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March 2009

Music

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With Solas

Two noteworthy changes to Solas as they appeared at World Café Live on St. Patrick’s Day.

First, vocalist Máiréad Phelan seems now more comfortably and confidently integrated into the band. Máiréad replaced Deirdre Scanlon last year. We first saw Máiréad at World Café not long after the release of the band’s latest, “For Love and Laughter.” She sang well, but her time on stage was limited to her vocal performance and she seemed, to me, a bit shy.

In her St. Pat’s performance, she seemed much more confident, and she spent more time on stage. When she wasn’t singing, she added piano accompaniment. Overall, a more complete performance. It’s easy to underestimate her vocal power, but it really came through in this show.

The second noteworthy change: box player Mick McAuley has lost his signature ponytail.

Other than that, it was just another Solas performance—an amazing display of musical virtuosity. If Solas ever has an “off” performance, I haven’t heard it. Whether roaring through a blast of reels or delivering a soulful rendition of the traditional “Mollai Na GCuach Ni Chuilleanain (Curly Haired Molly),” Solas—even with all the changes to the lineup over a decade—is still one of the most creative and dynamic Irish bands going.

In their most recent home town performance, Solas performed many tunes off the most recent CD, including Ricky Lee Jones’s “Sailor Song” and “Seven Curses” (with tight harmonies by McAuley and guitarist Eamon McElholm on the latter). McAuley also paid tribute to the late songwriter John Martyn with his moving rendition of “Spencer the Rover.”

Noting that “the banjo is an occasionally maligned instrument,” leader Seamus Egan went on to set things right with a blistering performance of “Vital Mental Medicine.” And the bow-shredding fiddler Winifred Horan, when she wasn’t setting new land speed records on assorted jigs and reels, offered more laid-back displays of her talent such as her lovely and sad “My Dream of You.” (“We’re not actually that depressed,” she insisted.)

Nor were we.

March 27, 2009 by
Music, News

The St. Patrick’s Day Challenge

It’s often said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and if you were in Philadelphia this March 17, you could have been Irish from dawn till midnight. So many ways to celebrate, so little time…here’s just a little sampling from four of the finest events the city had to offer:

Brittingham’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Lafayette Hill opened the day with songs from County Derry born singer, Oliver McElhone. Favorite tunes like “The Fields of Athenry”and “Dirty Old town” had the folks in the crowded bar and dining room singing and dancing along, and really starting to feel Irish.

Downtown, at The Kimmel Center, the Frank McCourt play “The Irish…and How They Got That Way” was demonstrating through songs and skits that “It isn’t easy being Irish.” Indeed, the five member cast, in the intimate setting of the Innovation Studio, brought the history of the Irish people’s suffering and survival to the stage with enthusiasm and earnestness. Deftly blending traditional songs like “Skibereen” and “Danny Boy” with history lessons (Did you know that the first witch hanged in America was Irish?), and humor (Did you know that the English conquered the world to escape their own cooking?), this is an entertaining way to pass an afternoon or evening. It’s playing through March 29th, and tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999.

In the midst of all the revelry, the fallen police officers of the city were not forgotten; at popular downtown pub & restaurant Tir na Nog, the local Irish band BarleyJuice donated their amazing musical talents to the cause. All money raised at the door went to a fund for families of Philadelphia’s fallen officers. This is a group that knows how to kick it up for the cause; check out video clips of their rousing version of “Monto,” and a medley that includes “Ring of Fire” and “Whiskey in the Jar.”

Finally, there is no finer way to round out a St. Patrick’s Day than with a performance from Irish-American supergroup Solas at the World Café. Their set list included songs from their latest cd, “For Love and Laughter” as well as a lovely tribute to the late John Martyn with his “Spencer the Rover.” But Seamus Egan, Mick McAuley, Eamon McElholm, Chico Huff, phiddle phenom Winifred Horan, and singer Mairead Phelan enthralled a crowd beyond just the one gathered tableside in Philly. The band didn’t know it at the time, but from the audience, a United States airman was Skyping the show to a deployed unit overseas, and when Mairead Phelan sang “Mollai na Gcuach ni Chuilleanain,” a Gaelic-speaking military captain stationed somewhere in a more dangerous part of the world, cried. It was as it should be on March 17, everyone the world over got to share in the Irish spirit. Make sure you watch the video of  “Spencer the Rover.”

March 27, 2009 by
Music, People

The Chieftains Deliver the Goods Again

It was a stripped-down version of the Chieftains playing in Verizon Hall for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day concert—they were missing fiddler Sean Keane, said to be averse to making long flights at this stage of his career. Canadian fiddler Jon Pilatzke stepped in to fill the breach and—with help from Nashville bluegrass fiddler Deanie Richardson, singer/guitarist Jeff White and harper Triona Marshall—the Chieftains had no problem dazzling a Philadelphia audience once again.

Chieftains leader Paddy Moloney probably has lost count of the number of St. Patrick’s Day concerts the band has played in Philadelphia, but it’s enough so that a Chieftains concert has become an essential and expected part of the annual Delaware Valley celebrations.

If you saw last year’s Kimmel Center concert, this year’s version was virtually a carbon copy of last year’s. If anyone noticed, they didn’t seem to mind. By this point, the Chieftains have their act down to a science. The band played selections highlighting the various stages of their career, from the traditional jigs and reels to tunes from “Down the Old Plank Road,” one of their forays into American bluegrass and country.

But the Chieftains always have a “next” project going, and they offered a preview. The next recording heads down Mexico way for a musical commemoration of the San Patricios, a band of Irishmen who fought on the side of Mexico in the Mexican-American war. “They were shooting Catholics down there in Mexico,” said Moloney in an unusually succinct summary of the Irish volunteers’ involvement, “and they didn’t like that.”

For this selection, the Chieftains were joined on stage by a group of pipers and drummers from City of Washington Pipe Band, one of just three grade 1 competition pipe bands in the United States. Together they played a “March to the Battle,” filling Verizon Hall with the droning sound of pipes, leading into a stirring lament, featuring Moloney on uilleann pipes.

Of course, traditional Irish is what this St. Patrick’s crowd came for, and the Chieftains were only to happy to oblige. Just because a Chieftains performance has become a somewhat predictable commodity doesn’t overshadow the fact that they’re still masters of their art. They’ve been at it for 45 years, but they easily match the energy of much younger bands.

Joining Moloney, flutist Matt Molloy and Kevin Conneff, the Chieftains’ singer and bodhran player, was Scottish singer Alyth McCormack, who delivered a memorable version of “The Foggy Dew.”

As is the custom with Chieftains shows, dance also figured prominently, with frenetic performances by the Jon Pilatzke and brother Nathan, and Cara Butler. The highlight of their performance was a crazy legs little dance featuring all three seated in chairs.

Coming to the stage late in the show were members of the Ryan-Kilcoyne School of Irish Dance.

A standing O was also predictable—and richly deserved.

March 27, 2009 by
Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

What, are you kidding, do I have to be Irish again this week? When will this blasted month be over?

Okay, we hear some of you out there, so we have a special treat. Instead of being Irish this weekend, you can be Scottish (Celts are Celts is our motto). The Scottish folk band, GiveWay, which won a coveted “Danny Award” at the international Celtic Connection Festival pretty much their first time on a big stage, will be performing Saturday night at the Irish Center, Carpenter and Emlen Streets in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia.

We’ve been listening to their last CD for weeks (that will be us mouthing the words and playing air accordian) and this unconventionally traditional band is sensational. There is not a chance in the world that your feet won’t be tapping. In fact, we’re going to encourage seat jigging, or, if you can find a vacant spot, hop on up and get your Irish—or Scottish—on.

The concert is being hosted by us, www.irishphiladelphia.com, and we hope you come out and join us. In preparation, you can read our interview with one of the lovely Johnson sisters (lead vocalist, Kirsty, who is 21) and listen to their latest single, “The Water is Wide,” produced by Phil Cunningham.

There are plenty of other things going on. On Saturday afternoon, the movie, “Hunger,” a stark, realistic portrayal of the lives and deaths of the Long Kesh hunger strikers (the lead actor, playing the ill-fated Bobby Sands, transforms into a near skeleton by the end, a tribute to his dedication to the role), will be screened at the Prince Theater as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival.

Also on Saturday afternoon, AOH and LAOH 87 will be holding a benefit for the family of Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski, who was killed when responding to a 911 call. He left a wife who is carrying their child.

On Satuday night, the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann will be holding its third annual Irish Buffet and House Party at the McSwiney Club in Jenkintown. We’re pretty sure that means great food, fabulous music, and a night of Irish dancing.

You probably read this week that Immaculata researchers found what they believe are the bones of 57 Irish immigrant railroad workers who were reported to have died in a cholera epidemic and buried in a mass grave near Malvern, in a place called locally, “Duffy’s Cut.” One of the those researchers, Professor William E. Watson, is scheduled to give a presentation on Duffy’s Cut on Sunday at the Celtic Heritage Foundation at 321 Cedar Street, Bristol. The event was scheduled before the discovery, so this is a great opportunity to find out what’s behind the headlines.

More exciting stuff: Riverdance begins its farewell performances at The Kimmel Center on Tuesday, March 31. Three of the original performers are still dancing with the show, which is credited with igniting an interest in all things Irish when it first debuted with Michael Flately on Broadway. If you check the ads we’re running, you’ll see they’re offering a 15% discount right now, so here’s your opportunity.

Speaking of igniting interest in the Irish, Gaelic Storm is scheduled to appear at The Colonial Theater in Phoenixville on Friday night. If you saw the movie, Titantic, and apparently everyone did, you saw and heard this former pub band turned international Celtic sensations in the famous scene where Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet joined in the below-decks merriment (where our people were making their voyage).

Lots more coming: Next week, two great musicians from Ireland are heading our way, the Hibernian Hunger Project is holding its giant “cook-in” at Aid for Friends in Northeast Philly (volunteers welcome), and the World Irish Dance Championships are kicking off (and kicking really high) their weeklong competition in Philadelphia, the first time the annual event is being held in the US. (And they picked us!)

Go visit our calendar for all the details. And don’t forget to support your local Irish business!

March 27, 2009 by
Music

Four Scottish Sisters Performing This Weekend

Their mother played the violin for about a week in primary school, and they say their dad is tone deaf. So where the Johnson sisters—Fiona, 23, Kirsty, 21, and the twins, Amy and Mairi, 19—got their musical talent is a mystery.

“Well, our aunt, my mother’s sister plays violin and she does concerts as a hobby,” offers Kirsty, who plays accordian and does lead vocals for the Scottish sister act, GiveWay, which will be appearing at the Irish Center, Carpenter and Emlen streets, in West Mt. Airy, on Saturday, March 28.

Don’t let their ages fool you into thinking that they’re new to the music scene. Fiona and Kirsty started the group as a duo more than a decade ago, when Fi was only 13 and Kirsty, 11. But they were already accomplished musicians by then, playing everything from classical tunes to Scottish traditional music, a little rock to a little jazz, all of which you can still hear in their music, although you’re likely to find it filed under “folk.”

“I was four when I got an accordian as a gift from my grandparents,” explains Kirsty. “They thought it was a toy, but my mom and dad got me lessons. Fiona started at five with the violin.”

In 2001 (keep doing the math), the girls played their first professional gig at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow where they won the prestigious “Danny Award,” named for the late Danny Kyle who for years produced the “open stage” competition. Since there may be a hundred or more competitors, winning one of the seven “Dannys” given each year has launched many young musicians onto successful careers. Later the same year, the band placed first in the BBC Radio “Young Folk” awards competition.

Sister Amy, having traded in her accordian for a drum kit, “filtered” into the band along with Mairi, as keyboardist and background singer. GiveWay made more appearances at Celtic Connections, the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Tonder Festival in Denmark, and Celtic Colours in Cape Breton. They were also invited to take part in the BBC 1 “Hogmanay Live” television show, sharing the stage with a host of major artists, including Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain. In 2003 the band signed to Greentrax Recordings and their debut album, “Full Steam Ahead,” was released to great reviews. The Daily Telegraph wrote that the CD was “bursting with evidence of virtuosity, flair and disarming maturity.”

The same could be said of their second CD, “Inspired,” which followed in 2005. A third, “Lost in This Song,” (which Kirsty says has more vocals than the previous two) is being released this spring, though too late for Saturday’s performance. Phil Cunningham, now a solo artist but formerly with the bands Silly Wizard and Relativity, is GiveWay’s producer. Last year, the band also recorded a single, “The Water is Wide,” which was produced by Brian Hurren of Runrig, the popular Scottish folk-rock band.

The Irish Center appearance is the girls’ third stop on an ambitious US tour which will take them to 13 states through the end of April. The only other area appearances will be in Delaware, at St. Andrew’s School in Middleton and the Cooldog Concert series (a house concert) in Dover, in the first week of April. It’s not their first visit to the region. They’ve performed at Bethlehem’s Celtic Classic Festival and at Godfrey Daniels, an intimate music venue on Bethlehem’s south side.

In fact, just this week we received an unsolicited review from someone who caught their performances in Lehigh County. “You’re in
for a treat on Saturday night–Giveway,” a man named George emailed us. “I saw them two summers ago at The Celtic Classic. They’re great musicians and all should have a great time Saturday night.”

Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

March 27, 2009 by
News, People

Many Ways to Observe the Day

Gathering at the Philadelphia Irish Memorial.

Gathering at the Philadelphia Irish Memorial.

Beer, first thing in the morning. It takes some getting used to.

Mind you, I didn’t indulge—by 10, I would have needed a nap—but I stand in awe of those who did.

Of course, the main attraction at the Patrick Kerr Benefit at Fado in Center City and at Judge Jimmy Lynn’s annual festivities at the Plough and Stars in Old City was breakfast. And if you were into Irish bacon, blood sausages and brown bread—who isn’t?—there was plenty to keep you fat and happy.

The affair at Fado was relatively low-key, but obviously satisfying to those who support the scholarship fund. At Jimmy Lynn’s bash, on the other hand, it was standing room—make that squeezing room—only. It was the most crowded I’ve seen the place. There was barely room for the McDade and Peter Smith school dancers who dropped by, or for the St, Malachy College musicians from Belfast.

In other words, a perfectly wonderful time.

Later in the morning, a more solemn occasion—the annual obervance a few blocks away at the Irish Memorial on Penn’s landing.

We have all the events of that unusually sunny and warm morning.

March 18, 2009 by
News

The Sun Shines on Conshy

Philadelphia on Sunday suffered the weather of the Irish–damp and cool.

In Conshohocken, on the other hand, the folks who organized the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day parade got all the luck. No one could call it a tropical day on Fayette Street, but at least it was dry.

The crowds of parade-goers seemed to appreciate it. And there was a lot more than decent weather to appreciate. As always, there were lots of pipers and drummers, and enough curly-wigged dancers to keep everyone well entertained.

We have the photos to prove it.

March 16, 2009 by
News

The Irish Came Out in Force in Springfield

Dog shown actual size. (Just kidding!)

Dog shown actual size. (Just kidding!)

Saturday was a beautiful day for a parade, and the people of Springfield proved it by coming out in huge numbers to line the parade route through this small town in Delaware County.

There were dancing girls and boys, decked out dogs, high school bands, men in kilts, music, leprechauns, and more green hair than we’ve seen. . . ever.

Come join the fun through our photo essay.We took lots of pix!

March 16, 2009 by