Arts and Entertainment
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
Understand, it’s not as if Bob Childs wants Childsplay to end. For more than three decades, the Boston-based all-star fiddle ensemble for which Childs serves as artistic director as well as namesake has gathered almost... Read more
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
For Boston musician, singer, dancer, and composer Christine Delphine Hedden, memories don’t always reside solely in the mind. The red bow adorning her fiddle’s pegbox, for example, is a remembrance of her second visit to... Read more
By Sean Smith
Kevin Crawford, Colin Farrell and Patrick Doocey, “Music and Mischief” • One of the many reasons to appreciate Lúnasa is that even when they’re not performing or recording as a full band, they cultivate opportunities to play together in... Read more
In addition to the Childsplay farewell tour (see separate story in this edition), here are some other Irish/Celtic music happenings in greater Boston this month:
•The annual Massachusetts Fiddle Hell, which takes place Nov. 7-10, at the Westford Regency... Read more
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, on an otherwise beautiful fall day, terrorists hijacked four planes in the skies over America. All of them were intentionally crashed; two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one... Read more
By definition, a corner house sits at the edge of a crossroads, in close proximity to all manner of passersby happening through the intersection. In the same vein, Boston quartet Corner House lies at a musical crossroads, its doors and windows open to the... Read more
By Peter F. Stevens
BIR Staff
To say that Brian Kennedy has defied the odds is an understatement. The acclaimed Northern Irish singer and songwriter came of age in Belfast’s war-torn cityscape during The Troubles, and his gifted voice proved to be his... Read more
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
A spur-of-the-moment creative impulse by two Greater Boston residents during a Thanksgiving sojourn has now, nearly four years later, culminated in a unique video project that offers a new perspective on traditional Irish... Read more
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By Sean Smith
This month’s column focuses on recent recordings by a pair of Irish/Celtic trios with Massachusetts and New England connections.
New Leaf, “New Leaf” • Based in Western Massachusetts, this band comprises fiddler Kira Jewett, a former pupil... Read more
Thurs., Oct. 3 – The Irish Network (IN Boston) and the Boston Public Library present an evening with Jack Cashman, author of "An Irish Immigrant Story.” The Central Library, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 4 –The Irish Network in Boston invite members to... Read more
The Irish Cultural Centre of New England in Canton will feature a combination book launch and concert with Tara O’Grady, a multi-genre singer who recently published an on-the-road memoir, “Migrating toward Happiness: The Soundtrack to My Spiritual... Read more
By R. J. Donovan
Special to the BIR
Boston has been splashed across international headlines this year thanks to the “Varsity Blues” college admissions bribery scandal being played out in our waterfront courtrooms. Clearly, there should be no separate... Read more
THE BIR’S CALENDAR
OF CELTIC MUSIC EVENTS
Summer turns to fall, and as always, Greater Boston has plenty of Irish/Celtic-related music events on the calendar.
•Two local acts will be on stage at Club Passim in Harvard Square on Sept. 15. Roots-oriented... Read more
By Sean Smith
We Banjo 3, “Roots to Rise Live” • It has been four years since this Irish/Americana outfit released a live album (“Live in Galway”), and in that time WB3 has made a significant transition in the “Celtgrass” genre – a mix of Irish and... Read more
By R. J. Donovan
Special to the BIR
When Tony Award-winning actress Alice Ripley opens in “Sunset Boulevard” at North Shore Music Theatre later this month, she’ll be returning to a show she knows very well.
Twenty-five years ago, she performed in the... Read more
By Sean Smith
Special to the BIR
Fair play. To Northern Irish singer-songwriter and activist Tommy Sands, it’s “kind of a throwaway phrase that people use a lot – but it’s a meaningful one.”
In fact, it is a lack of fair play – the idea of treating... Read more
Belonging to Each Other, a Falmouth non-profit that helps provide housing, food and other needed services to homeless people, will hold its third annual benefit gala on September 12 at St. Barnabas Church in Falmouth, featuring a performance by Cork... Read more
Four Greater Boston teen musicians
– and 8,000 other competitors –
are heading to Drogheda for Fleadh 2019
BY SEAN SMITH
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
The four of them have each been to the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil at least once, and they’re all set to go again.... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH
Liz Carroll and Jake Charron, “Half Day Road” • Yeah, I thought there’d been something missing these last several years: Last time Liz Carroll released a new album was 2013, back when the Patriots still only had three Super Bowl titles. That... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH
This month’s offerings of Greater Boston/Eastern Massachusetts Irish and Celtic-related events will include a busy weekend at the Irish Cultural Centre of New England and, up on the North Shore, the inaugural Rockport Celtic Festival.
•The... Read more
