Some more great music coming to our area!

Molly Malone’s in Covington, KY will be presenting Dan Stacey (StepCrew/former Seven Nations), Mirella Murray (Cherish the Ladies), and Will MacMoran (Seven Nations) on October 29th at 9:30 PM in the pub area.

This will be a great show, so start the Halloween celebrations early and bring your friends down for a pint, some chow, and listen to some great traditional Irish music.

For details contact Molly’s at (859) 491-6659.

Reel Roots will be giving away a $25 gift certificate to Sam Ash Music Stores at the Goitse concert on September 13th at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Covington, KY.

Anyone who purchases tickets in advance or at the door for the Goitse concert will be put in the drawing to win the gift certificate. Winner will be announced during the intermission the night of the show.

Pop over to the events page to get your tickets. Tickets cost $20 at the door or in advance.

Summer is here, and that means its time for the regional Irish and Celtic festivals! We’ve put together a list for you so you won’t miss any of them! Can’t wait to see you there!

Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival – July 22-24

Dayton Celtic Festival - July 29-31

Dublin Ohio Irish Festival – August 5-7

Milwaukee Irish Festival - August 18-21

Pittsburgh Irish Festival – September 9-11

Indianapolis Irish Festival – September 16-18

Michigan Irish Festival – September 16-18

Cincinnati Irish Festival – September 23-25

This just in! Irish folk band Goitse will be playing at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Covington, KY on September 13th, 2011.

This five piece band features tunes and songs deeply rooted in the Irish tradition. Now in their third year, this band’s young members are students of Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.

The band will be playing this summer at the Dublin Ohio Irish Festival, so check them out at the festival this summer (August 5-7) if you haven’t heard their music. Then in September we’ll be welcoming the band to Greater Cincinnati for an intimate concert at Molly Malone’s.

For more information on the concert or to buy tickets, visit the events page.

This Scottish duo consisting of  Douglas Montgomery (fiddle/viola) and Brian Cromarty (guitar/mandola/vocals) brings some great music to the scene in their Netherbow CD.

The album contains both traditional fiddle tunes and original compositions, and there is a nice mix of songs with vocals versus instrumental tunes.

Upon first listening to the CD, you’ll be a bit surprised to learn that this is a duo because the sound is so complex and rich. You’ll definitely be convinced there are a couple more band members thrown in there.

Check this one out at your first opportunity!

Track Listing:

1 Netherbow – J Craigie

2 The Cock O’ Byam – D Horne (Words), B Cromarty (Music)

3 The Creelman – B Cromarty/The Normaway Inn – J Holland/The Reconciliation – Trad

4 The Bride’s Lament – Trad

5 The Glassel Jig – B Cromarty/Stoot’s Jig – D Montgomery/Reel For Karen – D Montgomery

6 Yellow And Blue – B Cromarty

7 The Locks At Athy – K Kosek

8 A Ring On Her Hand – B Cromarty

9 Danielle And Keith – D Montgomery/A Tune For Lucy – B Cromarty

10 The Holm Band Tune – Trad/W.R. Aim’s Compliments To Jimmy Craigie – R Aim

11 Howie MacDonald’s – K Beaton/Rhena’s 80th – L Bichan/La Reel De La Baie Sainte – A Robicheau

12 Svecia – D Montgomery

Band website: http://www.saltfishforty.co.uk

This coming may, Scottish folk sensation Old Blind Dogs will be joining us in Cincinnati in 2011 for their first concert here in several years. We are thrilled to have them, especially since they have released a new CD with some great new tunes!

The concert will take place at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley (Cincinnati) on May 5, 2011 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are on sale now, and are $20 in advance $25 at the door, so make sure you order early and save yourselves some money!

Visit the events page to order your tickets!

Teada’s Irish Christmas in America is coming to Cincinnati December 16th! The show will take place at the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley at 8:00 PM.

The concert will feature traditional Irish tunes, singing, dancing, and storytelling. Bring the whole family for a great night of holiday entertainment.

Tickets are on sale now! Save some money and buy them in advance for $22 by visiting the events page.

Due to a popular demand, we are now offering Cincinnati Celtic music fans the opportunity to donate to Reel Roots, in order to help fund future concerts.

If you’d like to show your support, please visit the donation page for details!

The first Reel Roots concert featuring Irish duo Brendan Begley and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh went off without a hitch! The show was enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, and the band received rave reviews and a standing ovation from the audience.

We would like to thank Ian Barrett for running the sound at the concert. He did a fantastic job! And thanks to all of our volunteers who helped at the door.

We have some great photos of the evening taken by Larry Green, so click here to have a look!

We can’t wait to have the lads back to Cincinnati in the future!

Oisín Mac Diarmada is best known for his role in founding the Irish traditional group Teada, and is quite an accomplished fiddle player. He is a graduate in Music Education from Trinity College Dublin/RIAM, and in addition to performing with Teada, Oisín often teaches and performs solo acts worldwide.

Reel Roots recently interviewed Oisín in anticipation for the Irish Christmas in America show he produces, which will be coming to Cincinnati in December of 2010:

Oisín, you started playing fiddle at a very early age, and have since made a wonderful career both playing music and producing. In your opinion, what is it about the folk music tradition in Ireland that makes it so special and appealing to people all over the world?

Irish traditional music certainly has a special appeal to people all over the world, both those with connections to Ireland and many others without the genealogical link. I think the appeal is certainly musically-based, but definitely linked also to the visibility of Irish
people around the world, an indirect link with Ireland’s social and political history. The upbeat rhythmic nature of the music seems to
certainly connect with people also, even those who are experiencing the music for the first time. As performers, thankfully we have had
occasion to see this reaction to the music played out in many varying places. The manner in which the music has retained a deep association with the past, brings a connection and identity with older generations, a meaningful bind for many of us to the history of our
people.

You are well known as the founding member of Téada, and the mastermind behind the Irish Christmas in America show. What inspired you to put the show together, and what do you think makes the show such a success?

‘Irish Christmas in America’ first came together in 2005, and has been touring each Christmas season since. I had played with harper Janet Harbison’s Christmas show in Germany in 2003, which also featured harper Gráinne Hambly. This inspired me to put together a Christmas tour in 2005 with members of Téada and special guests, one of whom was indeed Gráinne Hambly. Working with the combination of music, song, dance, narration and a photographic slide-show proved to be a nice contrast to the more instrumentally-based touring I was doing with Téada throughout much of the remainder of the year. Looking back on the 5 years of touring the show, it’s always one of the tours I most look forward to, in no small part due to the lovely Christmas atmosphere in the many places throughout the US where we visit! The Christmas tour has been a brilliant opportunity to invite various
special guests each year, whether musical, vocal or dancing. That has been very exciting and musically rewarding. We had such a great time with West Kerry’s Séamus Begley on last year’s tour, that we had to invite him back for the upcoming tour. I imagine he’ll go down a treat with the audience in Cincinnati!

Teaching the music and traditional style is a major part of keeping the folk tradition alive these days and I know you enjoy teaching for many reasons. What approach do you like to take with your students and what do you find sparks the most enthusiasm for them to learn and enjoy the music?

I’m fortunate to encounter a great variety of people in my travels who have been drawn into learning traditional Irish music on the fiddle.
Their interest and dedication in Irish music is always a tonic to me! I always enjoy hearing about people’s personal motivations in learning music, and the paths which have brought them to a study of Irish traditional fiddling. It is a personal journey which is greatly
enhanced by the wonderful, worldwide community of Irish music players and fans, increasingly connected by technology. I really enjoy the personal touch of getting to meet with and play music with people from many diverse backgrounds and places. The transmission of the social and community ethos which has always been a large part of folk music in general, is something which I like to focus on transmitting, in whatever little way that I can.

In addition to playing fiddle, you have a strong background in producing shows, booking, and management as well. In your experience, are there differences in what makes a folk act successful or appreciated in the US and Canada versus at home in Ireland? Do you think knowledge of the tunes and tradition affect how the music is received?

I suppose, like many musicians at the moment, I have learned to juggle a few music-related activities along with performing. It makes for an interesting, if sometimes pretty busy, existence! There are certainly similarities between the US/Canada and Ireland, when it comes to
playing concerts. In general, there exists a shared high level of perception with regard to music content, in both territories. The performance market in Ireland would tend in general to offer less opportunities for larger-scale concerts of traditional music, though
there is an incredibly healthy scene made up of of smaller festivals and teaching workshop weekends throughout the country. In North
America, it seems like there can be some difference between the typical audience at a concert performance and that found at a festival
setting, but that is something we have grown accustomed to over the past few years.

Back in 2002 you released your solo CD “Ar An Bhfidil: Irish Fiddle Music from Sligo”. What sets music from Sligo apart from music from other regions in Ireland?

When people speak about Sligo music, they are generally referring to the body of music recorded by Sligo immigrant musicians in the US
during the 1920s,30s and 40s. Fiddlers such as Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran were key figures in putting Sligo music on the map through their seminal ’78rpm recordings made in New York. Despite the strong individualistic traits of each player, there are discernible rhythmic and melodic traits which hint at a rich localised musical style in Sligo, primarily associated with the fiddle and flute. Retrospective musical analysis of Irish traditional music has tended to focus, not without validity, on regional stylistic similarities, but it is certainly the case that the transmission of music in recent times has encouraged the dissipation of regional
identities to some extent. Fortunately, commercial releases from the early recording era give us a glimpse into some of the playing styles
of the early 20th century, but it is more difficult to account for playing styles prior to this era, due to the absence of recordings. In a sense, the music of Sligo today can be said to comprise both the historical styles of individual musicians of the past, along with
contemporary interpretations of that material by musicians who have been influenced by such. Sadly, just this week we lost one of Sligo’s
finest flute-players, Peter Horan (1926-2010), who has been one of the last links with the revered older generation of Sligo musicians. We
were all blessed by his wonderful music and company.