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Introducing ‘The Sole Mates,’ Free Spirits of Dance and Music

By by BIR Staff, special to the BIR, February 4, 2011

New Ensemble to Perform in Cambridge Jan. 20
By BIR Staff
Boston-based Irish dancer and choreographer Kieran Jordan will present her new collaboration, “The Sole Mates,” for one night only this month before the group hits the road in March for an 11-gig tour of Germany and Switzerland. Read more

CD Reviews: The Lindsays' “From the Green to the Blue”

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, January 7, 2011

By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR

The Lindsays: “From the Green to the Blue” -- If you got the Boston Irish Reporter September 2010 edition, you might have read Susan Lindsay’s candid, enjoyable account of how she and husband Stephen put together this CD: the doubts and fears, the highlights and lowlights, and the constant balancing of hope versus expectation versus reality.
Well, to these ears, it was all worth it.
“From the Green to the Blue” reflects the “very Dublin” approach the Plymouth couple take to their music: a genre-bending mix of traditional tunes, Irish ballads, and contemporary, world-music influenced songs by the likes of Johnny Mulhern and especially Dublin native Wally Page, who wrote three of the pieces appearing on the CD. Read more

Dan Gurney, musician, entrepreneur, writer, Lives Life by ‘Just Seeing What Comes Along’

By , special to the BIR, January 7, 2011

By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR

How’s this for a resume? Graduated from a prestigious Boston-area university. Trekked around the world as a travel writer and video maker (experiences included finagling a prime location at the annual solstice celebration at Stonehenge). Spent a year in Ireland soaking up as much traditional music as is humanly possible. Returned to Boston to start an Internet broadcast enterprise that might possibly be the next big thing in live music. Read more

Preview- “Kisses,” a Film Directed by Lance Daly

By , special to the BIR, November 2, 2010

by Sean Smith

Pre-teens Dylan and Kylie escape from their bleak, lifeless Dublin neighborhood to search for the boy’s older brother, who fled home two years earlier after being overwhelmed by the chaotic, miserable family life that has now pushed Dylan to the breaking point. Kylie is, if anything, more resolute than Dylan about leaving her home -- and, as is revealed later, has a very good reason. Read more

BCM Fest- Boston Celtic Music Fest November 2010 newsnotes

By , special to the BIR, November 2, 2010

A column of news and updates of the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), which celebrates the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton music and dance with a grassroots, musician-run winter music festival and other events during the year. - Sean Smith Read more

For Martin Hayes, Master Fiddler, the Tune is What Counts – Always

By , special to the BIR, October 30, 2010

By Sean Smith
Imagine if you had a one-time-only 30-minute lesson with one of the most eminent Irish fiddlers of the past two decades. Surely it would be like departing a banquet after eating a few hors d'oeuvres, or leaving an Oscar-winning movie once the opening titles concluded.
That's more or less what Berklee College of Music student Emilio Arredondo thought would happen when he got together recently with Martin Hayes, who came to the school for a series of individual instruction sessions. Fortunately for Arredondo, a little of Hayes wound up going a long way. Read more

There's No Place Like Home- "Wicked" Cast’s McMahon Hails from Brighton

By R. J. Donovan, special to the BIR, October 20, 2010

By R. J. Donovan
Special to The BIR

The actor Kevin McMahon was born in Brighton, grew up in Framingham, and graduated from Marian Academy and Boston Conservatory. All of which makes his appearing in the national touring company of Broadway's "Wicked" at The Opera House a true homecoming.
The phenomenally successful "Wicked" tells the musical story of the two witches of Oz, good and evil, long before Dorothy toppled from the sky. McMahon plays the father of the Wicked Witch as well as a multitude of smaller roles throughout the show, including the Emerald City Guard who bellows the iconic line, "The Wizard will see you now!" As if that isn't enough, he also understudies the roles of Professor Dillamond and The Wizard himself. Read more

Irish Music CDs in Review- October, 2010

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, October 20, 2010

By Sean Smith
Luka Bloom, “Dreams In America” -- This is the kind of album that, frankly, inspires some ambivalence. On the one hand, this is a new release by Luka Bloom we’re talking about here -- easily one of Ireland’s most compelling singer-songwriters and performers of the past few decades. On the other, though, “Dreams In America” is not really a “new” album, as most all of the songs on it have appeared on his previous releases. Yet it’s not exactly a “greatest hits” album either, per se: All are recent re-recordings, 11 of them solo studio efforts and three concert performances. There’s also his never-recorded version of the traditional song “Lord Franklin.” Read more

The Music Master of Grove Lane Joe Derrane Delivers from Heart and Hearth

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, October 20, 2010

By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR

“Grove Lane” is to Joe Derrane what “Abbey Road” was to The Beatles.
No, you won’t hear Boston’s legendary accordion player doing covers of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” or “Here Comes the Sun” on his new CD, which will be out this month. But as the Fab Four memorialized the London recording studio’s influence on their music, so Derrane has likewise paid tribute to the place that has had a significant impact on his vocation — and his life. Read more

Boston Celtic Music Fest- October Notes

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, October 20, 2010

A column of news and updates of the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), which celebrates the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton music and dance with a grassroots, musician-run winter music festival and other events during the year.
-- Sean Smith

Coming closer to January -- The BCMFest Board is currently confirming its performer selections for the 2011 festival, which takes place Jan. 7 and 8, and will announce the line-up shortly. Once again, there were many outstanding submissions this year, and the board wants to thank all who applied. Read more