings, a quartet of...
MoreThe Chieftain of Endurance
With St. Patrick’s season came the mighty Chieftains and their annual tour of the U.S., which began in Albuquerque in February and ended up at Carnegie Hall on March 17. What to say about these...
MoreCeol Na nGael
About ten years ago I stumbled into the traditional Irish music scene and life has never been quite the same. My first article for this magazine was about that experience, but this time around I’d...
MoreMary Black
Mary Black, one of Ireland’s most-loved performers, is back in the spotlight with Full Tide, her finest and most critically acclaimed album in many years. Mary Black and her siblings, Frances,...
MoreCape Breton Awash in Celtic Colors
It was over a decade ago that an imaginative union of tourism and cultural heritage formed to create the Celtic Colours International Festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. With the 11th annual...
MoreCathie Ryan: Home is Where the Music Is
My mum had a phrase that fascinated me – whenever something like the vacuum cleaner showed signs of failure, she would say, “Oh, it’s going home.” I’ve always had a vision of what a strange...
MoreRemembering Tommy Makem
When Tommy Makem died on August 1,the worldlost not only a great musician and storyteller but an original thinker, who was passionate about Ireland, and unfailingly gracious. We’ll not see...
MoreMusic to Fall For
A few months ago I wrote a column for Irish America called “Songbirds,” a review of my favorite female singers of the Celtic idiom. There were many to include, so many that my editor described it...
MoreWhile Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again
Memory is the bond that ties us to home, even when we are far away. And now a stirring book produced by The Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers explores the connections Irish immigrants to New...
MoreThe Pogues: They’re Back! (Almost)
Ian Worpole never managed to be in the right place at the right time to catch The Pogues live, but there’s always next year, and in the meantime there’s the re-release of all of the band’s...
MoreThe Pirate Queen
The producers of The Pirate Queen, husband-and-wife team Moya Doherty and John McColgan, talk to Cahir O’Doherty. Between the first draft and the opening night the challenge of mounting a Broadway...
MoreNew York City Redux
Music Columnist Ian Worpole chronicles his return to the Big Apple Having spent a rowdy ten years in a cheap loft in Tribeca, New York City (Cheap! It wasn’t quite yet an oxymoron twenty years...
MoreThe Corrs are Back
Following the release of their latest album, Borrowed Heaven, The Corrs spoke to Louise Carroll just before they started their largest North American tour. ℘℘℘ Who could imagine that a group of...
MoreThe Thrills Conquer the U.S.
The Irish rock band The Thrills have been taking the U.S. by storm this summer, and recently played a sold-out show in New York City. Following the success of their debut album So Much For the City,...
MoreFlatley Receives Medal of Honor
Lord of the Dance and Irish America’s Irish-American of the year for 2003 Michael Flatley was awarded with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor at a gala ceremony on May 15, 2004 at Ellis Island....
MoreSolo Tenor
Following on the coattails of the great John McCormack, Ronan Tynan seems destined to be the most popular Irish tenor ever. ℘℘℘ “Let’s listen to Ronan Tynan.” The CNN...
MoreHarrington to Play at Carnegie
Dublin-born Gregory Harrington will become the first Irish violinist to play a full-length solo debut at Carnegie Hall on February 17th, 2003. Harrington, who is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy...
MoreFDNY Honor Irish Tenor
October 16 was declared Ronan Tynan Day in New York City, and the Irish tenor was presented with a mayoral proclamation by Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, pictured right. The ceremony, which...
MoreCeltic Tenors Tour U.S.
Chicago-based Jam Theatricals will present the U.S. debut tour of the Irish singing trio, the Celtic Tenors, in December. The tour, entitled “An Evening with the Celtic Tenors,” begins in...
MoreDolly Parton Does Dublin
Country and Western star Dolly Parton visited Dublin recently in advance of her concert in the city on November 29th. Parton made an hour-long appearance at the HMV music store on Grafton Street,...
MoreHibernia
The Thrills Conquer the U.S.
The Irish rock band The Thrills have been taking the U.S. by storm this summer, and recently played...
Irish American Musician Advocates for Syria
Dylan Connor is an Irish American singer/songwriter who, inspired by his Syrian wife, Reem Alhariri...
Once: The Musical
The beloved Irish film adapted to the stage. It is hard to forget the little Irish movie that...
Irish American Director to Helm Washington National Opera
Timothy O’Leary (right) has taken the United States opera scene by storm as the...
The Great Victor Herbert
The Irish composer of such American favorites as “Naughty Marietta,” and “Sweethearts” is...
Harrington to Play at Carnegie
Dublin-born Gregory Harrington will become the first Irish violinist to play a full-length solo...
Celtic Tenors Tour U.S.
Chicago-based Jam Theatricals will present the U.S. debut tour of the Irish singing trio, the...
Songs of Ireland: PBS Documentaries Celebrate Irish in Music
PBS is celebrating March and St. Patrick’s Day with a series of Irish music specials and...
The Seisiún Network
Dubliner Tony Lawless may prove to be the Mark Zuckerberg of the traditional Irish music world. On...
Providence Gives Regards to Cohan
George M. Cohan will always be remembered on Broadway. A statue of the late composer and performer,...
Accolades for Ward’s
Irish Music Archives
Following the Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History, the Ward...
Flatley Receives Medal of Honor
Lord of the Dance and Irish America’s Irish-American of the year for 2003 Michael Flatley was...
While Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again
Memory is the bond that ties us to home, even when we are far away. And now a stirring book...
FDNY Honor Irish Tenor
October 16 was declared Ronan Tynan Day in New York City, and the Irish tenor was presented with a...
Dolly Parton Does Dublin
Country and Western star Dolly Parton visited Dublin recently in advance of her concert in the city...
Once Upon a Stage
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s Once to be a musical Written by Irish playwright Enda...
An Irish Tune-Up for Cuba: Una Corda, The Soft Pedal
Since 2006, many visitors traveling from Ireland to Cuba have carried slightly heavier than usual...
Top Honors for Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne
Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway received Irish America’s “Artistic Achievement Award”...
The High Kings are Stepping Out
Celtic Woman took the world by storm when they debuted in 2004, topping the charts and touring to...
Cape Breton Awash in Celtic Colors
It was over a decade ago that an imaginative union of tourism and cultural heritage formed to...