Episode 50-Framing the Stories
Irish Music Stories Podcast
How much power does a backdrop have? As the Irish Music Stories production team works to assemble episodes and bonus materials, Shannon explores the wooded hills of Medford, Massachusetts to find visual and organizational surrounds that look and feel like time-worn jigs, and ballads, and nights of music and dance.
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Episode 49-The Naming of Birds
Irish Music Stories Podcast
After a horrific week of social unrest in the U.S., and as Irish Music Stories begins a major overhaul, host Shannon Heaton offers a meditation on how cataloging and organizing can soothe the soul.
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Episode 48-Between the Tunes
Irish Music Stories Podcast
What’s up with stage banter? And why all the joking around between tunes in a session? Host Shannon Heaton explores the on- and offstage chat that surrounds traditional music with Máirtín de Cógáin, Paddy League, Joanie Madden, Rus Bradburd, Liz Carroll, and Jean-Michel Veillon.
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Episode 47-The Myth of Tragedy
Irish Music Stories Podcast
How do composers conjure melodies in traditional Irish and Scottish styles? Where do the tunes come from, and what do they carry? Composers Liz Carroll, Dáithí Sproule, and Katie McNally discuss creativity, resilience, and the myths behind the music.
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Episode 46-Ancient Tongues, Modern Times
Irish Music Stories Podcast
Learning just a few words in Gaelic is mannerly when visiting Ireland and Scotland. And it can be a way IN to cultural values and humor. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Séamus Ó Flatharta, Ciarán Bolger, Michael Coult, Julie Fowlis, Mary Jane Lamond, and Brian Ó hAirt help me understand connections between language and music. And how songs in Irish and Scottish Gaelic transmit emotion, carry history, and lift people up.
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Episode 45-Trad in the Classroom
Irish Music Stories Podcast
There’s no definitive Irish or Scottish music method book. A lot of seasoned practitioners learned their music in kitchens and pubs. So how do they bring that immersive, social learning approach into the classroom? The latest IMS episode features traditional musicians who share ideas about teaching and learning traditional music.
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Episode 44-Not Easy Playing Green
Irish Music Stories Podcast
The topic of sustainable travel for touring musicians has been reframed, as Covid-19 has cancelled most music live music events for an unforeseeable amount of time. But as activity kicks up again, conversations about responsible, viable, grateful travel—and conservation—remain vital. The latest IMS episode features traditional musicians who advocate for marine ecosystems, planet conscious travel, and the health bees.
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Episode 43-From the Fringe to the Fore
Irish Music Stories Podcast
Hear how the banjo came into common acceptance in Irish circles from Daniel Neely, Enda Scahill, and Martin Howley… and check in with the joys and challenges of outsider status from harpist Maeve Gilchrist, cellist Natalie Haas, and saxophone players Susan Lindsay and Isaac Alderson.
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Episode 42-The Long Arm of the Irish Tradition
Irish Music Stories Podcast
Persistent infections like Covid-19 … and social injustice.. and racism… loom large. And still, these little Irish jigs and reels are forming bridges across oceans. What happens when people fall in love with a foreign music culture and pull themselves out of their comfort zones to travel and learn to play? Learn about the perspective Irish music has offered players on five continents.
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Episode 41- Transplanting Tradition in the Land of the Trees
Irish Music Stories Podcast
What do rampant evictions, military ship collisions, and Christmas trees have to do with jigs and reels? Learn how Gaelic culture resonated in Canada’s “New Scotland,” and down in the Boston States, from singer Mary Jane Lamond and fiddle players Troy MacGillivray, Andrea Beaton, Alasdair Fraser, Katie McNally, and Lee Cremo.
info_outlineAre all traditional tunes created equally? And if they aren’t, what happens to the, um, lesser tunes? Do they end up like lost dryer socks? Chicago-based accordion player Jimmy Keane reflects on the room of bad tunes, and shares one of his loveliest compositions in this month’s off season installment.
Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below.
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Thanks to everybody for listening. And a special thank you to John Ploch, Finn Agenbroad, David Vaughan, Brian Benscoter, Joe Garrett, Gerry Corr for underwriting this episode. And this season of podcast production—another exaltation of full episodes coming your way in May!
Please CLICK HERE if you can kick in to support this podcast!
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Music Heard on IMS Episode 38
all music traditional, unless otherwise indicated
Tune: “Redican's Jig / The Merry Old Woman Jig / The Chapel Bell” from bohola
Artist: bohola
Tune: “G Chimes,” from Production Music Made for Irish Music Stories
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “Horse Keane’s Hornpipe,” from Live with Jimmy & Dennis
Artist: Jimmy Keane & Denis Cahill
Tune: “Moving-On Song,” from bohola
Artist: bohola