Our dearest Dennis Cahill passed away peacefully on Monday evening, with his beloved Mary by his side as she has throughout his journey. Just moments before — we were comforting Dennis while The Lament for Limerick from Dennis’ album with…
(Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Paddy Moloney, and Triona Marshall on harp)
In less than one week after the passing of Tony MacMahon — Paddy Moloney, the legendary musical leader of The Chieftains died on Tuesday at the age of 83…
Sorry to learn of the passing of one mighty man of music who I knew on and off since meeting Tony MacMahon when I was a kid in the 1960's in Chicago and various other places throughout the years where…
And just like the tune Liz wrote for her mom which she named Mrs. Carroll’s Strathspey — Ma Carroll — which is what I always called Mrs. Carroll in my mind — was the embodiment of those…
It’s funny how things happen. Turned on the radio one Saturday night in the early 1980s to listen to The Midnight Special on WFMT in Chicago, one of my first baby steps away from round the clock diddly-diddly and sean-nos…
Talk of a surreal day on Saturday. I've been working on a 192 track audio project for nearly a year and am now about one-fifth the way through on the first draft of the liner notes. I ended my writing…
Yogi Berra Explains Irish Traditional Music (Trad):
Interviewer: Can you explain Trad?
Yogi: I can't, but I will. 90% of all Trad is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they never…
I was on my first solo trip to Ireland to compete in the 1977 Fleadh Cheoil in Ennis - after a successful Fleadh, I had a notion to head over to London for a long weekend before going…
Years back in the corner confessional of the 6511 Club I was with Kevin Henry, his wife Pauline, the late Brendan & Theresa Williams — and behind the counter bartending, bantering, and holding court, was the late Jack Finan…
While searching online for a way to trade in all them years of playing the accordion for the equivalent in time of playing the fiddle - I came across the following track by the brilliant Four Men and a Dog…
Sorry to learn of the passing of Brian Dennehy. He was a brilliant actor and very lovely man who was as comfortable with a beer in hand as he was with a script.
I met John Prine in Dublin many years ago at a hotel where I was staying — it was at the in-house late night ‘disco’ where one went for a drink a few minutes after the…
Came across this treasure from the past earlier this week. It is the program booklet for the 1974 Fleadh Cheoil in Ireland listing all the competitors who qualified to compete. I've highlighted all the competitors from the USA who…
Liz Carroll recently sent me an article written by Martin McGinley about the late great fiddler Sean McGuire (1927-2005). Liz asked me to make sure I read it all the way through. And lo and behold, there was a Sean…