“Speech Project” by Gerry Diver left me speechless

Gerry Diver

One of the most interesting morsels to drop in my mailbag in many a moon is Speech Project, an album of unique compositions by Gerry Diver.

Diver weaves exclusive spoken word contributions from Irish music legends such as Shane MacGowan, Damien Dempsey, Christy Moore, Martin Hayes and Danny Meehan (as well as archive interviews) to create new songs from the inflections in their speech and native accents.

According to Diver, he was listening to a recorded interview of the late, great accordion player Joe Cooley and noticed that the voice sounded like it was in the key of B flat minor.  There also seemed to be a slip jig rhythm to Cooley’s voice. 

Diver put the interview into his Apple Mac and teased out the faint “pitch” tones and rhythms in Joe’s voice.  These musical hues formed the basis for two new pieces, “When in New York” and “Old Time Musicians.”

When Cooley says the words “old time musicians” during the interview, Diver “rewinds the tape” on Speech Project and scratches a fiddle to match the tone of Cooley’s voice.  A flute adds a counter-melody before more fiddles jump into the mix and a rolling bodhran beat propels the new melody into an effervescent traditional ditty.

“At one point, I stopped listening to his content and just focused on the melody in which he was speaking,” Diver says during our chat. 

“From there, I went back into other interviews with Irish musicians to see if the same innate musicality was there in the way they spoke. There is such a melody and fluidity in the Irish accent. You can literally find the notes at the surface when you listen to them.”

Christy Moore was an early believer in Speech Project, according to Diver. Upon hearing these two pieces Moore immediately agreed to collaborate on the project, inviting Diver to Dublin where he spent some time interviewing Moore at his home, with the agreement that  whatever was captured would be turned into a musical composition. Three new pieces resulted from that visit.

It’s fascinating to listen to Diver build these tracks from a grainy field interview to an original musical suite.  Though the melodies and instruments are decisively traditional Irish in nature, Diver adds modern percussive elements and ambient textures into the arrangement to make this experiment even more offbeat, if that were possible!

One of the most moving tracks that mixes traditional and modern is “My Margaret,” a piece that samples a track by traditional Irish singer and banjo player Margaret Barry (1917-1989). As Barry explains the heartbreak over watching her mother die as a young girl “no more than 12 years of age,” Irish melodies squeezed from fiddle strings take on a Eurasian flavor, adding to the melancholy of the story.

“When she died she called me from the bed as she was dying, ‘My Margaret,’ she said,” explains Barry in the interview, the emotion raw in her voice as the old memory becomes vivid once more for her.

Diver couches the sensitive moment brilliantly with soft acoustic picking that sounds like tears hitting the turntable. 
“Margaret Barry’s piece came from Christy Moore,” Diver explains. “She was well known around Ireland and England as a traveling musician.

“I got hold of some of her interviews from the Albert Lomax Foundation and there were some amazing melodies in the way she spoke. She was so old school and the theme of losing a parent so universal.”

Barry returns to life again on “House Ceilidh,” a tender track that is built around her reminisces from a life on the road. “As soon as I’d finish up from some fair or market, I’d always be hired by some house around Monaghan -- would you come up to the house tonight and sing a few songs? So, there I was,” she says, as gentle harps pluck behind her.

After interviewing Moore and hearing what Diver did with his interview, Moore leader opened up his contact list. This created subsequent get-togethers and interviews with MacGowan, Dempsey, Hayes and Meehan, which gave birth to more fresh tracks.

“Christy Moore in particular is so supportive,” Diver says. “It was great to see how he reacted to it when I played it back to him. I got a similar reaction from the other musicians as well.”

Diver was born in Manchester to a very Irish family and was playing Irish music and taking Irish language classes at the age of eight.  He moved back to Donegal and got into Irish traditional music before branching out into rock and music production in Ireland and the U.K.

Diver produced a multimedia show of Speech Project late last year and toured around Ireland. “There was a live ensemble of uilleann pipes and cellos that work with the video screens,” he explains. “We took it on an Irish tour and the reaction was fantastic!”

Diver hopes to bring the project to the U.S. sometime this year. This music, though not everyone’s cup of tea, is a fascinating portrayal of how modern technology, traditional melodies and “old time musicians” can play to create something so innovative.

To hear more, log onto www.speechproject.net.

Tara O’Grady’s stately weekly Long Island hotel gig - VIDEO

Tara O'Grady

The stately walls of the Garden City Hotel on Long Island are swinging to the sounds of Tara O’Grady, who brings her sultry jazz stylings to the venerable hotel every Friday and Saturday night from 7-10 p.m.

“This is a great new weekly gig that started on New Year’s Eve,” O’Grady explains.

“I was at the hotel at the high tea service that they have and I saw on the menu that they were throwing a jazz New Year’s Eve dinner and I thought, ‘How cool would this be?’ I went home and an hour later, I got this email asking me to do it. It was psychic!”

The gig was so much fun that the hotel decided to continue the party into the winter, with O’Grady reveling in the creative freedom of mixing it up each week. One night she will be joined by a guitarist friend from her time in Jazz at Lincoln Center, while another night might find her paired with a pianist.

Featured on BBC Radio 2 in the UK, O’Grady’s vocals have been compared to Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Patsy Cline, as well as modern artists Adele and Amy Winehouse. The jazz chanteuse has created her own unique sound by mixing her Irish roots with American jazz.

“Mom was born in Mountcharles in Co. Donegal while my dad was a Bronx boy with roots in Roscommon and Waterford,” she says. 

“I was surrounded by music growing up. My granny Nora in Donegal would always sing in the kitchen and my dad is a fiddle player, so there was always music around the house. My brother played clarinet, flute, and saxophone in high school as part of the jazz band and that introduced me to big band swing and the Great American Songbook when I was a teenager.  So here I am. I have Irish music in my head and then I have this American jazz in my head as well.”

This musical background formed her first album, Black Irish, which might be one of this writer’s favorite albums. Just when you thought you didn’t need another version of “Danny Boy” on your iPod, along comes O’Grady and her sexy tango with the mournful trumpet.

“I’ll Tell Me Ma” calls to mind Billie Holiday in the bog, a delicious jazz alternative to the diddly-diddly versions you’ve heard countless times.

O’Grady reveals that she is in the middle of her third album, entitled A Celt in the Cotton Club. “We’ll be recording again in February and looking for a late spring release,” she promises.

“There are nine songs that I wrote plus three traditional Irish standards re-worked in a swing, blues or Bossa Nova style. We have plans to debut the disc at the Butte, Montana Irish Festival because there is a huge Irish population.

“Justin Poindexter is on guitar and banjo along with Kelly Friesen on bass, Andrew Burns on drums, and Michael Hashim on sax/clarinet. Pianist Sasha Papernik, who plays regularly with me in Garden City, will be with us in Butte.”

For now, O’Grady’s sights are focused on the gigs at the Garden City Hotel. She explains that the audience and staff at the hotel make the shows extra special.

“We get the crowd involved, take requests, the whole nine yards,” she says. “People celebrate anniversaries and birthdays with us and it just has become this very special engagement.

“I’m thrilled with it and I think the staff at the Garden City Hotel is the best in the business. They want me to feel like family when I perform there, and that’s exactly how I feel when I sit by their fireplace, just like in my Granny’s kitchen in Donegal!”

While the Rein Restaurant is known to cater to the tony crowd at the nearby Belmont Race Track, the hotel also offers the pub grub fare for any budget. For the jaded New Yorker afraid to venture out into the boroughs on the weekend, fear not!  The LIRR stops directly across the street from the place, and you’ll probably be riding the rails with the many New York jazz players and their fans flocking to the gigs.

O’Grady also has a special gig at the Cell in Chelsea on February 14 as part of the Jazz at the Cell series. Count on her to sing “My Funny Valentine” for the occasion, and a number of jazz greats will be dropping by to make an evening of lush songs for that romantic evening.

I saw O’Grady belt out “Blue Christmas” like no one’s business at a holiday concert last month, and I can report that she is at the top of her game! Check out the great Irish jazz at The Garden City Hotel while it lasts and make sure you call first for a reservation!

For more information, visit www.gardencityhotel.com, or http://taraogradymusic.com/.

Here's Tara O'Grady's 'I'll Tell Me Ma' -

Sealed with a Dropkick! Irish punk rockers Dropkick Murphy’s new album “Signed and Sealed in Blood”

The Dropkick Murphys

The Dropkick Murphys have plans to shake, rattle and roll our St. Patrick’s Day experience with their new disc Signed and Sealed in Blood and a national tour.

The album is their second with producer Ted Hutt (Gaslight Anthem, Old Crow Medicine Show), a partnership that raised the band’s profile with a hit holiday song, "The Season's Upon Us."

They’ve adopted a musical godfather in Bruce Springsteen, who jammed with the band and incorporated some Celtic fury into his own album Wrecking Ball. Lead singer Ken Casey has been invited by Springsteen to sing a song in his MusiCares tribute concert during Grammy Awards week.

The disc opens with the take-no-prisoners, made-for-the-sports-arena anthem "The Boys Are Back." It’s the caffeinated cousin of the stadium-shaking “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” with a fist-pumping chorus of “the boys are back and they’re looking for trouble/and we’re coming for you” that screams over hand claps and loud bagpipes.

One (minor) complaint I’ve had this band is that their melody making was almost too good for punk rock. The notes were so well constructed in their songs that it seemed a shame to waste them in the requisite fast and furious punk rock beats.

On tracks like “Prisoner’s Song” and “Rose Tattoo,” the band savors the arrangement by slowing things down a bit and adding the sweet strum of a banjo or acoustic guitar without losing that essential rebellious snarl of this musical genre.

But please don’t think the lads have softened! On “The Season’s Upon Us,” the band sings a glorious Christmas tune so dysfunctional it makes “Fairytale of New York” feel like a Bing Crosby classic.

“My sisters are whack jobs I wish I had none/their husbands are losers and so are their sons,” Al Burr sings. “With family like this I would have to confess/I’d be better off lonely, distraught and depressed.”

Dropkick Murphys will be supporting the new album with their 2013 "St. Patrick's Day Tour," which will begin on February 21 in Cleveland and conclude with three dates in their hometown of Boston, including the fulfillment of the band's career-long dream of headlining the Boston Garden, now known as TD Garden, on March 15.

The show will be billed as "Dropkick Murphys Irish Festival," with bands and attractions on two stages. The entire tour will have an epic finale on St. Patrick's Day (March 17) at the House of Blues on Boston's famed Lansdowne Street.

Other dates include the Electric Factory in Philly on March 9, and Terminal 5 in New York on March 12 and 13.

Sandy Seisiuns for the Bronx - Irish musicians continue to raise funds to heal Superstorm Sandy destruction

 Sandy Seisiuns 

With this minute-to-minute news cycle, it is easy to forget that there is still suffering all around us as families try to shake the yolk of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation from their tired shoulders.

Blessings and thanks to the McCarthy lads of Jameson’s Revenge who, despite losing their beloved mother recently (unrelated to the storm), are staging another installment of their wildly popular Sandy Seisiuns benefit shows.

The last two, staged at Connolly’s in Manhattan, raised over $25,000 apiece and inspired musicians from as far away as Indianapolis to stage their own benefits for hurricane victims.

This time, they are taking to the Irish county of Bronx and enlisting the help of Mary Courtney and Morning Star, Larry Kirwan, Susan McKeown, Johnny Seven, the Westchester District Pipe and Drum Band and many surprise special guests.

It goes down on Friday, February 1 at An Beal Bocht Cafe (445 West 238 Street in the Bronx). There is a $20 suggested donation at the door, which is a very small price to pay for the extraordinary Irish hooley that is bound to ensue when they all hit the stage!

Find this Lost Tribe of Donegal - Chris Byrne a legend of the Irish American music scene in New York

The Lost Tribe of Donegal – Rachel Fitzgerald, Chris Byrne and Andrew Harkin.

Chris Byrne became a legend in the Irish American music scene in New York for always being one step ahead of the trend.  Sensing the energy brought on by a new wave of Irish immigrants in the early nineties, he gave up his day gig as a New York City cop in the Times Square precinct to form Black '47 and assumed the role of chief rapper and pipe player. 

Ireland's 1994 advance to the World Cup inspired him to release the single "C'mon Ya Boyz n' Green" under the name Seanchaí. His teaming with Pat McGuire (of Spéir Mor) and acclaimed fiddle player Eileen Ivers formed Paddy-A-Go-Go, a legendary band whose album Keep it Reel is the most sought-after out-of-print disc on the island of Manhattan.

With this reputation in mind, it was no surprise when the crowd of 900 quieted down during the recent Sandy Seisiuns benefit at Connolly’s to hear what Byrne had up his sleeve now.

He was accompanied by former Prodigals bassist Andrew Harkin, who traded his bass for a Greek bouzouki, and Byrne’s wife, the Dublin singer Rachel Fitzgerald, and he captivated the rowdy crowd with an acoustic trad set.

In an evening crammed with sizzling Celtic rock, the simple acoustic trad set punctuated by squeals from both the crowd and Byrne’s uilleann pipes threw us all for a right turn no one was expecting.
That was the point of Byrne’s new project, Lost Tribe of Donegal.

“ I’ve been playing in clubs for over 30 years now,” he explains during our chat over the weekend.

“When I started out, Larry Kirwan and I would make this noise with a drum machine, guitar and pipes and it was so radical at the time. Now, everyone is on a Celtic rock bandwagon.

“Some of it is good, some of it is real good, and a lot of it is not real or good. So, it’s interesting to be playing trad now in a sea of Celtic rockers. In a way, it feels like Black 47 when we started out, and it has been a lot of fun.”

The sheer fun of making music is all over Lost Tribe of Donegal’s debut album, which is chock full of nimble playing. Promises to “drink the Hudson dry” on original soulful ballads are sandwiched between beautiful reels and trad jams, makes for a new genre of music that this writer is crowning “City Ceol.”

“Gillespie is back from Afghanistan/been looking for months for work/playing hide and seek with the Taliban/we’re in dire need of his expertise as soon as it gets dark/there’s a beef going on with some Latin kings/we’re heading to Sunset Park/it fell by the wayside/now it’s do or die,” Byrne sings on
the title track, his Irish brogue doing a jig with his New Yawk accent as he paints this urban picture.

The tough prose is in stark contrast to the lush strings of Harkin’s bouzouki.

On “Five Times Jackie,” a Seanchai staple, Byrne strips the reggae tune down to acoustic strumming without losing the Jamaican soul of the original.

“Being Irish means knowing this world will tear your heart/that’s what the senator said/you can let it tear your soul apart/me? I’ll have a drink instead,” he sings on the sweet closing time ballad “Let’s All Have a Drink Instead.”

These songs are meant to be enjoyed in the snug of a pub, with a dark pint in hand, as you listen to this rich music.

Byrne and Harkin have been playing a trad session a few nights a week for a few years at Rocky Sullivan’s of Red Hook, the pub that Byrne owns.

“He and I came from the same area of Donegal,” Byrne explains. “The trad music up there is different. What makes their music distinctive, the sort of music they play has a Highlands vibe to it.

“The reason behind that is because a lot of those people would go to Scotland to pick potatoes or work half the year there and they would have brought the vibe back with them. That being said, it wouldn’t be Scottish music there--they put their own.”

Byrne jokes that Red Hook, the furthest outpost of Brooklyn, has a lot in common with the remote border county of their ancestry.

“We are in the Donegal of Brooklyn, being in the hinterlands and on our own from Brooklyn,” he says with a laugh. “Andrew and I are playing in Brooklyn a lot. We’re like The Nets, only Irish.”

During the Sandy Seisiuns benefit, Byrne and Fitzgerald shared with me the devastation their beloved Red Hook suffered.

“We lost every piece of musical and restaurant equipment in the place with five feet of water in the bar,” he explains.

“With help of family and friends we got this up and running. A lot of our regulars have left the area and our business is down by a high percentage. A lot of people have moved to adjoining neighborhoods for the time being.

“All this being said, there are people that have suffered so much more than us -- Breezy Point, Long Beach. At least I have a home I can go home to.  Many of those folks lost everything.”

Byrne has been playing his Lost Tribes music on both sides of the Atlantic, with regular gigs around Brooklyn picking up steam and a successful theater tour of Ireland with old friend (and former Rocky Sullivan’s bartender) Damien Dempsey.

“The last time I did a theater gig was my school Christmas pageant,” he says with a dry laugh. “All eyes were on our playing.

“The reception in Ireland was really good. There is so much noise out there at the moment with all the electronics we all carry on us now that I think people like that earthy feel of the traditional vibe we have. If people get a sense you are real and sincere, they will pay attention.

“A lot of the sincerity is questionable in rock right now and there is very little perception in trad music,” he continues. “We are mobile: makes no difference if there is a sound system or not. If you want to hear, come closer; if not, stay toward the back of the bar. 

“But if you listen, people get real close and there is no hiding behind the drummer, no shining spotlights. It’s either there or it’s not. No pyro will save you and that is exciting.”

Harkin, easily the best bass player walking around New York, has enjoyed a creative rebirth on his new instrument. Byrne is enjoying the experience of “locking in with one another” as their organic gigs blossom. 

“When we play a set of jigs and reels, it’s all instinct between us. Like being married, only better. Then you add Rachel’s great voice. She is our token member. Our token Dub,” Byrne says.

Byrne credits the expert knob twiddling of legendary trad player Ivan Goff , who he says was a great teacher as a producer.

“He is piper and flute player and one of the best in the world in my opinion,” Byrne gushes. “More importantly, he taught us so much and it was invaluable to have him produce this.”

Byrne’s acoustic turn has also been borne from necessity, as Rocky Sullivan’s lost its sound system in the storm. He hopes to have that restored by St. Patrick’s Day.

To help the process, drop by the bar for a pint and pick up a copy of this fantastic CD. The more pints we drink, the sooner the electric City Ceol can resume!  Log onto the Lost Tribe of Donegal  Facebook page for more information.

You can find Lost Tribe of Donegal on Thursdays at 8 p.m. at The Harp (77th Street and 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn), Saturdays at 9 p.m. at Rocky Sullivan’s of Red Hook (34 Van Dyke Street), and the last Sunday of every month The Irish Haven (58th Street and 4th Avenue, Sunset Park, Brooklyn.)

2012 was a great year for Irish music - a rundown from Luka Bloom to Patrick Clifford

Colm O'Brien

If you’re looking for some great tunes for the Irish music fans on your “nice list” this year, you can’t do wrong with the bumper crop of new music we harvested in 2012. Merry Christmas, dear reader, and all the best for a prosperous New Year! Here’s our annual list, in no particular order:

Luka Bloom’s The New Morning: After spending a couple of years looking back on his long career with a reworking of his classics with the Dreams in America album and tour, Luka Bloom begins book two of his musical history with the aptly titled This New Morning. The Kildare native takes the traditions of Irish musical storytelling to heart, using the folk medium to comment on the issues of our time and in the process, leave an archive for the next generation. “A Seed Was Sown” was inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s historic visit to Ireland last year in which she bowed before a monument honoring fallen Irish heroes. “She lowered her head down/and held the pose/my tears flowed freely/God only knows/she remembered our losses/she remembered her own/and in that moment/a seed was sown,” he sings atop sparse acoustic accompaniment. “Across the Breeze” decries the law passed this year that bans the cutting of turf in Ireland. “I see the turf smoke rising/carrying our stories and songs,” he sings.

Colm O’Brien’s “Back to Work?” former Prodigals singer Colm O’Brien has created a spirited yet essential item that takes you from a history lesson to a pub and back! O’Brien’s voice is a tarnished, gravelly instrument that sounds like he pierced his tonsils.  Like Rod Stewart, he uses his God-given raspiness to his advantage.  He not only blends obscure trad ballads into his repertoire, he makes some modern ones of his own. “I got me a job at a small company and the money began to roll in/but I tried to pay what I owe/but the big banker man said this house is no longer you own,” he sings, spitting out a bitter story on “The Big Banker Man” about losing a job and finding yourself in a black hole financially. It could be an anthem for Occupy Wall Street. For more information, check out www.colmobrien.com.

Donegal X-Presss’s Paid Off the Boom: Featuring 12 new tracks, including covers of Steve Earle’s “Johnny Come Lately” and Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” Paid Off the Boom is the sixth studio album and an audibly artistic detour from their previously recorded material. Brad Dunnells (guitar and vocals) and Jason Tinney (harmonica and vocals) began collaborating and writing songs in the late 1990s with the hope of rejuvenating Irish American music.Right out of the gate, they won an album of the year nod from the Irish Voice back in 2001 for the classic Quinn’s Diaries. They have veered off into other projects over the years that include the Wayfarers and the Publicans, amassing country and traditional influences on some of those side streets. Those influence play well on Paid Off the Boom, an engaging mixture of southern fried Irish soul. Check them out at www.dxplive.com

Together For Christmas: A Contemporary Celtic Christmas Collection, a compilation assembled by promoter Anita Daly. Daly has worked with everyone from the Pogues to Black 47 and opened her little black book to create an unparalleled look at contemporary Celtic sounds. If your tastes veer toward the traditional, you will delight at the sounds of the “Deck the Halls” Christmas melody from Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies.  The Celtic Tenors offer a spine-tingling read of “Silent Night,” while tough guy Damien Dempsey offers a surprisingly touching rendition of “Oh, Holy Night.”Daly’s collection is so much more than a run-through of shopworn classics. It is a showcase for new voices with new things to say about the holidays. Tara O’Grady ends the collection on a jazzy note, with a flirty fiddle dancing with her during a sultry read of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Visit www.togetherforchristmas.com/about.html. The CD is available on iTunes and directly on the album’s website.

Van Morrison “Born to Sing: No Plan B:” Morrison delivers a winner that will make everyone feel glad.
“Close Enough for Jazz” is a track that started off as an instrumental that he reportedly added words to at the last minute; the extended chatter between an electric guitar and sax conjures up a swingin’ supper club vibe before Van’s husky voice cautions you that “there’s no use feeling sad, no use feeling bad.” To be sure this romantic poet is Ireland’s answer to Barry White, and “Goin’ Down to Monte Carlo” at 8:12 is a delicious and sexy jam.

Enter the Haggis’s “Whitelake,” a complex blend of sounds that stretch their Irish and Celtic roots into new territory. Old fans of the band shouldn’t be too freaked out by this.  Songs like “Follow” are one of a handful of toe-tapping tracks that blend the Irish melodies with the warm harmonies and stomping drums that you’ve come to expect at their legendary live shows.

Haggis has shifted their songs away from an overtly Celtic vibe, yielding a sound that touches on folk, classic rock, and country blues.“The Flood” is a gorgeous ballad anchored by nothing more than a fiddle and banjo riff, while “Devil’s Son” is a back porch stomper. This standout track is a complex masterpiece. Check them out at www.enterthehaggis.com

Patrick Clifford’s: Chance of a Start, showcases the talents of one of the most compelling singer/songwriters that has crossed my path in many a moon! The former Four to the Bar singer and bassist weaves hand drums, piano and fiddle to create a reflective read of the trad staple “The Parting Glass.”  His voice is crisp with a hint of melancholy that is a prerequisite for any good Irish balladeer. Fans of Glen Hansard and Christy Moore will love Clifford, especially his version of “The Auld Triangle.”  He re-imagines six classics by 20th century Irish and folk songwriters such as Pete St. John, Ewan MacColl and Dominic Behan, revitalizing them for a new generation, lest they be forgotten or (worse yet) fall into irrelevance for a lack of thoughtful stewardship.Clifford is not just an interpreter of other songwriters. He does a fine job crafting stories of his own in the four tracks he penned on Chance of a Start. On “The Morning Sun,” the sunny acoustic alt-country arrangement hides the down-on-his-luck character. “Rent’s late again, skies are all gray/You wish you could be 100 miles away/If you only had the money you’d go/She’s complaining again, about this, that, and drinking,” he sings before a convergence of bluegrass, harmonica and Irish fiddle provides an uplifting bridge to the other side. For more information, log onto www.patrickclifford.com

Album of the Year: Mickey Finns’s Prayers and Idle Chatter

Co. Clare singer/guitarist Kelly’s whiskey-soaked voice should be familiar to fans of Irish music. He was one of the original members of the jig punk band The Prodigals and his ragged voice, so perfect for the punk idiom, adds a spicy outlaw vibe to the southern-fried Celtic country rock that is the Mickey Finn sound. He is joined by fellow Prodigal Brian Tracey in the band, who mans both the drum kit, writer, and producer’s chair on the album. He lets loose on “Loop Reels,” a percussive delight that infuses funk to the folk of the fiddle.

“We definitely feel like it was a big step for us,” says Tracey of the new album. “There was something extra special for us in the making of it and we were hoping that people would appreciate it. We didn’t expect it to reach this many people! We got a request for the lyrics to McGuinness’ Mass from a family named McGuinness in Melbourne, Australia. We expected it from family and close friends, but didn’t expect random people that never really heard of us were able to find us.”

Songs like ‘Return of the Prodigal Son’ and ‘The Jester’ have become crowd favorites in their ferocious live shows.

“The fan reaction is amazing,” says Ray Kelly. “It was so great to see Brian come into his own with the writing. Just hearing some of the rough tracks he came up with, you knew we had something. After some hard work, we really found our sound. I am so proud of this album!”

As well he should be! This is the tastiest southern-fried shamrocks you’ll ever feed your ears!

Drop by and see them at Paddy Reilly’s Pub in Manhattan on any given Saturday night or for more information, log onto www.themickeyfinns.comwww.themickeyfinns.com.

Phil Coulter delivers engaging performance at the Irish Rep with ‘The Songs I Love So Well’

Phil Coulter performing his show The Songs I Loved So Well at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York.

Phil Coulter’s The Songs I Loved So Well show began right after Thanksgiving at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York and has become a runaway success, with many shows scheduled for the rest of this month either sold out or close to it as I write this.

Based on the performance I caught, it’s easy to see why. The man is a master showman with a body of work that has changed the face of Irish culture.

His “Tranquility” series of albums throughout the 1980s took traditional Irish melodies and stretched them on a yoga mat, producing groundbreaking arrangements that ushered in the New Age movement of those times.

As a nod to that period, Coulter opened with a subdued “Danny Boy” instrumental; your pulse would slow with each tinkling of the keys as the holiday shopping madness whirred along the street a few feet away. Simply put, it was a performance that was good for the soul.

This wasn’t a concert to catch a few winks! Coulter would hang off the side of the piano bench during his one man show and explain the origins of classic songs like “Scorn Not His Simplicity,” “The Old Man,” (still a tear-jerker even if your father isn’t deceased yet), and “My Boy.” He still can scarcely believe that Elvis Presley covered that track; it was one of the many stories he shared from a career that spans almost five decades.

Despite the accolades, Coulter isn’t above poking fun at his legendary status. He told a funny story about walking into pubs and hotels in Ireland and being followed by songs from his “Tranquility” collection everywhere he went.

“There’s that ‘Coultergeist’ again,” groaned one of his bandmates. He wrote a spooky instrumental of the same name, a devilish grin escaping his lips as he played.

“There is no light show, no dancing girls, it’s just me,” he told me during a chat prior to the show.

“If I lay an egg, it’s all on me. But I think that’s great because it gives you your edge -- you can’t go on autopilot or let an orchestra carry the water for you, and you have to be up for the challenge.”

Coulter got the crowd on it’s feet with “Ireland,” a spirited sports song that made its way to the Celtic Thunder show when he was musical director.

After a short break Coulter brought his wife Geraldine Branagan for a stirring read through “The Water Is Wide.” She produced the goosebumps during “Oiche Chiun,” the Gaelic “Silent Night.”

Coulter finished the show with a trio of songs from his idol, Jimmy Durante, before sending the crowd into the cold night air with the warmth of “The Town I Loved So Well” and “Steal Away.”  It was that melody I hummed all the way to the train station en route back to Jersey! 
You would be wise to “steal away” to this show before it takes a bow on December 30. For tickets and showtimes, visit www.irishrep.org.

Some Christmas CD cheer - Ashley Davis, Damien Dempsey and more

Celtic Woman

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which must mean a fresh new assortment of Irish holiday music is heading for your stockings (as long as you’re not deserving a fresh delivery of coal)!

The lasses from Celtic Woman have recorded a new collection of holiday goodies called Home for Christmas. After selling over six million albums there is little incentive to change the formula, and there is little in the way of artistic growth from A Christmas Celebration, their last holiday collection, that was released in 2006.

Of course, going to Celtic Woman for culture is like going for a meal at Olive Garden when you’re strolling through Little Italy, yet there is something heartwarming about how the voices of Chloë Agnew, Lisa Lambe and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha coalesce with the violin stylings of Máiréad Nesbitt to warm the heart.

The lasses will be taking a break from their Celtic Christmas Symphony tour to perform songs from Home for Christmas on QVC on December 5 at noon.  They will offer an exclusive bundle of their holiday album with a special six-track bonus CD.

If your record collection won’t be complete without yet another version of “Winter Wonderland,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and the Christmas classic “Silent Night,” then this is the collection for you!

Ashley Davis

If you’re looking for a Celtic woman that is less airbrushed and more earthy, Ashley Davis is your girl.  She has a great disc called Songs of the Celtic Winter.

“Lean into me gently/So I might remember/How this dance felt love/Until next our next winter,” Davis sings on “Winter Jig,” and truer words were never spoken.

I was high on this album when I reviewed it earlier this year and forgot about it until I was unpacking the Christmas decorations from the attic and found it in a box. I’ve been playing it around the house ever since.

Davis made it a point to emphasize that this was not a Christmas album when I spoke with her upon the album’s release, which explains why there are no overt references to Santa or his suit.

There are, however, plenty of chilled imagery in her beautiful poetry, which is set atop a warm blanket of Celtic harp, acoustic instruments and brushed percussion.

“Winter is the time of the year when nature takes her rest and we have our shortest days,” she explained during our interview on the album release. “I tried to bring this sense of quiet with the anticipation of rebirth on the horizon to this album.

“Certainly in many of the Celtic regions there were areas that were quite isolated once winter set in and the nights grew longer. This is when the stories and songs of the Celtic culture became a necessity to pass these dark times. Many long nights were spent around the fire with the promise of spring around the corner.”
For more information on Ashley Davis, visit www.daisyrings.com.  Davis lends her song “Nollaig Moon” to Together For Christmas: A Contemporary Celtic Christmas Collection, a compilation assembled by promoter Anita Daly.

Daly has worked with everyone from the Pogues to Black 47 and opened her little black book to create an unparalleled look at contemporary Celtic sounds.

If your tastes veer toward the traditional, you will delight at the sounds of the “Deck the Halls” Christmas melody from Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies.  The Celtic Tenors offer a spine-tingling read of “Silent Night,” while tough guy Damien Dempsey offers a surprisingly touching rendition of “Oh, Holy Night.”

The voices of Irish women are well represented here with the neo-operatic Emma Kate Tobia covering the song “Walking in the Air,” from the movie The Snowman. Born in Scotland, Tobia is a classically trained soprano who melds her pure lyrical voice with the timeless melodies of her Irish heritage.

Her debut CD is Aisling na nGael (An Irish Dream). The CD is a combination of classical and traditional tunes sung “as Gaeilge” or in Gaelic.

You even have a sparkling rendition of “Fairytale of New York” – our generation’s, “White Christmas”  after a wicked hangover in the drunk tank– performed by Tobia and George Murphy, an Irish musician who hails from the north Dublin suburb of Beaumont.

Murphy had never performed as a singer before his audition and subsequent rise to fame on the Irish TV show You’re a Star, chosen as a stand out by Irish composer Phil Coulter. He is definitely one of those young voices you want to be paying attention to as the years go on--he has that X factor!

Dave Browne’s Temple Bar Band pulls no punches on their cover of the Pretenders “2000 Miles,” adding an Irish choir and a fury of flutes and fiddles for some Dublin-esque trimmings to this modern rock classic.

Ashley Davis joins Black 47’s Larry Kirwan for a John Lennon remake.

“I can’t even remember why I recorded John Lennon’s ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ – probably to protest the Iraq invasion,” Kirwan explains.

“Well, thankfully, that war is history, but the song and its treatment add a little something different to a Christmas collection.”

Daly’s collection is so much more than a run-through of shopworn classics. It is a showcase for new voices with new things to say about the holidays. 

It has arrived in one magnificent, eclectic bundle, showcasing the many sides of Celtic music. Celtic rock is represented with the first tune, “Christmas Day” by the Elders, along with Kyf Brewer of Barleyjuice singing his original “Whiskey for Christmas.”

“I like the ringing bells and the spirits as well as any Christian can/my love says she’s given up whiskey for Christmas/my favorite thing about whiskey for Christmas is finding someone to give it away,” sneers Brewer over a slippery burlesque arrangement with fiddling accoutrements. It calls to mind the quirky pop of mid-1960s Kinks, delivered by a Barleyjuice-dipped deviled egg!

Tara O’Grady ends the collection on a jazzy note, with a flirty fiddle dancing with her during a sultry read of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

I’ve come to know Tara in my association with the Irish American Writers and Artists group, and she is a tour de force of talent.

Daly is hosting a CD launch party at Connolly's Klub 45 (121 West 45th Street, New York), on Thursday, December 13.

Doors open 8:30 p.m., with $20 admission at the door going to  benefit Hurricane Sandy relief. Visit
www.togetherforchristmas.com/about.html. The CD is available on iTunes and directly on the album’s website.

A Phil Coulter Christmas at the Irish Rep Theater - “Songs I Loved So Well”

Phil Coulter

Phil Coulter is giving his New York fans a special treat for the holidays with a run of concerts he has called The Songs I Love So Well at the Irish Repertory Theater on West 22nd Street which begin on Thursday, November 29.

Of course, the songs he has written are ones we love so well. "My Boy," "Home from the Sea," "The Man from God Knows Where," "Keep a Candle in the Window," and his signature  "The Town I Loved So Well" will be woven into the show, along with holiday songs “as that time draws nearer,” according to the man himself. 

This legendary musician and producer is seeing a career resurgence, thanks to the runaway success of the Celtic Thunder and its series of shows.  While his tenure as musical director has ended with the troupe, he takes it in stride and asserts that the show was just one stop in a career spanning four decades that includes work with everyone from Elvis Presley to Sinead O’Connor.

Always one to be looking forward instead of in reverse, Coulter seems most excited about the upcoming shows at the venerable Irish Rep, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

“This is a new experience for me,” he says of the Irish Rep residency.

“At this advanced stage of my career, it’s very exciting to look forward to something you’ve never done. The great thing about a one man show is that it’s not scripted. No two nights are going to be the same. The range of material is pretty wide. For my own sake, I’ll keep it varied.”

The most exciting thing about the shows, which stretch until December 30, has nothing to do with the music.

“I taught my kids that they’re as entitled to their piece of the pie as anyone else and that has now bitten me on the rear end,” says Coulter with a laugh during our Skype chat. 

“I have one in Australia, I have an officer of Shell out to sea, another with a soccer scholarship in Tennessee who is loving every minute of it down there, and one in New York. What really makes this time in New York City special is that we will have five out of the six of them in town and celebrating Christmas with us, so I am very excited. There’s no better place to go for the holidays than New York!”

Coulter sees pros and cons with the “one man show” format.

“When I first toured America I toured with a 20 piece orchestra,” he explains. “With an orchestra, it’s like changing course of the QE2 every time you want to add a number. You have to rehearse, change the scores, etc.

“On the flip side, there is no light show, no dancing girls, it’s just me. If I lay an egg, it’s all on me. But I think that’s great because it gives you your edge -- you can’t go on autopilot or let an orchestra carry the water for you, and you have to be up for the challenge.”

Coulter looks forward to mixing up the set list with a variety of songs from his 45-year career. Will it be in a fan’s best interest to go to the show on multiple nights?

“If they’re gluttons for punishment, so be it. I welcome repeat offenders,” he replies with a laugh.
Coulter will be keeping busy into the New Year, with a plans for a PBS special with former Celtic Thunder singer and future son-in-law Paul Byrom. Leaving the success of that show was a brave thing for Byrom to do, Coulter asserts.

“He is putting a lot of mileage in to find his own audience.  Damian McGinty will be guesting as well,” says Coulter of one of Celtic Thunder’s breakout stars who had a starring role on several episodes of Glee.

He transforms into a proud father figure when talk turns to McGinty, who rose to even bigger fame after he parted ways with Celtic Thunder to star in Glee. 

“I was in Chicago being honored at the IBAN festival,” Coulter explains. “Damian flew in from LA to join in on the celebration of ‘Uncle Phil’ that weekend. It’s great to see him remember the impact I had on his career.

“I am not only proud of him for what he achieved with Glee,  but also how he has kept his feet on the ground. He is a credit to his family. Someone asked me, ‘How do you prevent Damian from being a prima donna?’ It’s too late by the time I get him. It was his parents that taught him to be appreciative. Good solid Derry stock is where he comes from.”

Coulter will take Byrom and McGinty on his annual Tranquility Cruise in January (check out details at www.travelconcepts.com), so make sure you visit with this busy man during his stay at the Irish Repertory Theatre before he waves bon voyage to dry land!

Performance Schedule:
Coulter’s Irish Rep show plays from November 29 through December 30 with the following schedule -- Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Visit www.irishrep.org for more information.

Susan McKeown will always “Belong” - a perfect blend of jazz, beats and blues

Susan McKeown

Susan McKeown has just released a tantalizing new CD, Belong. It blends folk, acoustic blues, country kickin’ beats and slippery jazz to make a perfect blend for your lazy Sunday morning.

“Keep your wits about you somehow/it’s gonna be a cold winter/you’ll find your place to belong,” warns McKeown as the fiddles and acoustic guitars provide warmth to the track. Tracks like “Our Texas” and “On the Bridge to Williamsburg” are traveling songs that reveal the restless spirit of a fiercely talented storyteller.

Like so many artists nowadays, McKeown produced the album through funding through PledgeMusic, which allows artists to reach fans for their support.

“Once you’ve achieved the target, the pressure is off and you feel that validation,” McKeown says during a recent chat.  “I thought it was important for me to send some videos and blogs along the way during this recording process to give people a sense of what was going on in the studio. That worked well, because fans posted that on their Facebook pages and it built interest in Belong.”

Opening with “On the Bridge to Williamsburg,” a duet with Irish singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke, Belong is a showcase not only for McKeown’s pristine vocals, but for other musicians at the top of their game.  James Maddock (from Wood) and banjo and accordion player Dirk Powell (Irma Thomas, The Raconteurs, Joan Baez) join McKeown for “Everything We Had Was Good,” a break-up song about ending well.  Erin McKeown guests on “Fallen Angel.”

I spoke with McKeown about making her new CD. Here’s how it went.

How was the experience of doing a pledge drive for album funding?

It went well, I met my goal. It was the second time I did this thing -- the first time I did it was with Kickstarter. It has its pros and cons. It’s great that it gives you recognition as an artist. It has changed the way you get compensated as an artist. My albums usually take $20,000 to make and some people spend more than that.

Most of the people that funded me knew me anyway. I was able to reach out to people in my mailing list and Facebook pages. Some people go directly to the website. If people love you and follow you, they will follow you through whatever channel you raise funds on.

In some of the lower amounts, you are simply asking them to buy it in advance.

Is there pressure to deliver when you know people have already paid for the album in advance?

Quite the opposite. It gives you confidence and liberty to pursue this project in accordance with your vision. It’s a vote of confidence, and not pressure. You feel the unconditional love and support.

How would you describe your sound and the music of Belong to someone who has never heard your music?

Trying to describe your music is difficult, so you have to refer to people they know. I embrace a wide array of music. Joni Mitchell meets Emmylou. In other albums, I would say Joni Mitchell meets Luka Bloom.

I also draw on traditional music, not just traditional Irish but also African and Mexican Mariachi.
So, how did a nice girl from Ireland get mixed up in all this American roots music?

After I finished my album Prophecy in 2003, the Brooklyn Academy of Music asked me to work with a genre, so Jack Ward, a wonderful banjo player, brought me these wonderful bluegrass CDs. I love watching the changes between culture and generations -- how did the Irish music make its way over to the States, and then how did it change once it came on these shores?

How does being from Ireland influence your music?

There has always been a great sense of longing as I look to Ireland, and it permeates my work because I’ve been pining for the land I left behind in the past.

Now I think embracing this American music is reflective of the fact that I found a great life for myself here in the East Village of Manhattan. People are so supportive of what I do and there’s this great community of fans and musicians around me now.

I loved “Lullaby of Manhattan.” How did that come about?

“Lullaby of Manhattan” goes back to the blackout of 2003. I was asked to lend my voice in the Irish section of the New York Tenement Museum. It made me think of the ghosts of an apartment and the years going by, and how the walls hold onto those experiences of the people that dwelled there. Life is messy, and that is reflective in the lyrics as well.

For more information, visit www.susanmckeown.com.

One Direction take them home - how living with teenage girls has got me humming

One Direction, with Irish star Niall Horan far right.

It's amazing how living in a house with teenaged daughters alters what you listen to.

As a critic, I have sat out on the whole One Direction phenomenon, despite the fact that Irish Voice and Irish Central readers and bloggers have an insatiable appetite for anything that has to do with them.

As a critic the one dimensional One Direction never had an appeal, and if I’m being honest, spending any time investigating artistic merit or cultural impact seemed almost beneath me.

That’s where the teenaged girls come in. Posters of Niall Horan, the Irish heartthrob of the group, started creeping up on the walls of their bedrooms. The single “What Makes You Beautiful” was requested at maximum volume from the backseat every time it popped up on the radio.

The inevitable happened -- I would hum the song absent-mindedly and if my steering wheel could talk, it would report that I would yell out the lyrics at the top of my lungs when no one else was in the car. Alas, the ear worm had burrowed deep in the skull, hatching eggs at an alarming rate.

Teenaged attention spans being as short as they are, Liam, Zayn, Niall, Louis and Harry make up the One Direction phenomenon. Last week they released Take Me Home, their second album in less than a year.

Zayn kicks things off with “Kiss You,” an infectious glob of bubblegum pop.

“Oh, I just wanna take you anywhere that you like/We could go out any day, any night/Baby I'll take you there, take you there,” he sings, before the boys in the band kick in with the chorus, “To-o-uch/You get this kind of, ru-u-ush/Baby say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah/If you don't wanna, take it slow/And you just wanna, take me home/Baby say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, indeed!

Over an acoustic guitar lick that sounds suspiciously like the Rolling Stones’ “As Tears Go By,” Liam will melt the hearts of millions of girls of all shapes and sizes when he sings, “You've never loved/Your stomach or your thighs/The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine/But I'll love them endlessly,” before assuring his fans that he’s “in love with you and all these little things.”

Not sure how that will play out as gaggles of top-shelf swimsuit models attempt to become Mrs. Liam, but fair play to him if the fans buy on this!

There are plenty of syrupy, emotionally-stunted ballads like “They Don’t Know About Us” to soak the pillows with innocent tears of preteen girls everywhere, which is the end goal of any boy band worth the salt of a tear.

Against my better judgment, I found myself humming the infectious melody of  “I Would” and the requisite whistling part that weaves in between verses.  “She’s Not Afraid” is a great driving song, which means I might be tempted to break the speed limit on the way to band practice pickup.

The iTunes version completes exclusive concert videos of the band working that magic onstage. They are appealing performances, with each singer allowed to move freely as an expression of themselves instead of precise choreography that saps the performer’s personality.

With melodies that are stickier than the tape that holds their posters onto my daughter’s walls, windblown hair, chiseled features and great voices, One Direction isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And that’s probably a good thing.

The One Direction juggernaut is engineered by X Factor judge Simon Cowell, who has shrewdly packaged exclusive goodies across multiple formats. Translation -- parents have to buy the iTunes yearbook digital version on midnight of the release date because sending your daughter into school without having something to talk about with their friends before the morning bell is considered to be child abuse.

Then you need to run to Target after school to get the same songs packaged with exclusives not found on the iTunes edition.

Exclusive interview - Lots of water under Mike Scott’s bridge, his new book “Adventures of a Waterboy”

For Mike Scott, life is a constant conversation with the music in his head.

In his fascinating new autobiography, Adventures of a Waterboy, the leader of the Waterboys writes, “I was six or seven when I first noticed the music in my head. It was there in the classroom, on the football pitch, at the dinner table, when I went to sleep and when I woke up.

“There was never a moment when it wasn’t running in some form or other, whether melodies or rhythms, pop singles from start to finish or instrumental extravaganzas that spun perpetually for a day.”

In his autobiography, Scott recounts his boyhood preoccupation with getting the music in his head onto a record, his rise to fame and the thrill of victory that was the making of the immortal Fisherman’s Blues album in Spiddal.

I especially liked the tales of impromptu jam sessions for that disc, tossed off at the time but now an indelible part of Ireland’s musical fabric. There are stories of jamming with legendary artists like Sharon Shannon and hilarious antics that include a disgruntled housekeeper bringing a loaded gun and an armful of threats to the recording session.

He also recounts the agony of defeat when his dreams of making the Waterboys an Irish Sergeant Pepper went up in smoke as the musicians around him started to go their separate ways during the recording and touring process of the follow-up to Fisherman’s Blues, the album known as Room to Roam (which I personally like just as much if not better).

He writes, “I kept telling myself things would get better, but the tour was like a game of snakes and ladders. From Aberdeen onwards we blessedly found ourselves in indoor venues: a ladder. A few days later the reviews for Room to Roam came out and were as damning as I’d expected: a snake.”

The book stops at the conclusion of the album A Rock in a Weary Land in 2000 because, as he tells me during an exclusive chat with the Irish Voice, “It is a bit vulgar to write about the recent past in my mind. Time gives you perspective on things and allows things to reveal themselves in their wholeness.”

He is open to the idea of revisiting his past again at a future time, but for now he is enjoying the rocking and reading of his book tour, making a U.S. debut next month, in which he brings fiddler and old friend Steve Wickham along for a few tunes. He revealed that a show consisting entirely of his last album, An Appointment with Mr. Yeats, is coming to New York in March.

This disc, which combines the Waterboys signature sound with poetry by WB Yeats, is perhaps the finest Irish rock album produced in this decade so far. This show will be spectacular indeed!

The concert will include a few unreleased tunes of Yeats poems and will be staged with all local musicians from the Big Apple. Elizabeth Ziman of the band Elizabeth and the Catapult will handle the female lead vocals. A Waterboys tour of Mr. Yeats tunes and old favorites is being planned for late next year as well. A new Waterboys album is written in Scott’s head and will recorded, in his words, “with no real timeframe in my mind.”

We covered a number of topics during our chat -- books, music, and his influence over Celtic culture. Here’s how it went:

What did you learn about yourself in the writing of Adventures of a Waterboy?

I had already been thinking about the book and had reflected about my life, so there were no sudden revelations that I got from the writing process. I suppose one thing I learned was how disciplined I could be. I would get up every morning at 5:30 and write for a few hours every day, which is, of course, an ungodly hour of the morning for a rock star.

Why write a book now?

I actually started it a number of years ago. I was just finishing up a very long tour with the Waterboys and found myself in a book shop in San Francisco. I was reading the book On the Road with Jack Kerouac and thought, ‘Right. I just finished this tour and have nothing going on for the next year, so I will become a writer.’ It was something I had been contemplating for about 20 years, so it was just a matter of making the time to do it.

I loved reading about how you found your father after not seeing him all those years. You had the expectation when you landed on his doorstep that he would know you and your fame and it had turned out he had no idea. What is your relationship with him now, and what does he think of your music?

It has been 14 years since we met at his doorstep in Birmingham, and our relationship has really blossomed into this lovely, uncomplicated thing. I have gotten to know his family as my own. I attended my half sister’s wedding recently.

I suppose he is proud of me. He comes to all the concerts I do in his area, so he is either a glutton for punishment or he likes what he hears.

I was struck by the number of references you make about bringing old novels and poetry books into the studio for inspiration, like when you were recording things like Fisherman’s Blues.

I read because I like reading, not because I am looking for inspiration. The house was always full of books when I was growing up. My mom’s front room is still full of books I found over the years.

When I come across a poem that scans as a song it’s almost like an invitation to figure out how to set music to it and as a songwriter, it’s a thrill to do that.

You obviously do that on An Appointment with Mr. Yeats, taking his poems and setting them to music. Do you ever feel pressure to honor their work when you do that?

I always make my best attempt to be respectful of the poet’s spiritual intention. Having said that, I am an artist myself I have a duty to reflect the music and the mood of the times I find myself in.

Yes, I made changes of some of his lines for the benefit of the song, but never made the meaning of the poem change to facilitate a writing structure. Yeats himself was so dedicated to words; he was ruthless for his lyrics.

I had to bring the same degree of rigor to the process, even to my own words -- no matter how much I love a line, I pitch it out if it doesn’t fit the tune I’m writing. 

We just finished the Irish festival season in the U.S. and it never fails -- you’ll always here a dozen bands covering the same few Waterboys tunes! What has been your experience with people covering your tunes?

I’ve heard all the cover tunes and I’m always flattered when someone does their version of the song. It’s cool when someone stays true to the tune because that’s the way they hear it in their head, but I confess that I especially love it when they mix things up in their reinterpretation.

I have dozens of songs of mine sung by other artists on my iTunes. I love this band Great Aunt Ida’s version of ‘Fisherman’s Blues,’ and there’s a Japanese punk band that does a great run through that song. You’ll hear buskers playing my songs on Grafton Street here in Dublin and that always makes me smile. 

What are the readings like for you, and what can audiences expect?

We read for an hour and then we do a 45 minute music set. I know pretty much what passages work best for the book. Steve Wickham and I play some of the old songs that work best in the guitar and fiddle format. 

If you were sitting next to the nine-year-old Mike Scott on the bus with all the music in his head, what would you tell him?

The old Mike would not give the young Mike any advice --I’d probably ask what he was listening to and then just sit back and listen myself!

*Scott will read from Adventures of a Waterboy at the following added venues in November.  At each reading he will be joined for an acoustic set by Steve Wickham. November 11, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia; 13th and 14th, Rockwood Music Hall, New York; 19th, Williamsburg Music Hall, Brooklyn.

Scott and Wickham will also play a short three-song set at John Wesley Harding's multi-artist extravaganza, Cabinet of Wonders, that includes Steve Earle and Loudon Wainright III on Friday, November 16 at City Winery in New York.  Log onto www.mikescottwaterboys.com for more information.

Clannad enchants New Jersey on their comeback tour

Clannad

Clannad are concluding their first tour in 18 years, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have caught their show at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood.

A band insider confessed that the tour has had some highs and lows, with the band selling out many gigs along with half-empty halls along the way.

“When you’ve been away this long, I think you have to build the brand back and remind people why they loved you in the first place,” he reasoned.

If that was the mission for the night they accomplished it in Englewood with an enchanting, mystical set stepped in the band’s deep catalog. The music is anchored in most cases by Moya Brennan’s rich harp, which anchors the arrangement in traditional Irish music, most notably on the gorgeous “Eleanor Plunkett” instrumental.

Yet the band touches on folk, rock, ambient, jazz and world music. It’s an unclassifiable sound that is decidedly Irish all the same.

The harmonies Moya makes with Pol and Ciaran Brennan, along with their uncles Padraig and Noel Duggan, are so cohesive that they could only be produced by people in the same harmony.

Their performance of the Gaelic “Mhorag Na Horo Gheallaidh” and “Dulaman” were spine-tingling.  I’m getting chills just typing these song titles as I think back at those unforgettable moments!

There was a distinct family connection in their playing as well, with each musician flourishing onstage during the suite of instrumentals from their Robin of Sherwood soundtrack.

My companion for the evening likened hearing Moya’s voice to being in a state of grace. Her vocals were indeed heavenly during rapturous reads of “Theme From Harry’s Game” and “Down by the Sally Garden” that was the show’s lone encore.

She is also one of the nicest artists I have encountered in my years on this Irish music beat, and she made the small but rabid crowd feel welcome with stories about the songs in between breaks in the music. 

I observed a fan at the post-show “meet and greet” session who begged Moya not to make it so long between visits next time.  Moya smiled and promised her a new album and tour in 2013.

“I think the nice thing about it is that it isn’t a dated sound -- it’s timeless,” said Brennan when asked to describe the sound of the new album during our phone interview a few weeks back.

“‘Am I Brave Enough’ and ‘Hand in Hand’ are some of the new songs I just love.  There’s a lot of body in it and there doesn’t seem like any filler exists in these songs.

“Ciaran, Pol, and myself are the core harmonies in the group and that magic is back together like we never left it. Full blooded Clannad sound. The Gaelic stuff, the harp, and all the flavors we brought to the table are there.”

Clannad is back and all is right with the world! For more information on the band, log onto www.clannad.ie.

Third time’s a charm for the Script with their new album #3

The Script

The Script have had so many hits on the radio that it seems like they’ve been around for decades, but the reality is that they’ve only been at it for about four years.

Their self-titled album spawned one hit after another -- "We Cry," "Breakeven" and "The Man Who Can't Be Moved.”

They sold millions of records, played stadium shows with music heroes U2, Take That and Paul McCartney, and penned the monster hit “Live Like We’re Dying” for American Idol winner Kris Allen.

They defied expectations by avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump with last year’s Science and Faith, a brilliant album that showed huge growth in songwriting quality.

More radio hits ensued, including “For the First Time,” a melancholy tune about tough times that was the right song at the right time as the globe tried to shake off a recession.

With their third album, #3, the band deepens their trademark soul-pop sound and are poised for another round of world domination.

#3 opens with “Good Ol’ Days,” the antithesis of the tough times that were documented in “For the First Time.” “We’ll remember these nights when we’re old and grey ‘cos in the future, these will be the good ol’ days,” sings a cocksure Danny O’Donoghue over a playful beat.

Danny’s voice has a lonesomeness to it that enables him to sell a song of desire like “Six Degrees of Separation” to the teenage girls and their moms at the same time, a key ingredient to their success.

“Lost my heart and I hope to die/seeing that sunlight hit your eyes/have the kind of time you dream about/if God came down he could take me now,” he sings on “Millionaires,” his falsetto peppered with ache and desire.

His sharp phrasing comes in handy on tracks like “If You Could See Me Now,” where he takes on rapping -- always risky for a white boy from Dublin, yet he pulls it off both admirably and masterfully.

Like U2, the Script formed organically when three old friends from Dublin – O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan, his best mate since the age of 13, and drummer Glen Power formed a band. Time has made them more seamless than ever; you can hear it in the hairpin grooves throughout the disc.

They are currently rocketing up the charts yet again with the spirited “Hall of Fame,” a hip-hop lite duet with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. O’Donoghue met will.i.am at the judge’s table on the U.K. version of the popular singing competition The Voice.

"He's a producer and a songwriter and that's what we are," says O'Donoghue in an interview with Billboard.

"And I think we connected on that level first, more so than anything else. It was never one-upsmanship, and on the show he wasn't saying things just to diss me. It was all for the better of music, and the same vice versa."

With his moonlighting gig on The Voice and his high profile breakup with a fashion model, O’Donoghue is regular tabloid fodder in the U.K. He has grown accustomed to playing the big gigs and will continue to do so as the band embarks on an arena headlining tour to support #3.

This has been a long time coming for Danny.  I remember interviewing him over the years as a member of the defunct Dublin boy band MyTown and as a behind the scenes producer and songwriter selling songs and sounds to the music industry.

He has brought his band through clubs and theaters, winning fans one at a time, and he deserves every morsel of limelight and success that he has now. Fair play to the fella, this couldn’t be happening to a nicer guy!

#3 rocks harder, keeping the band’s rock credentials intact with soaring guitars on songs like “Kaleidoscope” while maintaining a radio-friendly vibe.

The deluxe version of #3 on iTunes also includes a trio of songs from their back catalogue that was recorded in a triumphant homecoming at Dublin’s Avia Stadium.

“Falling to Pieces” and “For the First Time” become Super Bowl-sized sing-alongs in this open-aired environment, proving what longtime fans of the band have known all along -- the Script can hold their own as the biggest thing to come out of Dublin since U2.

The band begins their headline tour on the West Coast this week before coming to the East Coast in November with a show at the Susquehanna Bank Arts Center in Camden, New Jersey on November 10. For a full list of gigs, log onto www.thescriptmusic.com.

My 'tail' of manly heroism - dealing with nature with the family as audience

A Chihuahua

You just know your day isn’t going to get off to a great start when you are awoken by your spouse shouting, “OHMYGODGETDOWNHERERIGHTNOWOHMYGOD!” at the top of her lungs.

You run past the full coffee pot that contains the elixir so desperately needed to face the world so that you can address the unfolding emergency in the back yard.

Your Chihuahuas, those pint sized dogs with the courage and attitude of Rottweilers, have their yipping little barks drowned out by the most blood-curdling clicks and screeches imaginable. You try rubbing the sleep from your eyes, squinting hard to see what has their attention at the fence.

Sophie, the brown dog, boldly approaches the edge of your property and bites into the bushy tail wedged in between two tight slats of your wooden fence. She flails her head from side to side violently, her eyes overcome with bloodlust, determined to remove the tail from the skeleton of whatever the hell is on the other side of the fence.

This begins a  more vigorous stream of clicks and protests from the animal, who is understandably upset and annoyed that another four legged creature is devouring the base of its spine.

Our hero hastily hopscotches over the piles of dog excrement that his girls swore up and down that they were going to pick up this weekend to get to the action. The dogs are shooed away and then snatched up and unceremoniously dumped.

I’m now left alone, not only with the back end of a battered and bloodied wounded animal of unknown species, but with my own inadequacies as well.

My Athenry-born father married a gal from Limerick, both good farming stock that combined have probably killed more chickens and pigs for their own survival than there are stars in the sky. Heck, they have also slaughtered enough predatory foxes in the family henhouses to make coats for the entire Lakers basketball team!

Here I am, the flaming Yank Narrowback, so far removed from that murderous lineage that I find myself getting lightheaded with each step toward the tail.

In all likelihood, the dogs chased this thing through the fence and the tail got snagged. As the dogs tussled with it, the animal pulled harder, hopelessly wedging it farther up the slats between the wooden fence posts.

I looked over the fence, first to see what species I was dealing with, and then to catch the eye of the state trooper next door who might be running out the door on his way to work.

I’m so disgusted with myself, desperately seeking a real man to help this damsel in distress with his shamrock pajama bottoms and matching t-shirt. No, it was time to pull on the big-boy pants and take care of this like a man! 


I dashed into the shed, unhooked the handle of the spade from the nail that it hung on, and approached the tail one more time. Like lancing a boil, I charged at it, bringing my full weight down on the tail and freeing it from its wooden wedge.

The animal, dazed from the shock of it all, slowly slithered under the fence and clawed toward freedom in the neighbor’s yard. I still don’t know what manner of creature it was and I’m not sure if it survived, but I was clear that it wasn’t my problem any longer.

My bravery took my wife and daughters by surprise.

“You took care of it yourself?”

“You didn’t have to call Pop-Pop (editor’s note: that’s my dad) down for this? Really?”

News of the adventure made it over to the fence of the state trooper, an avid hunter, who calls me “Squirrel Killa” every time he has met me on the lawn ever since.

They can say what they want. I know I grabbed the situation by the tail when I needed to . Sorry, couldn’t resist.

(Mike Farragher’s collection of funny essays can be found on www.thisisyourbrainonshamrocks.com)

Larry Kirwan’s 'Hard Times' a great triumph in New York

Almeria Campbell as Nelly Blythe in Hard Times

I've been covering Larry Kirwan’s various projects, including newly minted Black 47 albums, plays or books, over the last few decades, and even the most casual reader of this column knows me to be a diehard fan.

It is from this humble yet decisive position of authority that can I proclaim here and now that Hard Times, his powerful new musical that re-imagines the songs of Stephen Foster, is the best thing he has produced in his long and diverse career.

If you don’t believe what you are reading here, check out what New York Times theater critic Daniel Gold said of the show: “In Hard Times, Mr. Kirwan has not only delivered a knockout entertainment, he’s done a public service, reacquainting us with the Foster songbook and the striving, teeming America for which it was written.”

Hard Times is set in 1863, in the midst of Draft Riots that brought racial tension to a rolling boil in the notorious Five Points Manhattan slum. Jed Peterson plays a downtrodden Foster, who has taken to drink at a bar owned by the sassy Nelly Blyth (Almeria Campbell), the widowed black woman who recently lost her Irish husband.

They are joined at the bar by Owen Duignan (John Charles McLaughlin), a disgruntled Irish worker seething with rage at the rank his people have on the new role -- Thomas Jefferson (Stephane Duret), Nelly’s black handyman, and Michael Jenkins (Philip Callen), a potential suitor for Nelly.

In flashback, we also meet Foster’s wife, Jane (Erin West), for whom he wrote “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair.” In a departure from the common story of Foster’s biography, Kirwan pairs the songwriter with Duignan and creates a tense love triangle when paired with Foster and his wife.

The show deals with Foster’s successes and failures, sexuality and broken marriage, and the political and social climate of the times through re-imagining his songs. 

True to the melting pot that was Five Points, Kirwan takes the colors in Foster’s melodies and paints broad strokes of Cajun, gospel, bare knuckled piano boogie woogie, jump blues, and of course, Irish jigging and reeling.

“I wanted to use as many Stephen Foster songs as possible,” Kirwan told me as the play was in dress rehearsals a few weeks back.

He wrote almost 300 so there were choices to be made.  Then there was the task of getting the songs to breathe again after 150 years of parlor/piano calcification.

“To my surprise, when the songs were actually set free they veered towards gospel and Irish.  In the end I could only find a dozen Foster songs that fit the story, so I had to write a couple more in a Foster idiom and use the Black 47 song ‘Five Points,’” Kirwan says.

As the tensions on the streets from the Draft Riots ease, things get uncomfortable in the bar as Foster slips deeper into the bottle in an attempt to come to terms with the misuse of his songs as springboards for racial stereotypes as well as his own sexuality.

Kirwan, a gifted playwright, runs the audience through a range of emotions until it dumps you on the curb two hours later, both exhausted and elated.

The play was staged at the Cell theater and supported by the 1st Irish Festival and the Origin theater company.  Since 2002 Origin has been telling stories that stir the emotions and explore cultural identity from fresh new voices. 

Though the show ended its run at the Cell over the weekend, sources close to the production hinted that the play may make a run in England with a more expansive return to our shores in the near future.

Kirwan shows no sign of slowing down, with a concert this past Friday night with Dropkick Murphys, the Dancing Pilatzke Brothers and Cara Butler at Quinnipiac University's TD Bank Stadium to celebrate the opening of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum.

Before rushing over to the Cell for the last of the Hard Times performances, he managed to squeeze in a ferocious lunchtime set with Black 47 at the Jersey City Irish Festival. They were in fine form and true to his words spoken in our last interview, Kirwan delighted his fans with rare tracks that included the epic “Black 47,” from 1993’s Fire of Freedom.

A gaggle of new converts pushed the old friends out of the way at the merchandise table afterwards, guaranteeing that the Black 47 show will roll on for some time!

For upcoming dates of the band or Larry’s solo “Rock and Read” tour, log onto www.black47.com

Shamrocking the Shore - plentiful harvest of Irish American rock for fall

Birmingham Six

As the lushness of summer dies off and autumnal colors bathe the landscape, Irish music is keeping things green for a little while longer in the Garden State of New Jersey.

It’s a bit weird to see the bar bands that prowl your favorite pubs at night existing in the brilliant sunshine of the last two weekends, but they didn’t seem any worse for wear.

Birmingham Six is a spirited band formed in the fall of 2006. Taking its name from the six men wrongfully convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, the band mixes traditional, rebel, contemporary and original Irish music to form its sound.

Their energetic live shows have become stuff of legend in the pubs of South Jersey and their native Philadelphia. I caught their sweaty set during the Irish Festival at the Jersey Shore in Sea Girt.
Their set was peppered with spirited instrumentals and chestnuts from the Pogues, Flogging Molly and the Tossers, with a little Clancy Brothers to boot.

Longtime readers of this column know how I hate hearing the same 10 songs at any given Irish festival, yet Birmingham Six managed to avoid that with obscure tracks like Flogging Molly’s “If I Ever Leave This World Alive,” which is a hootenanny and a tear-jerker all at once when played in expert hands like these.

Mandolins and fiddles are played with breakneck speed and by the time their set ended, no one was sitting in their seats. The band can be found on www.birminghamsix.com.

The band was the perfect appetizer for the Snakes, a wickedly fun outfit that, in the words of this columnist some years ago, offer “all the sudsy glory that you’d expect from a great bar band.”

They have made quite a name for themselves over the last 12 months, playing spirited sets in places like Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City with their irreverent, sloppy takes on tracks like “Dirty Old Town” and “Poor Paddy” from the Irish songbook slipped between cover versions of the Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash.

To see where they’re playing next, log onto www.thesnakesband.com.

I was barely recovered from that festival when I stumbled into the Guinness Oysterfest in Red Bank, New Jersey this past weekend. It was there I encountered Brian Kirk and the Jerks in broad daylight.

The Irish American performer has been sweating it in the clubs for the last two decades, releasing original material and delighting crowds with a wicked sense of Irish humor and a ferocious live band.
They turned up the funk on Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly,” and Kirk got a few laughs when he introduced the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing” as a “homegrown country song.”

The band behind him, complete with a three piece horn section, switched on a dime as they moved from funk to blues to disco and back. You can follow Brian’s antics on www.jirks.com.

While Brian wound things down on the west stage, the legendary Pat Roddy and his band set up shop on the east stage. They have a southern fried vibe to their blend of Irish American rock, slipping in buttermilk battered renditions of the Allman Brothers in their set. On this Indian Summer day, their breezy Eagles-inspired rock was just what the doctor ordered.

Roddy can be found on www.patroddy.com and while you’re there, pick up a copy of his great disc of originals, Shed My Skin.

All of the bands have many upcoming dates on their websites, guaranteeing a plentiful harvest of Irish American rock this autumn! Put down the iPads, get off Twitter, and rock a club this weekend!