Episode 41- Transplanting Tradition in the Land of the Trees
Release Date: 05/12/2020
Irish Music Stories Podcast
Irish musicians, and writers, and home makers can all benefit by learning some rules and technical skills—and by allowing a little spontaneity and flexibility. But how much great technique do you need? Does that get in the way of the magic? In this episode, Nathan Gourley, Brendan Mulholland, and Sharon Murphy reflect on the alchemy of order and spontaneity: how rule following and rule breaking can make for a great journey; but how a total lack of plan can derail everything. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project,...
info_outline Episode 76-The Power of the Local PubIrish Music Stories Podcast
Boston producer Brian O’Donovan made a lot of space for Irish music and culture. He was dedicated to sharing it widely. And though he presented music on formal stages and through his WGBH broadcast “A Celtic Sojourn,” casual, public Irish music sessions were ever important and enduring for him. This beloved leader lifted up traditional music. And he elevated the practice of ‘just going to the local pub’ into an act of radical community building. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head to . ...
info_outline Episode 75-Betting on the PuntersIrish Music Stories Podcast
Could traditional music sessions exist without listeners? Are the non-playing listeners in public spaces important for tune players? Here’s a brief podcast adaptation of a video response to this intriguing little question! _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head to . ___________________ Thank you to everybody for listening. And a special thank you to this month’s underwriters: the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, John Sigler, Randall Semagin, Ron Kral, Isaiah Hall, David Vaughan, Susan...
info_outline Episode 74-Leaning in and Branching OutIrish Music Stories Podcast
Communities. Forests. Families. All of these different ecosystems contain a lot of different components that weave and work together. And as people, plants, and pests carry on and creep around, rich and sometimes unlikely collaborations emerge. In this episode, with the help of Karine Polwart, Colin Farrell, and Steve Nardone, I’ll explore how friends, neighbors and families can blend; how humans and trees need and inspire one another; and how we also rely on birds, bees.. and rats. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this...
info_outline Episode 73-Fruitful Fells Part TwoIrish Music Stories Podcast
In part one of the Fruitful Fells, we met modern and 19th century activists dedicated to making beauty available to current and future humans. In this episode, we learn how our heroes saved acres of woods and bushels of old ballads, and we follow enduring struggles in the crusade for preservation. As always, there’s plenty of beautiful music woven into these conversations with guests Mike Ryan, Alison Simcox, Douglas Heath, and Karl Alexander. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head to ...
info_outline Episode 72-Fruitful Fells Part OneIrish Music Stories Podcast
There are little creatures, trees, ponds, and pedestrians all over the earth. And there are bushels of ballads about the charms of nature. And while there are ecological activists like Mike Ryan and 19th century Elizur Wright, and song collectors like Francis Child and Olive Dame Campbell who are out to enjoy and save the critters and the old songs… there are others who are less interested in preservation. This two-part story on the creation of Massachusetts’ Middlesex Fells Reservation takes a look at how trees, pedestrians, bikers, motorists, music collectors, and geese intersect. And...
info_outline Episode 71-Missed MannersIrish Music Stories Podcast
The weekly Irish music session is a specific niche affair, with a particular code of conduct. Gift giving also has its own rules, at least it has in the past. As older customs like traditional Irish music and wedding anniversary gifts have moved to the new world, have things adjusted? Does modern session behavior reflect wider social trends? Etiquette experts Barry Foy and Zina Lee walk me down the aisle of session (and wedding gift) etiquette, just a year before Barry’s Field Guide to the Irish Session celebrates its silver anniversary. _________________ For playlists,...
info_outline Episode 70-Navigating Tech and Writing TunesIrish Music Stories Podcast
New inventions and technology can make life—and Irish music—more convenient, more accessible, and sweeter…. and more complicated. This episode examines a few innovations like the washing machine, the personal computer, and to the electric bicycle—though you’ll have to go to for extensive chat about recording technologies… and also . There are also plenty of Irish tunes here that mention tech and innovations. (Because whether or not you’re actually thinking about short and long clicking sounds, if you call a tune The Telegraph, it’s still a reference to what was once a...
info_outline Episode 69-Tea, Turf, and Wooden SpoonsIrish Music Stories Podcast
Lunch routines, laundry, kid art supplies, spoons, and teacups are details of domestic life that don’t usually make it into the photo albums, or the tune titles. But they shape lives. And in the midst of the thousands of jigs and reels out there, the simple (and profound) cup of tea.. and the basket of turf are represented. Here’s a meditation on tunes with prosaic titles and the stimulating stories behind them. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, sheet music to original tunes in this episode, and to contribute to this project, please head to ....
info_outline Episode 68-20 Years of BCMFestIrish Music Stories Podcast
Presenting concerts can be about a lot more than throwing someone onstage. Matt Smith manages Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has been the central venue and fountain of support for 20 years—and is now the official presenter—for Boston’s Celtic Music Festival. For Matt, it’s all about creating opportunities for something special and unique to happen. Learn about where this little festival has been, and where it’s going, with or without your Mouse Pants! _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this...
info_outlineWhat 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.
Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below.
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Thanks to everybody for listening. And a special thank you to this month’s underwriters:
Peter Lee, Gabriele Clemens, Loretta Egan Murphy, John Boyce, Sol Foster, Paul Grajciar, Lisa and Bryon Giddens-White, Jen Strom, Chris Murphy, Pat Wilcox, Suezen Brown, Lance Ramshaw, Mark Haynes, David Vaughan, Brian Benscoter, Gerard Corr, Susan Walsh, Rick Rubin, Randy Krajniak, and Jon Duvick.
Please CLICK HERE if you can kick in to support this podcast!
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Visit IrishMusicStories.org
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Music Heard on IMS Episode 40
all music traditional, unless otherwise indicated
Tune: “Blue Bonnets Over The Border/Khazi,” from Happy Daze
Artist: Battlefield Band
Tune: “Little Bird Lullaby,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “The B Minor Cut,” from Cuts
Artist: Andrea Beaton
Song: “Fail il o agus ho ro eile” c/o An Drochaid Eadarainn’s site Artist: Mìcheal Eòin Chaluim Sheumais Mhóir (Mickey John H. MacNeil of Jamesville)
Tune: “Celtic Grooves,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: Robert Cormack of Aberdeen,” from Musical Ties
Artist: Troy MacGillivray
Tune: “Holy Strathspeys Pat,” from Off the Floor
Artist: Wendy MacIsaac
Tune: “Down the Burn, Davie Lad,” from The Boston States
Artist: Katie McNally
Tune: “Wapikatji’j,” from Traditionally Yours: Mi’kmaq Drums, Young and Old
Artist: Michael R. Denny
Tune: “Donald & Gordon’s” from Pìob is Fidheall
Artists: Kenneth & Angus MacKenzie
Song: “Seinn O,” from Suas e!
Artist: Mary Jane Lamond
Tune: “Out on the Ocean,” from License to Drive 'Er
Artist: Andrea Beaton
Tune: “Pound the Floor,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “Meaning of Life,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: "Rockabye by Firelight,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “Constitution Breakdown,” from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (Creation's Journey: Native American Music)
Artist: Lee Cremo
Tune: “Grupai Ceol Memories,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “Taste of Gaelic,” from The Cabin Sessions
Artists: Mairi Rankin & Eric Wright
Tunes: “Tom Ward's Downfall/Lucy Campbell,” from Green Grass Blue Grass
Artist: Brock McGuire Band
Song: “Rinn Mi Corr is Naoi Mile (I Travelled more than Nine Miles),” from Seinn
Artist: Mary Jane Lamond
Tune: “Triumph Theme,” from Irish Music Stories Production Music
Artist: Matt Heaton
Tune: “The Barren Rocks of Aden / Mairi’s Wedding” from Live at Celtic Colors (Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion in Sydney: Big Ceilidh at the Big Fiddle at, October 2018)
Artist: Cape Breton University Pipe Band
Song: “A Mhorag 's Na Horo Gheallaidh,” from Lan Duil
Artist: Mary Jane Lamond
Song: “A flaisgaich oig a S'cheanalteadh (My cheerful young man),” recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell, 1939.
Artist: Mary MacPhee
c/o Library of Congress
Song: “An Nochd Is Trom Tha Mo Cheum (Tonight My Step Is Heavy),” from Làn dùil
Artist: Mary Jane Lamond
Tune: “Farewell,” from Coffee and the Mojo Hat
Artists: Neil Pearlman and Nicole Rabata
Tune: ‘Silver and Stuff,” from Ports of Call
Artists: Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
Tune: “The Second Star Hornpipe Set (Howie MacDonald piano),” from The Judique Flyer
Artist: ‘Buddy MacMaster
Tune: “Blue Bonnets Over the Boarder,” from Close To the Floor
Artist: Ashley MacIsaac