Arts and Entertainment

Dan Gurney, “Ignorance Is Bliss” • A native of New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, Gurney is a cross-platform app developer, co-founder of the live web-broadcasting site Concert Window, and not so incidentally, one of the country’s finest traditional Irish... Read more
Celebrated singer/songwriter talks about ‘Unfinished Business,’ among other things Paul Brady, a prominent figure in Irish music for nearly five decades, will come to the City Winery in Boston for a solo concert on Sept. 12. A native of Strabane, Brady... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH BIR CORRESPONDENT It’s been a heady last five years or so for Scottish Fish, a fiddles-and-cello quintet of five young Boston-area women who play traditional and original music in the Scottish and Cape Breton style. During that period, the... Read more
BY R. J. DONOVAN SPECIAL TO THE BIR Shakespeare stands as one the world’s most famous writers, yet much of his personal life lies blurred in mystery. The Bard had only one son, Hamnet, born in 1585 and named for a local friend. The playwright reportedly... Read more
Connla, “The Next Chapter” • The second full-length album from this young Northern Ireland quintet shows a band that has distilled numerous traits of the Irish folk revival: a bit of Flook here, some Moving Hearts there, traces of Solas, Lúnasa, perhaps... Read more
It’s opening night for Disney’s “Aladdin” at The Boston Opera House. A distinguished looking gentleman with silver hair stands in the lobby with friends. Several thousand ticket holders pass by him, never realizing the subtle impact he’ll have on their... Read more
The Irish Cultural Centre located in Canton, MA is a mecca for touring Irish musicians, dancers and up and coming Irish band. At their recent festival they hosted Ireland’s leading bluegrass group “JigJam” and Super trad group from Galway “BackWest.”... Read more
Medford native Eric McDonald, 31, has become one of the more prolific performers in the Boston and New England folk/traditional music scene. Now based in Portland, Me., McDonald – an accomplished guitarist, mandolinist and vocalist – has played in a duo... Read more
Make no mistake: Christine Hatch, Aisling Keating, Melinda Kerwin, and Nancy Beaudette are grown-up women, with families and jobs and other adult stuff like that. But every so often, the four are happy just to be girls. Kelly Girls, that is. Based west of... Read more
Where music is concerned, the Irish music trio Open the Door for Three – Maine-based spouses Liz Knowles (fiddle) and Kieran O’Hare (uilleann pipes, flute, whistle) and their friend, Irish-born Chicagoan Pat Broaders (bouzouki, vocals) – takes it... Read more
Reagle Music Theater in Waltham continues its 50th anniversary season with the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes,” which will be playing from July 5 to July 15. Set on a luxury liner sailing from New York to London, the breezy, tap-dancing spectacular... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH Lúnasa, “Cas” • They could have just released seven of the 12 tracks on this album and thoroughly delighted most, if not all, of the Lúnasa fan base. But as befits a band that for more than 20 years has continually moved ahead instead of... Read more
BY R. J. DONOVAN SPECIAL TO THE BIR Lindsay Crouse comes from theatrical royalty. The Oscar-nominated actress and educator is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Russel Crouse. From 1935 to 1962, Mr. Crouse and his writing partner, Howard... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH SPECIAL TO THE BIR Boston will be seeing quite a bit of Brattleboro-based traditional singer and musician Keith Murphy this month, and in three different contexts. On June 1, he’ll be accompanying American-Scottish fiddler Hanneke Cassel and... Read more
The arrival of warm weather is a time for festivals and other outdoor performances – such as the Irish Cultural Centre of New England’s Boston Irish Festival [see separate story] – that feature Irish/Celtic music. Here is a look at some events in greater... Read more
The fiddler and pianist Charlie Lennon, a celebrated musician and innovator in the Irish tradition, is known for composing numerous tunes that have become part of Irish music repertoires everywhere. He has also integrated the Irish traditional form into... Read more
The Gloaming, “Live at the NCH” • This occasional band is the union of five intriguing personalities and talents, all steeped in traditional music while very open to influences from contemporary sources: Martin Hayes, a master of the lyrical East Clare... Read more
Lydia Barnett-Mulligan has been studying and performing Shakespeare since she was 15 years old. The actor, director, and education artist got her start via the educational program at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. She’s now a member of the... Read more
May 13 is Mother’s Day this year, but it’ll be a “Fathers and Sons Afternoon” on the Burren Backroom stage. That’s because the Backroom series will feature a concert at 4 p.m. with Boston-area bouzouki player and singer John Coyne and Seattle-based... Read more
The New England folk trio Low Lily takes its name from a flower commonly found in the region, but its musical vision evokes the arboreal: roots and branches. Flynn Cohen (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Liz Simmons (guitar, piano, vocals), and Lissa... Read more

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