The Festival season is in high gear as we weary Celtic road warriors traverse the country on the Irish Festival circuit.

Recently it’s been Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Colorado, and in Chicagoland, the Highland Games and the Irish American Heritage Center’s Irish festival. Now it’s time for the trio in Ohio, where we have Cleveland, Dayton and Dublin in a row.

It was great to see Gaelic Storm at the Celtic Fling in PA, especially since the release of their new album, What’s the Rumpus? They were just back from their Australian tour and in top form. The new album only took days to reach number one in the world music category charts—no surprise to me.

Barleyjuice rocked at the Celtic Fling in Lancaster, touring to support their new album, Bonnie Prince Barley. Great sets from Enter the Haggis, The Tartan Terrors and Scythian, also. According to my daughter Saoirse, and many of her friends, Scythian are the best looking guys on the circuit, nice guys too, and bursting with talent. All four of these major Celtic Rock bands are just getting better.

The Oklahoma Celtic Festival was also a fun event. Boru’s Ghost and Arabesque are great entertainers—I wish they would travel more. Festival organizers take note.
The Illinois St. Andrew Society put on a great show at the Polo Grounds in Oakbrook, IL—the classiest Highland Games I’ve ever attended. Searson were the headliners. Great organization and great people.

Traci, the missus, went to Denver for the Colorado Irish Festival. She tells me that it was also a fun event with music provided by Gaelic Storm, The Elders, Cathie Ryan and Solas, among others. Great fun always in Denver.

The IAHC hosted Irish Fest in Chicago and it was a blast. Super turnout for an incredible line-up. The Makem and Spain Brothers, Solas, our own Larkin and Moran brothers, just back from their Irish tour, were brilliant. There was a contingent from Kansas City, my friend Pete Maher of the Midwest Irish Focus was there along with a bevy of beauties from the Kansas City Irish festival. Gan Bua were there without the Gan, and the Dooley’s played a great set. The entertainment just went on and on, but Gaelic Storm stole the show on Sunday evening.

It was a huge welcome back to Chicago for Jessie and the lads and they were on fire as they thrilled the capacity crowd with favorites and some tunes from the new album.

History of Irish Rock — Ward Irish Music Archives
The Ward Irish Music Archives was established in 1992 and is now the largest public collection of Irish music in America, located in Milwaukee at 1523 Wauwatosa Ave. and open to the public, but you can visit on-line. It encompasses over 40,000 Irish recordings and music memorabilia from songbooks to sheet music and concert posters to instruments. Make this pilgrimage when next in Milwaukee—it’s worth it.
The Ward Irish Music Archives is Milwaukee Irish Fest’s educational arm and recently developed traveling exhibits that can be seen by a wider audience as they tour festivals and events. Having seen many of these exhibits, I can tell you they are educational, entertaining, and a huge addition to the cultural value of any Irish Festival.

There are exhibits on The Great Irish Tenor, John McCormack, Bing Crosby, and legendary Irish-American composer George M. Cohan. There is even an exhibit on 75 Years of RTE (Ireland’s National Radio and Television Station). But the one I can’t get enough of is The History of Irish Rock. It’s brilliant!

It’s been touring for a few years and I’ve seen it in many places, but each time I find something new that chronicles, through displays and artifacts, the development of rock music in Ireland. It includes 40 biography’s, video presentations, and is visually enticing and historically accurate.

This, for me, is pure nostalgia. These are the times I’ve lived and observed at close quarters as I grew up in Dublin and spent so much time with family in Kells Co. Meath. I saw it all—the Ceili Bands became Showbands, Showbands morphed into R&B Bands, then into Rock. It all started in the 50’s and is still going on today. I had minor part’s in this menagerie myself, so you can imagine how much it means to me personally.

Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher were both in Showbands. Eamonn Carr, drummer from Horslips was the son of a Ceili Band drummer and band leader. Thin Lizzy and Skid Row were bands we saw twice or more each week and Ian Whitcomb and Bluesville were a local band. These were magic times for a frustrated musician turned D.J., but it was my well spent/misspent youth and I wouldn’t trade it for all the Guinness in St. James’s Gate.

Enough already. Suffice to say, this exhibit is great.

Barry Stapleton is the Director of the Irish Music Archives and likely one of the foremost experts on Irish Music in its broader sense. Barry, a trained baritone, used to sing opera. Music drew him to Milwaukee’s Irish Fest where he volunteered until becoming Director of the Archives in 1999. He now doubles as music coordinator for the fest, along with Ward brothers, Chuck and Ed.

The History of Irish Rock exhibit was at the Gaelic Park Irish Festival in Chicago in May; the Celtic Fling in Pennsylvania in June; will feature at LaCrosse Irish Fest next month in Wisconsin and, later this year, the Irish Festival in Baltimore, MD.

This month their new exhibit, The History of Irish Traditional Music, makes its debut at the Dublin, OH festival; will be at Milwaukee Irish Fest and later at Kansas City Irish Fest.

This exhibit explores the journey of our great legacy of Traditional music from O’Carolan to the present day. It highlights the Great Era of O’Neill, The Golden Age of Recorded Irish Music with Michael Coleman and Tom Ennis, then into the present day with the Chieftains, Liz Carroll and Mike Moloney and many more. Plenty of audio in this exhibit.

“It’s all about creating awareness,” Barry says, “of opening up and expanding what Chief O’Neill did. What O’Neill did in his time, we at the Irish Music Archives are doing in our time, preserving the legacy of Irish music for generations to come.”
Barry tells me they are digitizing the exhibits and they’ll be online soon at www.irishmusicarchive.com.

Van The Man
Van Morrison was at the Rosemont Theatre last month to promote his new album Keep it Simple. Traci went along to see Van, as she’s been a lifelong fan and according to her, the magic is still there. The new album lives up to expectations as Van in his inimitable way, cruises through 11 beautiful songs that range from blues to ballads. Another great album.

Heathers
Young Dublin twins, Ellie and Louise McNamara, have been touring America recently bringing along their own brand of acoustic music. They are 18 years old and just finished high school in June. They call themselves Heathers—check them out on myspace.com/heatherswhatsyourdamage. Great kids with an impressive musical pedigree.