A spring tour in Australia on the immediate horizon, thoughts brewing of a sophomore album and the world at his feet, James Vincent McMorrow has stormed onto the scene from virtual nothingness in the last year. It was January of last year that the Dublin native’s debut album, Early In the Morning, found its way to my desk for review, and I was completely stunned. In many ways, … [Read more...] about The New Irish Songwriter: James Vincent McMorrow
Music Archives
Music Reviews
A look at recently released music of Irish and Irish-American interest. Altan • The Poison Glen In their newest album, The Poison Glen, Altan reverts to the sound that their fans initially fell in love with. Transforming from a virtually unknown duo in the mid-eighties to the six-piece band they are now, Altan is a band that has never really stopped growing or developing. It … [Read more...] about Music Reviews
Making of Monongah
By Kyle Carey, Guest BloggerFebruary 28, 2012
Gaelic Americana musician and songwriter Kyle Carey writes about the ups and downs and ins and outs of recording an album. An album isn’t finished when the musicians go home. One could argue in reality, that’s when it all begins. After recording week, I flew back to the States to visit with my family, sleeping three days straight to recover from the emotional strain of it all. … [Read more...] about Making of Monongah
This Music We Call
Traditional Irish
February 9, 2012
Traditional Irish music has never been so alive. In our cities, towns and villages. From Dublin to New York and across the United States. We are alive to its rhythm and it is thriving, growing, flourishing. It touches so many people and is enjoyed in so many ways. We dance to it, play it, mould it into new forms and take it to Broadway and the West End. We fuse it with other … [Read more...] about This Music We Call
Traditional Irish
Martin Hayes: Rhythm and Strings
Whether playing solo or with the newly formed The Gloaming, Martin Hayes, the marvelously gifted fiddler, finds his mesmeric rhythm in the Irish tunes he learned from his father – the leader of the famed Tulla Ceili band – and other master musicians in east County Clare. The first time I heard Martin Hayes it felt like an earthquake. Not ten seconds into his first tune, the … [Read more...] about Martin Hayes: Rhythm and Strings