Irish Trad Music Blog

Cover of Sharon Shannon IN Ireland people love the sun but rarely get to see it. What people do see is a lot of rain, wind and general cloudiness but does this stop people from having an amazing summer? No, so to celebrate the remarkable ability to stay upbeat even in the wintriest of summers Findtradfolk has a competition with an unbelievable prize. Findtradfolk Summer Sessions is looking for trad musicians who can still bring out the sunshine with amazing music even through a sunless summer. Organisers have a great prize on offer. Grouse Lodge has very kindly offered the the winner of the competition a day recording in their first class recording studio situated in a breath taking Georgian estate. The winner will be playing in a recording studio where national and international greats such as Liam Clancy, Muse, Sharon Shannon, Dame Shirley Bassey, Luka Bloom and Michael Jackson have all played. Not only that, accommodation is also available for the night as Grouse Lodge is Irel...

Cover of Moya Brennan CLANNAD’S Moya Brennan, the Tulla Céilí Band, uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn and fiddler Martin Hayes will be just some of the traditional musicians performing at the 10th Masters of Tradition which runs from August 15th-19th in Bantry. To mark the anniversary of the festival there will be a new series of late morning coffee concerts and master-classes to complement the programme of evening performances in Bantry House and St Brendan’s Church. Among those featuring in these coffee concerts in St Brendan’s Church will be guitarist and singer John Doyle and Lunasa flute player Kevin Crawford who are part of the new traditional music supergroup The Teetotallers. The Andalusian singer Carmen Ibanez-Berbel will perform songs with popular themes of Spanish and Latin American folklore alongside homegrown singers Maire Ní Chéileachair, John Flanagan and Len Graham. There are still tickets available for all performances, including the opening and closing concerts which fe...

Tin Whistle A Complete Guide to Playing Irish Traditional Music on the Whistle 286-page pdf ebook and 420 accompanying mp3 files Free sample download here Price : 29€ / 35 USD Buy here (420MB zip file containing pdf book & mp3 files) For any questions or further information, contact me at tradschool@gmail.com This tutor book and its accompanying multimedia files will give a complete practical introduction to playing Irish traditional music on the tin whistle. Each part of the tutor contains graded lessons, exercises and tunes, and they are meant to be used back-to-back, giving a complete introduction to the whistle in Irish traditional music. As a novice, you can expect by the end of this course to be familiar with the Irish traditional repertoire and style, and to master some typical music from the repertoire. The course is in 2 parts : the basics of the whistle in part 1 (Units 1-5), Irish traditional music on the whistle in Part 2 (Units 7-16). It is designed to...

CLARE MUSICIANS LAUNCH A GLOBAL MUSIC EXCHANGE TOUR BETWEEN SOUTH AMERICA AND IRELAND South American musician returns to his Irish roots to merge Latin America with Ireland 20 June ’12: Clare native musicians, Paddy Mulcahy and Tessa O’Connor are leading a tour of South American and traditional Irish music entitled “Los Paddy de las Pampas” around Ireland this July. The tour will involve playing a number of concerts which will incorporate Irish traditional and Latin American music, with particular focus on Argentina. The aim is to create a global music exchange between Latin America and Ireland. The idea stemmed for the musicians on their return from playing music in the Irish music community in Buenos Aires, where they met Argentian musician, Tommy Nelson. Tommy’s ancestors come from Ireland, he is an accomplished guitarist and Charango player and is behind the strength of the Irish Traditional music scene in Argentina. While in South America the “Los Paddy delas Pampas” tour brou...

Caoimhin O Raghallaigh (Photo credit: Irish Philadelphia Photo Essays ) Date: Sunday 15th July (ONE NIGHT ONLY) Time: Doors open 8pm Venue: Mill Theatre Dundrum, (Main Auditorium) Tickets: €18 / €15 (Box Office will open for cash sales on day of show from 6pm!) Book by Phone: 01 – 296 9340 Book Online: www.milltheatre.ie Swerving from infectious slides to slow airs, sean-nós songs to wild, passionate polkas, Begley and Ó Raghallaigh unleash the raw power and beauty of their Kerry music. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear these stellar musicians at close range in October Formed in 2007, Begley and Ó Raghallaigh have toured Ireland, New Zealand and the USA. Button accordion player Brendan Begley is best known as a member of Boys of the Lough, while fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh’s “Kitty Lie Over” CD (with piper Mick O’Brien) topped Earle Hitchner’s 2003 Best Album list. Together, they have a wild, dynamic and fresh sound: according to Earle Hitchn...

Irish Session (Photo credit: photo fiddler )  "Irish traditional music session: Starting from 28th Jun 2012 (Thurday), from 21:30 – 23:59 Weekly traditional irish music session in Galway City Centre: Jigs, ballads, reels, songs, sean-nos dancing, hornpipes, slow airs, and often guest folk musicians playing gypsy, appalachian, bluegrass, cajun, etc. music. Friendly atmosphere, great energy (10+ musicians), one of the best sessions in Galway! Free admission.