New releases from your favorite Irish and Irish-American artists. Nuala Kennedy • Noble Stranger Nuala Kennedy’s Noble Stranger, one of the newest releases from Compass Records, fluctuates between your typical trad album and a very new, innovative pop sound. Kennedy is an Irish vocalist and flute player with a voice that hits an intriguingly high pitch. This vocal peculiarity … [Read more...] about Music Reviews
Music
The 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 to participate in the World Peace Jubilee and International Music Festival, which ran from Bunker Hill Day to the Fourth of July, 1872. They performed in various ensembles and also … [Read more...] about The World Peace Jubilee & International Music Festival
The 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 Guitars. Luthier is certainly not the word one might hear an Irish child say is their dream profession. In fact, luthiere, or the crafting of stringed instruments, mainly guitar and lute, … [Read more...] about The Luthier: George Lowden
Music Reviews
CONTEMPORARY: Glen Hansard • Rhythm and Repose It is almost hard to believe that, with decades of successful records, an Oscar and a Tony, it was only this year that Glen Hansard (of Once fame) released his first solo album. Rhythm and Repose is an earnest and vivid collection from the Irish songwriter known for his work with bands The Frames and The Swell Season. Given … [Read more...] about Music Reviews
A 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 Crawford on flute, whistles and occasionally the bodhrán, and John Doyle on vocals, guitar, bouzouki and mandola. After debuting as a trio in late 2011 with a tour in Ireland, the … [Read more...] about A Lineup of Legends