Just got word of the forthcoming debut solo CD by Nollaig Casey, entitled The Music of What Happened and released on the Old Bridge Music label. It’s hard to believe that someone as high up in the stratosphere of trad’s elite as Nollaig hasn’t got round to making a solo recording before now, but there you go. The album is produced by her long-time musical partner Arty McGlynn, who also plays on the CD – as do Sharon Shannon, Mairéad Casey, Rod McVey and Liam Bradley. I can’t wait to hear it.
Mike Hanrahan and Ronnie Drew are slowly sifting through the hours of live recordings they’ve made during their various tours, with the goal of releasing a live CD by the end of the summer. Mike promises that a preview song will be posted on the mikehanrahan.com website in a couple of months. Meanwhile, he’ll be doing a few Irish shows during May and June – keep an eye on your local listings or see the website for details. By the time this column appears, the big Stockton’s Wing reunion gig at Vicar Street will have already taken place, but it’s being recorded by RTÉ radio for future broadcast, so don’t despair if you missed it.
Also captured on tape (or disk, or whatever things are captured on these days) was the recent Vicar Street concert by Danú, currently touring Ireland and the UK with their new vocalist Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. They’re planning to make a DVD of the show, to be released later this year.
The Glór centre in Ennis is doing its bit for the EU presidency. Having already organised entertainment and an evening meal for 70 EU delegates from the Political and Security Committee, the centre recently managed the entertainment of the EU Ministerial Conference on Innovation and Competitiveness. Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill were flown in from the US to headline the event, which was attended by over 200 EU ministers and delegates, Tánaiste Mary Harney, and local councillors. Joined by the Tulla Ceili Band and dancer Colin Dunne, they received an enthusiastic standing ovation. Afterwards, the guests were treated to such Irish delicacies as oysters, bacon and colcannon, smoked salmon, crab, Irish pudding and (of course!) Guinness. Readers of last week’s column will be wondering whether the musicians were invited to partake in this bounty, given Steve Cooney’s experience with the glitterati at Dublin Castle ... but they’re friendly people down Clare way, and I’m sure Hayes et al were allowed a cup of tea at the very least.
Garry O’Briain’s new CD of original songs, Cat Won’t Fly (see review elsewhere in this issue of Hot Press), was launched at Dublin’s Holiday Inn on May 6 with a mightily impressive lineup that included Jimmy Faulkner, James Blennerhassett, Máirtín O’Connor, Rod Quinn, the aforementioned Nollaig Casey, Liz Johnston, Patricia Kelly and Carol Campbell. I couldn’t make it to the gig myself, but gather that it was a great night. Garry also reports that he’s just got a nice new nylon strung guitar, which he’s enjoying tremendously, and that he was out in Brazil recently with Máirtín O’Connor, Tommy Hayes, Cathal Hayden and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill and “heard some beautiful stuff there.” For more news about Garry, see below.
Michael Casey & The Reservoir Hogs are just back from a three-month tour in the Canary Islands. Lucky old them, eh? They’re heading out to Sweden and Finland for a two-week tour in June, then doing a three-week UK tour in July. The band’s current lineup consists of Kieran Coyne on guitar and vocals, Aidan Curran on box, Noel Coyne on bass and of course Michael Casey himself on guitar and lead vocals. For more info, see the website .
There’s going to be a major meeting of cultures at Liberty Hall on Sunday May 23, when Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Dermot Byrne of Altan are special guests with Sweden’s Ellika Frissell and Senegal’s Solo Cissokho, a duo who met when they were mistakenly billed to play together at a Stockholm club. Cissokho is a seventh generation kora player and griot storyteller from Casamance in Southern Senegal, while Frissell is one of Scandinavia’s leading fiddlers. Word has it that Mairéad and Dermot will join them for a grand finale. Should be fun.
In yet another multinational meltdown, the French/Irish band Valerio are coming to Ireland in June for a short tour. Formed in 2002, the band features accordionist Serge Desaunay (a household name in France, apparently, whose compositions have been recorded by Irish musicians John Whelan and Josephine Marsh) with Galway-born fiddler Kieran Fahy of Shantalla, Julien Biget on guitar, bouzouki and vocals, and Julien Favreuille on sax. The group will be recording their debut CD this autumn with the Belgian label Wild Boar. They’ve already been to Ireland once before, to play the Cork Folk Festival in 2002. This time round, they’ll be kicking off in Wexford on June 7, then doing gigs in Galway, Clare, Kerry and Wicklow before finishing up in Headford, Co. Galway, on June 13.
Still more cultural cross-pollination will take place when Máirtín O’Connor, Garry O’Briain and Cathal Hayden will share the stage with Galway’s ensemble-in-residence, the ConTempo String Quartet from Bucharest, Romania, for a concert in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre on June 3. ConTempo first got together with Máirtín during the filming of TG4’s Lóchrann Cheoil Christmas special, and the encounter was such a success that they’ve agreed to combine forces for a concert featuring classical music from Western Europe and Romania as well as Romanian folk and Irish trad music. Audiences will be given a unique opportunity to meet the quartet during a series of public workshops leading up to the concert. Entrance to the workshops is free for concert attenders, but numbers are limited, so book early – more info from (091) 569777.
A benefit gig for the annual Féile Frank McGann festival takes place on Tuesday, May 25, at O’Shea’s Merchant in Dublin 8, with a star-studded lineup that includes Seamus Begley & Jim Murray, Micheal O’Raghallaigh & The O’Raghallaigh family, John Regan & Mary Corcoran, Mikie Smith & Friends, Catherine & John McEvoy, Dick Hogan, Jimmy McGreevey, John Wynne with Patsy Hanly and John Carlos, Roma Casey & Tom McDonagh, and Jimmy Kelly. Admission is 10 euro, and all proceeds go to support the festival in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, scheduled for October 8-10. Tickets can be booked in advance by Emailing [email protected].
The Dublin City Workingman’s Band are just back from a run of gigs in Slovakia, where the Irish embassy brought them over to show the Slovaks how to celebrate their EU membership Dub style. Following their Cobblestone gig on May 27, the group will be recording during the month of June, and hope to get a single out before the end of the summer single. For more info, see .
I did promise you more excerpts from the submissions to the Special Committee on the Traditional Arts, but I seem to have run out of space, so they’ll have to wait till next time – sorry about that!!

Musicians and singers with news to share can e-mail Sarah on [email protected]