It’s now officially autumn. With the colleges back you can walk the streets safe again. Let’s hope it’s going to be a good year for the various college traditional societies that help to keep the folk flame burning.
One young band that will certainly be getting a leg up the ladder are Slide, recently awarded a place on Young Musicwide 2005, Music Network’s professional development award scheme for young musicians.
Featuring vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Daire Bracken, Éamonn de Barra, Mick Broderick and Aogán Lynch, Slide joins three-piece jazz ensemble Organics and New York-based clarinettist Carol McGonnell on this innovative, challenging and imaginative programme.
Slide can be heard later this year at Duiske Abbey, Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny (November 30) and at Siamsa Tíre, Tralee (December 1) with further dates to be announced.
Developed in 2001 by Music Network and open this year to traditional Irish musicians for the first time, Young Musicwide provides an incentive for highly talented young Irish musicians to pursue professional careers.
It also gives promoters nationwide access to the very best in young Irish talent. Young Musicwide 2005 auditions took place in June and were open to outstanding ensembles with a proven interest in traditional Irish music.
Eight short-listed ensembles performed for a panel that included musician Dónal Lunny, Aileen Dillane, Irish traditional music performer and ethnomusicologist at UCC and Music Network chief executive Deirdre McCrea.
Since they first put in an appearance in 2000, Slide has toured extensively across Europe.
Having recorded two critically acclaimed albums, The Flying Pig and Harmonic Motion, the band is currently working on a third CD, which will be released in summer of next year.
Music Network’s involvement with traditional music is not limited to the fresh faces. They have just announced that tickets are now on sale for Ireland’s most influential celtic music band and six-time Grammy winners, The Chieftains, who will perform with special guests at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, on Thursday 10 November. This is part of the Music Network/Eagle Star Gala Series.
Proceeds from the show will go towards enabling Music Network to sustain and further develop its valuable work in bringing affordable high quality music to communities all over Ireland
Although they have, as cliché would have it, been around forever, it’s still difficult to get your head around the notion that The Chieftains’ career spans 41 years and 41 albums.
Not only were they our premier musical ambassadors in the days before rock and roll. They have also been an enduring and powerful creative force in establishing the international appeal of celtic music.
Under the Captain Kirk-like charismatic leadership of Paddy Moloney they have boldly gone where no (Irish) man has gone before. This is the case both musically in terms of the collaborators they have crossed instruments with over the years, and literally. The played on the Great Wall of China when it was still a novelty for a western performer of any sort to go there.
It’s a very encouraging sign that some of the most vibrant and powerful live performers are seasoned veterans with years on the road under their respective belts. Having honed their stage craft, they are not hanging up their plectrums and heading off for a cosy retirement.
Mick Hanly and his band, featuring Jimmy Faulkner, guitar, Noel Bridgeman, drums, Martin Corry, bass, and Max Greenwood on keyboards are returning to the Green Room, at the Holiday Inn, Dublin for a residency every Thursday night during September, with support by Ger Wolfe.
If you want to go on the road as a three piece, you need to be assured that everyone is capable of nailing it first time, every time – think Jimi Hendrix Experience, think Motorhead (yes I do know this is the folk column).
In this regard, there is no doubting the credentials of the Niall Toner Band playing Whelans, Dublin on September 12, where they will be showcasing material from their new CD, Mood Swing, out on Avalon Records, as well as material from There’s A Better Way.
Niall Toner Snr sings and plays guitar and mandolin, Clem O’Brien sings high tenor and plays guitar and mandolin, and Dick Gladney sings and plays upright bass.
He boasts a bagful of songs that have been covered by Albert Lee, Bill Wyman and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. You’re talking roast chicken here, not pork and beans.
The Guggenheim Grotto’s eagerly awaited album, Waltzing Alone, is released on September 9. They’ll be showcasing it and a wealth of fresh material in Whelans on September 14.
After that, the enigmatic threesome will be taking off for a few dates around the country, including a show in Glor, Ennis where they’ll be contributing to a very fine autumn line-up, which also features acts such as American legend John Prine, The Furey Brothers featuring Davey Arthur, Gráda and Noelie McDonnell. All are playing the venue for the first time.
Making return visits will be old favourites Bell X1, Damien Dempsey, John Spillane, Ger Wolfe, and Flook.
Glor’s ‘Trad 4 Teens’ session is open to all teenagers and takes place on the first Saturday of every month.
With recent licensing laws prohibiting under 18s from being in pubs after 10pm, many teenagers lack the opportunity to develop their musical interests. 'Trad 4 Teens' gives them an opportunity to play in an informal session before a young audience.
The festival season is on a wind-down at this stage but there are still a few to go. Roscrea, for instance, will be hosting some great acts as part of the Aonach Ros Cre festival.
September 10 sees Micheal O Domhnaill and Paddy Glackin join the acclaimed Hungarian gypsy band, Sondorgo, for an afternoon concert in Roscrea Castle courtyard.
Later the same evening, the inimitable Mr. Jerry Fish himself will perform in Grant’s Hotel where he will no doubt keep any wayward members of his Mudbug Club very firmly in line.
Hank Wedel will also be appearing in a free concert that day, while at the other end of the festival, Sunday September 18 sees the Lee Valley String Band bringing their bluegrass tinged sound to Roscrea with a show in the Castle Courtyard.
Looking farther ahead and further afield, The Return to Camden, the UK’s biggest festival of Irish traditional music, takes place from 21 to 30 October.
Apart from numerous instrumental workshops, and sessions around London's Camden Town area, concerts feature Donegal’s Altan, Galway’s Mary McPartlan, a rare London appearance by The Chieftains’ flute-player ,b>Matt Molloy in cahoots with John Carty and Arty McGlynn, as well as De Dannan’s Frankie Gavin and the mighty Begley family from the Dingle peninsula.
Plus, there’s the chance to catch The London Lasses and Pete Quinn, Sligo’s premier whistler, Carmel Gunning, and a bucketful of ceili bands and dance classes. There will also be free concerts at Camden Lock over the first weekend.