Irish Trad Music Blog

Cover of Dervish “The Thrush in the Storm”. OUT APRIL 2013 DERVISH release their eagerly awaited first studio album in 5 years entitled “The Thrush in the Storm” this April 2013.  The album reflects DERVISH’s dedication to Ireland’s rich music tradition and in particular to theirSligo music roots and contains many new tunes and songs with an innovative Dervish style. DERVISH have just completed a sell-out tour of the USfor the album’s launch.  The album had its US launch at a special function in Boston in association with the WGBH Public Broadcasting organisation in Americawhere it was hailed by fans as their best yet.  Their US Coast to Coast tour finishes in The Lincoln Theatre,University of Hartford, Connecticut.  DERVISH Launch “The Thrush in the Storm” this April in Ireland and Europe before heading to the UK for a promo tour.

Cover of Kevin Crawford "In Irish music today, tradition ain't what it used to be. While the casual listener might think any group of musicians playing "Irish sounding" music on acoustic instruments is traditional, even those venerable veterans The Chieftains were considered revolutionaries when they first performed. Since then, there have been several generations of performers who are firmly and lovingly rooted in tradition, but who have reinvented the music, expanding the repertoire, instruments and arrangements. This month sees the appearance of a new constellation of neo-traditional stars in the Irish music firmament: the Teetotallers -- flute player Kevin Crawford of Lunasa; guitarist John Doyle, formerly of Solas; and fiddler Martin Hayes of the duo Hayes and Cahill. In a recent interview Crawford said the three began to play together at the request of a producer at a festival in California. They were all intrigued by how well the collaboration went, ...

Cover of Paul Brady "A MUSICIAN whose songs have been covered by Tina Turner, Cher, Cliff Richard and Ronan Keating will perform in the North-East this weekend (Sunday, April 28). Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Paul Brady will appear at the Gala Theatre, in Durham City, on Sunday. Mr Brady is often described as a musician’s musician and is considered one of Ireland’s finest singer-songwriters. His first album, Hard Station, was released in 1981. The Durham show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £23.50. Discounted tickets, priced £15, can be booked by quoting ‘DANCER15’ when booking. To book, go to the box office, call 03000-266-600 or visit galadurham.co.uk"

"Ireland's premier acoustic band Lúnasa is releasing their first new recording in three years on April 16, the much-anticipated new album, LÚNASA WITH THE RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA, on Lúnasa Records via City Hall Distributors (in the U.S.). LÚNASA WITH THE RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA is a musical collaboration that marks a true first for the all-star Irish traditional band and the world-renowned national orchestra of Ireland. It is also available digitally from iTunes and other digital outlets." Lúnasa's First Recording in Three Years Out on April 16th | Grateful Web :

SCARSDALE — Felix Dolan spent the last decades of his life revolutionizing piano backup for Irish traditional music. The 76-year-old retired IBM executive and longtime Scarsdale resident died Tuesday at home surrounded by his family. Within minutes of announcement of his death, members of the international community that plays Irish traditional music were on Facebook and other social media sites, mourning his passing. “Tonight the internet is on overdrive as people pay homage to Felix Dolan, a truly great man and a gentleman,” Sligo fiddler and Westchester County Assistant District Attorney Brian Conway wrote on his Facebook page . “I have been consumed by thoughts of Felix, over the last few weeks in particular, and I always come back to that wonderful warm smile that greeted everyone who came in contact with Felix.”

Image via CrunchBase A series of talks and live performances on the third Friday of every month Bryan Duggan – How TUNEPAL Works 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1 Friday 19th April 2013, 8.30pm Dr. Bryan Duggan will present April’s ‘Notes & Narratives’. A lecturer in the School of Computing in DIT and an accomplished flute player, Duggan is the author of TUNEPAL, a search engine app for traditional Irish music. TUNEPAL allows a player to search for tunes either by title or playing and also has options for editing and saving tunes. TUNEPAL is available for iPhone, iPad, Android and at tunepal.org.

Imagine an Ireland where everyone in the country has the chance to learn to play a musical instrument, from the fiddle to the guitar, the drums or even the saxophone. This is the driving ambition of Glaoch An Cheoil, a brand new series for TG4 produced by Mind the Gap Films. The show aims to unite unused or discarded musical instruments with people who have always wanted to learn to play, but never had the opportunity. We are establishing 4 music hubs (one in each of the 4 provinces) – our Ulster centre will be in An Crannóg in Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal! You can join our crusade in two ways: Donate/loan an instrument or Sign up for free music lessons! Do you have an old musical instrument lying under a bed, in the attic or shed, gathering dust in a corner? Perhaps it was bought with the best intentions but never played. Maybe it was handed down from a parent, grandparent or friend but hasn’t been used in years. Would you like to see this instrument being enjoyed by someon...

Cover of Hamilton Harty CMC presents a series of concerts in Dublin city libraries during April as part of the One City One Book initiative. Funded by the Dublin City Council Arts Office Arts Grants 2012 and supported by the Dublin City Council Library Development Office, the concerts on 24 and 25 April 2013 will be presented and curated by composer Benjamin Dwyer and will feature performers Royal Irish Academy of Music Miriam Kaczor (flute), Evelina Ndlova (electric piano) and Margaret Bridge (choral conductor with a choir of eight singers). The programme celebrates James Plunkett’s Strumpet City as the chosen book for the One City One Book 2013, and to mark the influence of Dublin City, which is at the heart of Plunkett’s novel, on Irish composers. Composers featured include John Buckley, Hamilton Harty, Michael Holohan, Donal Sarsfield and Vincent Kennedy.

Goitse (Photo credit: lost penguin ) "TRADTITIONAL groups Goitse and Beoga are taking part in the Magee Traditional Irish Music Society ‘Trad on Campus Day’ on Friday (April 5) in association with ‘The Music Promise’ funding scheme. The Children’s Music Promise was initially billed by the Culture Company as a free musical instrument and tuition for every child in Londonderry but has since been scaled back to a year-long programme of inspirational and transformational learning experiences for children and young people. Utilising UK City of Culture 2013 Music Promise funding the student society has organised a packed programme including workshops with Goitse, followed by a gig featuring Beoga and Goitse together in Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin at 7.30pm." Goitse and Beoga to help fulfil music promise - News - Londonderry Sentinel Related articles Dick Gaughan to play in Mayo Mairtín O'Connor, Zoe Conway and Donal Lunny on Tour Lúnasa to Release Album with RTE Conc...

Cover of Donal Lunny MUSIC NETWORK MAY TOUR Music Network presents Mairtín O’Connor, Zoe Conway and Donal Lunny on Tour: May 7th – 14th, 2013 www.musicnetwork.ie Music Network presents a dream tour that brings together the dazzling talents of three of the country’s finest traditional musicians; button accordion master Máirtín O’Connor, fiddle player Zoë Conway and guitar and bouzouki player Donal Lunny from May 7th – 14th, 2013.

Coming up this Friday night at Glucksman Ireland House is another pure-drop tandem visiting from Ireland in fiddler Pat O’Connor from Ennis, Co.  Clare and Eoghan O’Sullivan from Co. Cork. They are touring around the U.S. and hitting the Big Apple. via: Pat O’Connor and Eoghan O’Sullivan play NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House - VIDEO | From The Hob | IrishCentral : Related articles Paddy O'Brien Autobiography - The Road from Castlebarnagh Muireann's Jig - Niall & Cillian Vallely The Goodman Project - Sat, 16th of Feb 2013 -Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre The Last Pint - Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely

Cover of Luka Bloom Details of Ireland’s newest folk and traditional music festival have been announced in County Clare. Luka Bloom, Martin Hayes, Donal Lunny, John Spillane, Steve Cooney and Hermitage Green are amongst the acts lined up to perform during the inaugural Doolin Folk Festival on June 14th to 16th 2013. Sponsored by Smithwick’s Pale Ale the three-day festival will take place on the grounds of Hotel Doolin, less than a mile from the site of the famous Lisdoonvarna Festival of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Musician and Event Promoter, Conor Byrne explained that the Festival will feature “traditional and folk musicians who have had a connection with the area over the years as well as up-and-coming, cutting-edge folk and Trad acts to the village thereby reviving Doolin’s reputation as a hub for Trad and Folk musicians.”