irish music & may 2016 bealtaine dance association · beginners, teenagers and adults; ......

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Irish Music &

Dance Association 34rd Year, Issue No. 5

May 2016

Bealtaine

The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is to , ,support and promote Irish music dance and other

.cultural traditions to insure their continuation

‘Pride of New York’ promises rollicking Minnesota Irish Music Weekend June 10-12

‘The Pride of New York,’ an eminent US-based band in the Irish Tradition headlines a lively, toe-tapping weekend of traditional Irish music performance and teaching at the Eighth Annual Minnesota Irish Music Weekend (MIM) June 10-12, 2016, at the Center for Irish Music, 836 Prior Avenue North in Saint Paul.

Distinguished band members and teaching artists include Cherish the Ladies founder and leader Joanie Madden,All-Ireland Senior All-Ireland Championship winners Brian Conway (fiddle) and Billy McComiskey(button accordion), and keyboard and flute player Brendan Dolan, who is regarded as one of the most respected and inventive keyboardists in Irish music today. Traditional singer Sheila Shigley from the Celtic band Navan rounds out the lineup. The event offersa free Friday night "Great Session Experience," and a Saturday night concert featuring all visiting artists, as well asworkshops and lectures for children, teens and adults. Workshop and concert prices range from $6 to $225 for a weekend package and can be found online at http://www.centerforirishmusic.org/mim/.

The Minnesota Irish Weekend offers distinctive music programming, including classes for young beginners, teenagers and adults; a one-day IrishTrad Immersion Camp for intermediate-level students ages 9-12 looking to expand their skills and learn new tunes; the Teen Program, offering a rare opportunity for youth ages 12-19 with intermediate to advanced experience in Irish music to study with the renowned Irish artists and; and a Beginner’s Program especially designed for children just getting started in Irish music. Taught by the Center for Irish Music’s expert teaching staff, the hands-on workshops include traditional songs in Irish Gaelic and English, crafts, and opportunities to experiment with several Irish instruments.

Adult programs are designed for intermediate to advanced-level students and include workshops in instruments such as fiddle, flute, tin whistle, piano, accordion, song, and Irish music accompaniment as well as talks on the Irish musical tradition by Altan member Dáithí Sproule. All Irish instruments are welcome. Teen and adult program participants all have the opportunity to learn in a small class environment from the visiting master artists.

In addition to hands-on music workshops and lectures, MIM offers the Friday evening Great Session

Experience, a free event bringing together the Twin Cities Irish music community with six simultaneous sessions, including one dedicated to song. Other activities include social community meals, sessions throughout the weekend, and a Saturday evening concert featuring all of the visiting artists.

Additional information including pricing at www.centerforirishmusic.org. This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. The Center for Irish Music is a 501c3 non-profit music school located in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul. In 2009, CIM began "handing down the tradition" in its own permanent facility at The Celtic Junction, a flourishing Twin Cities hub of Celtic arts. CIM's staff of 18 professional musicians serve over 300 students of all ages through workshops, master classes, and year round instruction in song, fiddle, harp, whistle, concertina, flute, bodhrán, guitar and more.

Inside this issue:

Summer Dance Camp 4

MIM Teaching Artists 5—7

Irish Festival Preview 15

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Tune of the Month by Amy Shaw

It’s pretty exciting that the entire Pride of New York (Joanie Madden, whistle and silver flute; Brian Conway, fiddle; Billy McComiskey, accordion; and Brendan Dolan, piano), as well as singer Sheila Shigley, are coming here next month for the Minnesota Irish Music Weekend. (Don’t forget to register for this event on the Center for Irish Music website!) I like to feature tunes from the visiting artists in this column, so here’s the first (actually, the second – Brian Conway’s setting of The Silver Spire was featured here last December). Joanie Madden is probably well-known to our readers as co-founder and front woman of Cherish the Ladies, which recently celebrated 30 years of touring and recording. Born in New York, this big-hearted woman has roots in Clare and Galway. She was the first American to win a Senior All-Ireland on the whistle, is the top-selling whistle player in history, and has done a great deal to promote and preserve Irish culture in America. Researching this column, I learned that she is a featured soloist on the final Lord of the Rings soundtrack, and that a street in the Bronx is named after her (who knew?). This jig has become a popular session tune all over the world. Joanie’s story about it is quoted on thesession.org and it’s too good not to share here: "The Cat’s Meow is the first tune I ever wrote. I was going to Ireland to compete in the FleadhCheoil at the All-Ireland Championship and didn’t have a good jig. I was looking for a three-part one. After searching and scouring records and music books for weeks to no avail, I decided to try to write one. I wrote it one night very late sitting at the kitchen table. My father got up to go to work at 4:30 in the morning, and I had just finished it. He asked what tune that was. I said I had just written it. He said ‘What?! Play that again. That’s lovely!’ …I named the tune after Sean McGlynn, who was an amazing accordion player from County Galway. He taught Billy McComiskey to play and was the man who bought me my first flute and the reason I play a silver flute to this day. The last time I saw him before he was murdered, we were at a session at Pat Henry’s house in the Bronx. We were all saying our goodbyes on the street and, as Sean was driving home in his Volkswagen van, I shouted out to him that one of his headlights was out. He responded as he drove off, ‘I’m just looking back at you Joanie like a cat winking, because you are the cat’s meow!’"

Usual disclaimers: Any errors replicating Joanie’s transcription are my own. The notation here is not meant to be a substitute for listening. It is simply an aid to learning the tune.

The IMDA Board is:

President: Julia Rogers

Vice President: Jan Casey

Treasurer: Mark Malone

Secretary: OPEN

Board Members: John Concannon Kevin Carroll Kathie Luby Kathleen Rogers Editor: John Burns IMDA Board Meetings are open to the membership. The Board meets regularly on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at the Dubliner Pub in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the time and location shortly before, as meeting times and locations can change.

Contact Information

E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Submissions We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month.

Send to: [email protected]

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Irish Music &

Dance Association “It’s a fine day we’re having." You wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear something like that in Ireland. Or you might hear the variation, "Isn’t it fine the day we’re having?" These kinds of utterances would sound strange coming from our lips, but seem quite natural to the Irish. And they reflect an influence of the Irish language on English as it is spoken in Ireland. The structure in question arises because in Irish we cannot use voice stress to emphasize something the way we can in English. That is, in English we express emphasis by saying one word (or even a part of a word) louder than the other parts of the sentence. Let’s suppose that someone is buying something from me. If I say, "Síle will buy my car," I’m emphasizing that it is Síle, not Susie, who is buying it. But I might say, "Síle will buy my car" to emphasize that she is buying my car rather than yours. Or I could say, "Síle will buy my car" to make it clear that she is buying my car, not my truck. In all of these utterances, the actual words are identical. It is only the voice stress that tells us what is important. But voice stress is not an option when speaking Irish. The solution is what is called "fronting," in which the important item is moved to the front of the sentence and followed by a clause that provides the rest of the information. And it is this “fronting” structure that leads to these characteristic Irish utterances. To return to our buyer’s situation, without any emphasis, "Síle will buy my car" is Ceannóidh Síle

mo charr in Irish. To emphasize that it is Síle, not someone else, who is buying my car, we move Síle to the front of the sentence and use a special verb for "to be" to say, "It is Síle who will buy my car," Is í

Síle a cheannóidh mo charr.

If I wanted to emphasize that it is a car (not a truck) that she is buying, I might say, Is carr a

cheannóidh Síle ("It is a car that Síle will buy").

Unlike in English, where the words and their order were constant, in Irish we are using word position, rather than voice stress, to make our point.

This structure is also common in proverbs, such as, Is minic a

bhris béal duine a shrón, meaning, "It is often that a person’s mouth broke his nose." That Is minic at the front of the

sentence give us the characteristic "It is often that ..." expression, rather than the more mundane "A person’s mouth has often broken his nose." This "fronting" is not the only grammatical trick Irish uses to compensate for its lack of voice stress in the spoken language. But it is one that continues to be reflected in the English spoken on the island today. At Gaeltacht Minnesota, we put a lot of emphasis on having fun learning Irish! That attitude was in evident in our April workshop, in which we welcomed a good mix of experienced students and brand new learners to our event at St. Thomas. We would like to thank our outstanding instructors, Mary, Wes, and Tom, as well as chief helper Maureen. We also appreciate the continued support from the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas. To make sure you are aware of opportunities to learn Irish, like our recent workshop, keep an eye on our web site at www.gaelminn.org. Better yet, stop by our home page and use the link near the top to subscribe to The GaelMinn Gazette, our free monthly e-newsletter of announcements and study tips for learning Irish. Is minic cuma aingeal ar an Diabhal féin.

"It is often the look of an angel is on the Devil himself."

—Will

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Rince na Chroi Summer Dance Camp Rince na Chroi summer dance camp provides potential new dancers the opportunity to participate in a week-long, half-

day program introducing kids to Irish dance. Camp participants will also be exposed to live Irish music,

traditional Irish sports, language and culture. Throughout camp, students work hard while also having a lot of FUN!

The week ends with a celebration for families!

2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Rince na Chroi's summer dance camp!

Check out their website for more information.

Registration is available here: http://rincenachroi.herokuapp.com and is open until June 1.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Minnesota Irish Music Weekend Guest ARtists

Joanie Madden - Tin whistle

Joanie Madden is an award-winning whistle and flute player who has been the leader of Cherish the Ladies since its inception. Born in New York of Irish parents, she received her musical training early in life listening to her father and his friends play music at family gatherings and social events. Within a few short years she had won both the world championship on the concert flute and whistle. During that time, Joanie also became the first American to win the coveted Senior All-Ireland Championship on the whistle. Joannie is the top selling whistle player in history having sold over 500,000 solo albums. In addition to the fifteen albums Joanie has recorded, arranged and produced for Cherish the Ladies, she has also released collaborative acclaimed albums with the group Pride of New York, a duet album with her father Joe Madden, A

Galway Afternoon, and three highly successful solo albums: A Whistle on the Wind, Song of the Irish Whistle and Song of the Irish Whistle 2.

Brian Conway - Fiddle

All-Ireland fiddler Brian Conway performs with a skill, grace, and force that are steeped in the tradition but distinctively his own. New York born, he is a leading exponent of the highly ornamented Sligo fiddling style made famous by the late Michael Coleman and passed on to him by legendary Martin Wynne and fiddle great Andy McGann. Brian has several recordings to his credit; they include two solo releases, First Through the

Gate in 2002 and Consider the Source in 2008, and two trio albums, The

Apple in Winter (with Tony DeMarco and Caesar Pacifici) in 1981 and A

Tribute to Andy McGann (with Joe Burke and Felix Dolan) in 2000.

Billy McComiskey - Button Accordion

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Billy McComiskey grew up in a family steeped in traditional Irish heritage and music. He picked up the button accordion at age six, inspired by his uncles’ playing and his mother’s love of the music and at age 15, met his mentor, Sean McGlynn, a master of the East Galway style. Billy won the All-Ireland Senior accordion title in 1986. Brian has recorded three albums with the Irish Tradition (a trio featuring Brendan Mulvihill and Andy O’Brien) and two with Trian (a trio featuring Liz Carroll and Dáithí Sproule), as well as two solo CDs for Green Linnet / Compass.

Billy also composes in the Irish traditional idiom, and has had the honor to have several tunes accepted into the living tradition, including collection into Josephine Keegan’s new collection of Irish Traditional Tunes, A Drop

in the Ocean. Billy takes deep pride in his role in the development of the Irish traditional music community in the Baltimore-Washington area where he lives, and is known on both sides of the Atlantic as a keen teacher and promoter of Irish traditional music.

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Irish Music &

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Brendan Dolan - Piano, Flute

Brendan Dolan, the son of pianist Felix Dolan, is one of the most respected and inventive keyboardists in Irish music today. A multi-instrumentalist, he also plays flute, tin whistle, drums and guitar. He has worked with accordionist John Whelan, singer/songwriter Cathie Ryan, Andy Statman and Itzhak Perlman, and can be heard on the latest recordings of Billy McComiskey, Brian Conway, and The Green Fields of America.

Brendan has taught Irish music in a wide variety of settings, including a vibrant school of Irish music for children in the New York City area as well as at workshops at the annual Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins West Virginia, and the Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York. Brendan completed a Master’s degree in Irish and Irish-American Studies at NYU and has an advanced certificate in archives, also from NYU. As an archivist, Brendan has also worked to pass on the tradition while working on the Tamiment Library’s ‘Archives of Irish America’ that includes the Mick Moloney Irish-American Music and Popular Culture Collection. Brendan made the music more widely accessible via social media outreach, through museum exhibits, blog posts, theater productions and original lectures.

Sheila Shigley - SongSheila Shigley inherited a deep love for Irish, Scottish and Welsh music from her parents, Barbara and Gordon Shigley, themselves avid musicians. As an adult she found herself drawn to Irish language songs in particular, listening to groups like Clannad and Altan, and became thoroughly hooked after attending an Irish language weekend featuring sean nós singers Lillis Ó Laoire and Áine Ní Mhuineacháin.

Sheila’s grounding in the solo sean nós tradition is layered with a love of harmony and group singing, historic traditions that have declined in Ireland, but persist in the music of some other Celtic-speaking areas, such as Wales. She founded the band Navan in 1999 to focus on these interests and on bringing forward songs from each of the Celtic traditions that are not currently being sung, have not been recorded recently, or are very little known.

Sheila has given workshops nationwide to aspiring singers of all ages and experience levels. She particularly enjoys helping those who are timid about singing in another language find ways to begin their new singing adventure!

(Continued from page 5)

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Minnesota Irish Music Weekend Regional Teaching Artists

Danielle Enblom - Beginner program & Trad Immersion Day Camp - Danielle Enblom is a fiddle player and dancer offering instruction to both children and adults. Danielle has studied under fiddlers such as Matt Cranitch, Connie O’Connell and Bobby Gardiner and holds a Diploma in Traditional Irish Music from University College Cork. Danielle teaches by ear or note reading and is flexible to meeting each individual's needs. Danielle has a masters in the history of Irish dance from the Institute of Technology of Tralee in Ireland.

Randy Gosa - Tenor Banjo, Mandolin, Bodhrán, Teen Program. Randy Gosa has been playing Irish music since 1999. During his undergraduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he studied with several renowned Irish music masters including Liz Carroll and Sheila Shigley, studied at the University of Limerick, Ireland with Niall Keegan and Sandra Joyce, and completed the UW-Milwaukee Celtic Studies program. A founding member of the Milwaukee-based celtic trio Cé, he performs nationally with the band Myserk and collaborates with several accomplished midwest-based musicians including flute player Brett Lipshutz and celtic harpist Kim Robertson.

Brian Miller - Trad Immersion Day camp & Teen Program. Brian's intricate yet driving guitar style has made him one of the most sought after guitar accompanists in the North American Irish music scene. Esteemed Irish music critic Earle Hitchner writes: “The backing of Miller on guitar flexes not just muscle but a fully complementary style.” Also a renowned traditional singer, he is the founder of the Traditional Singers Club of the Twin Cities. Brian is a master of the Irish flute and the Greek bouzouki, an instrument that has been adopted into the Irish tradition in recent decades. He has performed across North America and in Ireland with various groups including Irish Music Awards’ 2009 “Top Traditional Group” Bua, Chulrua, The Máirtín de Cógáin Project and the Two Tap Trio. He has been featured on MPR’s All Things Considered, CBC Radio’s Canada Live, and Ireland’s RTE television, RTE radio and TG4 television.

Norah Rendell - Trad Immersion Day camp & Teen Program. - Named “Best Female Vocalist" two years in a row in the Live Ireland Awards, Norah is equally dedicated to performing and a teaching. She has a masters in Irish traditional music performance from the University of Limerick in Ireland and a bachelor of music degree with a major in music education and Early Music Performance from McGill University. Norah is also an award-winning singer and Irish flute-player with an active performing career as a soloist and with the Two Tap Trio. From 2006-2013, she toured internationally as lead vocalist and flute player of UK/Ireland-based band, The Outside Track.

Dáithí Sproule - Interviews & Teen Program. Dáithí Sproule of Derry, whose first group was the legendary Skara Brae, has lived for many years in Minnesota. He is one of Irish music’s most respected guitar accompanists, and one of the first guitarists to develop DADGAD tuning for Irish music. He is also a fine singer in English and Irish. Dáithí performs internationally with the Irish supergroup Altan, and has released numerous albums as a soloist and alongside legendary Irish musicians such as Tommy Peoples, Liz Carroll, James Kelly, and Paddy O'Brien. CIM is honored to have Dáithí involved in the Minnesota Irish Music Weekend as an interviewer and instructor this year!

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

(Patrick O'Loughlin, photography)

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Annual Saint Paul Irish Dancers ShowAnnual Saint Paul Irish Dancers ShowAnnual Saint Paul Irish Dancers ShowAnnual Saint Paul Irish Dancers Show

The Saint Paul Irish Dancers will perform their annual show at the College of St. Catherine's Jean D'Arc Auditorium in Saint Paul on Sunday, May 15th at 6:00 p.m. Again, our invited guest is Bill Watkins with special guests Karie Oberg and Keane Sense of Rhythm. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children/teens. IMDA members and residents of Crandolet Village are exclusively invited with any free will donation.

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at The Cedar Cultural CenterMartin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at The Cedar Cultural CenterMartin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at The Cedar Cultural CenterMartin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at The Cedar Cultural CenterB Join the duo of Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill on Sunday, May 29, 2016, to hear their mix of traditinal folk,Irish and Celtic tunes on acoustic guitar and fiddle. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. performance.

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill met in Chicago in the 1980s. They formed the jazz/rock/fusion band, Midnight Court, which allowed them to experiment with a variety of new music styles. When Martin reclaimed his traditional roots, reinvigorated, and after recording two solo albums, he began a new musical relationship with Cahill, beginning with the lyrical music of East Clare. They played long, sometimes thirty-minute, multi-tune sets in their concerts, starting from the simplest of melodies, building in intensity, but never abandoning musicality and ideas. Their touring schedule takes them to Australia, Japan, throughout Europe, the U.K. and Ireland, as well as the United States and Canada. They have also performed in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai as well as Warsaw and Mexico City. In 1997 they released their first duet album, “The Lonesome Touch”, followed by “Live in Seattle” in 1999. After a ten-year hiatus, in February 2008, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill released the studio album “Welcome Here Again.” All are available on the Green Linnet label through Compass Records. Advance tickets are available for $22; the cost will be $25.00 the day of the show.

♣ Phone: 612-338-2674 ext 0 between 12 noon and 4pm M-F ($2 fee per ticket) ♣ In person: From a Cedar volunteer in the front lobby during events (no fee; cash, check, credit card),

Depth of Field (no fee; cash or check only), or Electric Fetus (approximately $2 fee) ♣ Online: Ticketfly (typically $2--$3 fee/ticket) (click on red Buy Tickets button at top of this page) until

5pm day of show

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

IMDA Community Calendar May 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Noon: Traditional Music Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul

4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

2 3 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

4 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm The Langer’s Ball Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

5 Festival of Nations RiverCenter, St. Paul 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

6 Festival of Nations RiverCenter, St. Paul 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Bedlam Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

7 Festival of Nations RiverCenter, St. Paul 2pm First Saturday Ceili 9pm Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Cape Breton House Party Minneapolis 7:30pm Bedlam Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater

8 Festival of Nations RiverCenter, St. Paul Noon: Traditional Music Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul


9 7:30pm Sea Shanty Sing Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

10 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing w/ the Twin Cities Ceili Band Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

11 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm Tom Dahill & Ginny Johnson Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

12 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield 7pm Celtic Music Showcase Underground Music Café, Falcon Heights 9pm Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

13 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Hounds of Finn Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls 9pm The Careys Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

14 7:30pm Hounds of Finn Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 9pm Legacy Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

15 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 6pm St. Paul Irish Dancers St. Cathrine’s, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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17 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

18 6pm Legacy The Episcopal Homes, St. Paul 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm The Langer’s Ball Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

19 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

20 6pm Irish Music Session 9pm Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls 9pm Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

21 7pm 3rd Saturday Ceili The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 9pm Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

22 Noon: Traditional Music Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul


23 7pm 4th Monday Shanty/Pub Sing Merlins Rest, Mpls

24 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing w/ the Twin Cities Ceili Band Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

25 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm Tom Dahill & Ginny Johnson Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

26 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield 9pm Sister Tree Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

27 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls 9pm Adam & Johnny Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

28 9pm Bedlam Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

29 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Traditional Singers Club W A Frost, St. Paul 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Hayes & Cahill The Cedar, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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31 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

1 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm The Langer’s Ball Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

2 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

3 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

4 2pm First Saturday Ceili Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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Irish Music &

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Cu Ceoil (“The Music Hound”)

" Music to the Irish is a living delight, a mysterious key to a host of undiscovered emotions hoarded in the

secrets of the soul." Mairtin Byrnes

Kerri Joy and Dee Brust met in 2013 as part of a MN Arts Board grant project, and have performed together in a wellspring of creative energy ever since. Kerri is from NW Montana, and brought her old-time and bluegrass ornamentation to the Celtic session music of New York, Texas, and Minnesota. She has fiddled and sung with Celtic, funk, jazz, country and classical ensembles and performed leading roles in stage productions of Evita and Othello, as well as appearing with Wookiefoot and most recently, the Wild Colonial Bhoys. Dee is a teacher and lives surrounded by family in NE Minneapolis. Dabbling with music and performance since she was a tot, Dee has reveled in opportunities to share her work with children’s choirs and ensembles, at environmental and educational events, barns, churches, pubs, classrooms, and best of all, bedtime. SisterTree has been sighted at Honor the Earth events, Irish fairs, history festivals, In the Heart of the Beast's May Day Festival, and at the Cedar Cultural Center to open for The High Kings and Boiled in Lead. They released their debut album in 2015. Coming up on their calendar are performances at Revival Festival on May 28, the Geek Partnership Society's Pirate Cruise on June 4, and an all ages show at the Icehouse on June 5.

Find them on the web: www.sistertreemusic.com , www.sistertree.bandcamp.com and www.facebook.com/sistertreemusic/

Recommendation from Dee Brust:

Rye soda bread with raisins, a creamy tetilla cheese shaped like a breast, some Galician blush in a thin green bottle, all rustled expectantly in my canvas pack as waves rolled in on Spain’s rocky Northwest shore. The tang of the orchard still clinging to our boots, we had hiked from the bus stop to a perch where the Celtic ruins at Castro de Baroña could tantalize us. Fruit in hand, hair whipping in the wind, we shed the rituals of the Cathedral of Santiago de Campostela, the shard of skull enshrined there seeming a thing of future past, and heralded something primal. The rings of stone. The salty air, and more apples pressing in our pockets. Two millennia had come and gone. Our footsteps counted eight for each crashing wave as familiar tunes and tones wove in and out of Gallego lyrics for songs I first learned at the Irish Cottage at the MN Renaissance Festival. The music of Luar Na Lubre was such an unexpected pleasure during my life abroad. From the Arabic tiled foyers and mosque turned bell tower of La Giralda de Sevilla, to the painted street performers and scarved women selling olives and fortunes in alleyways, I revel in memories of flying Flamenco skirts, orange trees, and café miel.

Though I happily came home to start down my path of teaching, raising five children, and performing whenever I get the chance, the eternal wonder of

worlds colliding on a beach has left me sifting sands and marveling at the present incarnation of the same notes flowing through my breath as from the gaita bagpipes. Luar Na Lubre is my late night salve for deliberate insomnia. My midnight strum. It soothes where forgotten fancy of wistful wanderings chafes

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Irish Music &

Dance Association against mundane routine, and lends a patina to the smooth stone of someday worn so by my rarely idle hand. Intricate and familiar, playful and full of mystique, the music of this Galician band awakens part of me, and highlights the connections of a most sumptuous extrapolation.

Check out Luar Na Lubre at: http://www.luarnalubre.com/

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F9GJEhOEKA

Recommendation from Kerri Joy: There are few experiences that can match the pleasure of watching a true master at their craft. Of course, we all vary in our interpretation of what it is to have gained mastery in a certain skill, but I have found it to be true that observing a master musician is akin to having a divine encounter. All skepticism and judgement is suspended and, almost in a trance, I am caught up in the very spiritual essence of the piece. It was my honor to meet and be mentored by one such masterful artist at an intensely formative period in my musical development. I first saw Jon Hicks at a traditional session in Manhattan, and soon found myself with mouth agape, eyes nearly twice their usual size, and feeling the need to sit down or grasp the bar for support. Never had I heard a guitarist with such an accuracy of rhythm or sensitivity to dynamics while accompanying session tunes. As I listened, worlds opened up in my mind. The textures subtly shifting, every moment a balance of leading the melody and responding to it. As he played, it was as if the melody and accompaniment danced together in swirling patterns. Elusive here, joyfully unified there, building, decaying, driving… every moment was a breathless exploration of harmony and time. To my good fortune, Jon and I became good friends, and he became my mentor as well. He shared with me much of his previous work, including his own original compositions, and many of his songs have never left the top of my “Top 25 Most Played” list. Years before, he had been a member of an excellent group by the name of Lia Luachra, which I cannot recommend highly enough, and they put out a few recordings. It has been to my constant chagrin that Jon Hicks has yet to receive the acclaim that he deserves, and that the majority of his music is difficult to obtain without going directly to the source. I am happy to report, however, that he is currently in the process of releasing a new album, a jazz project with vocalist Cornelia Keating, which I have offered to distribute here in the states as I am able, as he lives in Cork. I continue to wear the digi-grooves off those tracks that I have on my iPod and his YouTube channel, and return time and time again for comfort in his rich, emotionally-charged vocals and poetry, and in the dancing, shimmering drive of his guitar. Mastery without acclaim does not cease to be mastery.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

An LeabhraganAn LeabhraganAn LeabhraganAn Leabhragan (The Bookcase)

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Maggie O'Farrell HarvestBooks/Harcourt Brace

It is the mid 1950s in small town Ireland. Esme Lennox is a dreamy, other-wordly girl, bookish and shy, uncertain about dating, boys, flirting and all the nuances of the conventional behavior her sister Kitty excels at. But suddenly, in the space of a day, Esme is gone, and nobody seems to know where she is. Her family resolutely maintains she ran away after a disastrous dance party; her sister Kitty, the last person to see Esme in her filmy ballgown at the dance, concocts a story about a mysterious man luring her sister away. In time, Esme is forgotten, her very existence unmentioned to the next generation and the generation after in the Lennox family. Decades later, a stunning phone call breaks the silence at Iris Lockhart's business; her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from a mental hospital after being a patient there for sixty-one years. Telling family stories to the younger generation, Iris's grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child, but Esme's papers prove that she is Kitty's sister and the family resemblance is strong in Esme's features. Still, she is a stranger, a possibly mentally-unbalanced one at that, never known by her family.

If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths and behavior might come out? In time, the complacent middle-class myth of Iris' happy family is exploded in a revelation of betrayal, jealousy, and secrets of two generations past. This is a gripping read which haunts you long after the last page is turned. I am reminded of that classic Daphne Du Maurier thriller, Rebecca. The past has a way of finding you and demanding that its story be told. This would be a delicious read on the summer screened porch or to take Up North to the cabin. Happy summer reading, everyone! Sherry Ladig, former reviewer for the Hungry Mind bookstore's newsletter, Fodder, is a Saint Paul-based

composer and Irish trad musician. Sherry welcomes ideas for books of Irish or Irish-American interest to

review----or, write a review yourself! She may be reached at [email protected]. Happy summer porch

reading!

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview ---- !!!!Save These DatesSave These DatesSave These DatesSave These Dates

Oshkosh Irish Fest, Oshkosh, WI – June 11 – 12. The Oshkosh festival is held at the Leach Amphitheater in Riverside Park, downtown Oshkosh. Gaelic Storm will be back in "Oshkonsin" again this year. Details at www.oshkoshirishfest.com (Oshkosh is 280 miles from St. Paul – about a 5 hour drive.)

Dublin Irish Festival, Dublin, OH – Aug. 5, 6 & 7.Dublin rolls out the green carpet with a wonderful festival in a town park and transportation from area hotels to the festival grounds. Featured bands include: Gaelic Storm, Red Hot Chilli

Pipers, Solas, We Banjo 3, Willis Clan, Slide, Scythian, Gailfean, Socks in the Frying Pan, Enter the Haggis, Goitse,

Seven Nations and our own Wild Colonial Bhoys. Details at www.dublinirishfestival.org

Iowa Irish Festival, Waterloo, IA – Aug. 5 - 7. Trinity Irish Dancers, Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones,

Dublin City Ramblers, the Elders, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the High Kings, The Screaming Orphans, Scythian,

Tallymoreand our own Twin Cities favorites – The Sweet Colleens and Tom Dahill and Ginny Johnsonare some of the groups that you can enjoy in a lovely, relaxed park setting just a few hours from the Twin Cities! Get the whole story at www.iowairishfest.com.

Milwaukee Irish Fest, Milwaukee, WI - Aug. 18 thru 21. The granddaddy of them all – featuring 100acts on 16 stages. Special focus this year on the Celtic World including:Barrule, Calan, Celtic Fiddle Festival, Dallahan,

Dardanelles, De Barra, Moya Brennan, Myzerk, Ten Strings and a Goat Skin, and Wrigley Sisters. The lists of artists is incredible – be sure to check out the website at www.irishfest.com to plan your weekend. More artist information will be announced over the next few months.

Kansas City Irish Fest, Kansas City, Mo – Sept. 2-4 (Labor Day Weekend). Kansas City Irish Fest is held at the Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. Hotel accommodations often include tickets to the festival and several hotels are connected by skyway to the festival site. The festival features seven stages. KC’s own The Elders are a mainstay of the festival. Watch for more information on artists at kcirishfest.com.

Rochester Irish Fest, Rochester, MN – Sept. 2 & 3 (Labor Day Weekend).The dates are set and planning in under way. Keep an eye on the website for future details – www.irishfestmn.org.

Michigan Irish Music Festival, Muskegon, MI – Sept. 15-18. Scythian, Blackthorn, Kennedy’s Kitchen, Moxie Strings

andSeamus Kennedy for a start. Muskegon is just across Lake Michigan from Door County. Leave your car and take the ferry for a great weekend of music! Details and updates are posted at www.michiganirish.org

Cape Breton House Party in Minneapolis

Dick Hensold and Dean Magraw will be doing a program of mostly Cape Breton (Scottish) music at two house concerts in April and May, in anticipation of a tour to California in May. I will be playing Northumbrian smallpipes, reel pipes and whistles, with Dean playing guitar. This is really fun stuff, and Dean is fun to play with, so I hope you can join us on one of these evenings! Please note that reservations are required, and I recommend that you get your spot ahead of time since I anticipate both concerts will fill up. (Please note that no Highland pipes are played in this concert, only quieter, indoor pipes.)

Minneapolis concert, Saturday, May 7th at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7.00 p.m.) Wine, water and appetizers will be served. For reservations and address, please email Joanna at [email protected] . A suggested donation of $20 is requested, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

See also, http://www.dickhensold.com and http://deanmagraw.com

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Northwoods Songs: Irish Songs from Lumberjacks and Great Lakes Sailors

By Brian Miller

Northwoods Songs features a new song each month pulled from my research into old songs collected in the pine woods region that

stretches from New Brunswick west through northern Minnesota. In the 1800s, a vibrant culture of singing and song-making

developed in lumber camp bunkhouses and on Great Lakes ships. The repertoire and singing style were greatly influenced by Irish

folk repertoire and Irish singing styles. Many singers in the region had Irish background themselves.

Each installment of Northwoods Songs is also published online at www.evergreentrad.com along with a video of me singing the

song of the month. My hope is that others will learn some of these songs and make them their own as I have. -Brian Miller

JERRY, GO OIL THE CAR (REVISITED).

Come, all you railroad section hands, I hope you will draw near, And likewise pay attention to these few lines you’ll hear,

Concerning one Larry Sullivan, alas, he is no more, He sailed some forty years ago from the green old Irish shore.

For four and thirty weary years he worked upon the track,

And the truth to say from the very first day he never had a wreck, For he made it a point to keep up the lower joints with the force of the tamping bar,

Joint ahead and center back and Jerry go oil the car.

To see old Larry in the winter time when the hills were clad with snow, It was his pride on his handcar to ride as over the section he’d go,

With his big soldier coat buttoned up to his throat, sure he looked like an Emperor [rarr], And while the boys were shimming up the ties, sure Jerry would be oiling the car.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association When Sunday morning came around to the section hands he’d say,

“I suppose you all know that my wife is going to Sunday Mass today, And I want every man for to pump all he can, for the distance it is very far,

And I’d like to get in ahead of number ten, so Jerry go oil the car.”

“And now when my friends are gathered around, there is one request I crave, When I am dead and gone to my rest, place the handcar on my grave;

Let the spike mawl rest upon my breast with the gauge and the old clawbar, And while the boys are lowering me down, leave Jerry to be oiling the car.”

“Give my regards to the roadmaster,” poor Larry he did cry,

“And rise me up so I may see the handcar before I die.” He was so weak he could hardly speak, in a moment he was dead;

“Joint ahead and center back,” were the very last words hesaid.

For this month’s Lost Forty Project song arrangement and video (see evergreentrad.com), Randy Gosa and I worked up this song from the repertoire of Minnesota singer Michael Cassius Dean.I wrote about “Jerry Go Oil the Car” in Northwoods Songs in November 2012. Together with last month’s song, “To Work Upon the Railroad,” it is one of five railroading songs/recitations in Dean’s known repertoire. The others are “O’Shaughanesey,” “The ArkansawNavvy” and “The Grave of the Old Section Hand.” The transcription above is my version for which I pared down Dean’s text a bit and used a melody based the 1924 cylinder recording of his singing.

Since writing about this song back in 2012, my research has revealed more onDean’spersonal connection to railroading.Dean wrote that he “gathered up” his repertoire in his “wandering around on the Lakes and in Lumber Camps and Rail Road Construction works.”Though I have yet to find evidence that he worked on the railroad himself, in the 1890s Dean ran a succession of saloons across the street from the St. Paul and Duluth depot in Hinckley where he catered to (and perhaps swapped songs with) railroad men employed by the St. Paul and Duluth line.

Also, Michael Dean’s brothers Charles Dean (St. Paul) and James Dean (Milwaukee) were both esteemed conductors for the Milwaukee railroad. In fact, his brother James’ 1910 obituary echoes the song’s praise of a man who, through a life of dangerous railroad work, “never had a wreck.”

He was the oldest conductor in the point of service, on the Milwaukee road, having been employed on the railroad for forty-nine years,…Mr. Dean has never h[a]d an accident in which a person was killed through his long term of service, although he himself has had many narrow escapes when the railroad equipment was inferior to that of today. ...Railroad men in this city were greatly depressed when they heard of his death as he was one of the most popular railroad men on the system and was regarded by other trainmen as a man of good luck because he never had an accident in so many years of service.

Be sure to check out the Youtubevideo of The Lost Forty performing our arrangement of this song at the Minnesota Transportation Museum aboard an actual “drover’s coach” built in the 1890s.

Visit a full archive of all Northwoods Songs columns and songs

online at www.evergreentrad.com

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the

Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and

cultural heritage fund.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

The Center for Irish Music

Come check us out at

The Celtic JunctionThe Celtic JunctionThe Celtic JunctionThe Celtic Junction 836 Prior Avenue, St Paul MN

Please check the website for information on our full range of instruction in traditional Irish

music, language , culture and fun.

For class schedule and other information call or email

651-815-0083 @ .admin centerforirishmusic org

Or visit our website

. .www centerforirishmusic org

Dedicated to Handing Down the Tradition

Smidirini* (*Irish for ‘Bits and Pieces’)

By Copper Shannon

♣ Comhghairdeas le (Congratulations to)Tom Scanlon and Geri Connelly and the crew at the Dubliner Pub, named Best Pub, St. Paul 2016 by CityPages. According to CityPages“There are three essential ingredients to a quality drinking establishment: a clientele that spans from the aged to the recently licensed to drink, friendly bartenders who won't leave you hanging on a refill, and a vibe without pretense or airs. This is the Dubliner in a nutshell. It's a no-frills place packed within the industrial district of western St. Paul. The beer is plentiful, the shots of respectable girth, and the atmosphere welcoming to one and all. It's not unusual to find bands of Irish dancers high-stepping across the floor. On most nights, traditional live music fills their air. Bagpipers in full regalia occasionally stop by. In other words, this isn't a joint that slaps up some shamrocks and a Guinness sign and calls itself Irish. This is the real McCoy, St. Paul-style. Which, according to four out of five leading barflies, is the best style ever invented.”‘Tis true, every word!

♣ Comhghairdeas le (Congratulations to)Cormac and Natalie O’Shea of the Celtic Junction. The Celtic Junction has been

asked by the family of Dr. Eoin McKiernan to receive Dr. McKiernan’s library of some 1,200 volumes, many very rare. (Dr. McKiernan was founder of the Irish American Cultural Institute from which the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Irish Studies descends.)Cormac and Natalie and friend Jim Glazer have begun the work of inventorying and cataloging the books and plan to make them available to visitors in the future. The project will involve lots of work and lots of help from the community, and includes plans for a fundraising event in the Fall. For now, save Oct. 15 and look for more information in the coming months.

♣ Deepest sympathy to EthnaMcKeirnan and the entire family on the loss of Ethna’s son Brian Patrick Plunkett. Brian

passed away March 30 of a sudden and catastrophic illness. BeannachtaíDéaraanam (God’s blessings on his soul.)

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Ceili Corner By Bhloscaidh O’Keane

First Saturday Afternoon Céilí—Dubliner Pub, 2162 University Ave., St. Paul.

Third Saturday Night Céilí - The Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Ave., No. St. Paul.

Irish Dance Classes:

Céilí Dancing - Wednesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Learn Irish dancing in a genuine Irish pub with a wooden floor that has known a whole lot of dancing feet. Steps and dances are taught by Paul McCluskey and Kirsten Koehler. Basic beginning steps are taught beginning at 7:00, with advanced lessons and dancing continuing until 9:30 PM. Year-round; no children, and must be of legal drinking age. Free.

Set Dancing - Tuesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Set Dancing at 7:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, music by the Twin Cities Ceili Band. The cost is $5 for the band, beginners welcome, for more information call Geri at the Dubliner (651)646-5551.

Check www.lomamor.org for all up-to-date Irish folk dancing information.

Update on IMDA Membership The Irish Music and Dance Association would like to remind members of a change in policy regarding membership. Because of rising costs in printing and postage, the Irish Music and Dance Association asks that members who want to receive their newsletter by U S mail support the IMDA by contributing at least $35 a year. All members have the option of receiving their newsletter by e-mail for faster delivery and color photos! We welcome your financial support of the IMDA at any level and that support helps us continue our work to promote Irish music and dance in the Twin Cities and beyond. You may also become a newsletter-only member without making a financial contribution. Whichever membership option you choose, we appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at a concert or dance event soon!

Name: Today’’’’s Date:

Address:

Where did you hear about us?

Membership Type (circle one)

Supporting Corporate Newsletter Support Level _______

Interests (circle all that apply)

Music Dance Theatre Gaelic Volunteer

E-mail Address: Phone Number:

Your monthly newsletter is delivered electronically via e-mail. Please advise us at [email protected] if your e-mail address changes .

Supporting members who contribute at least $35 annually may receive their newsletter by U S Mail. ___ Request US Mail

Revised 11/2013

Tear out the above form and send it with a check made out to “IMDA” to: The IMDA Membership Coordinator c/o Jan Casey 400 Macalester St. St. Paul, MN 55105

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Postmaster: Time/Dated Material

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