April 29, 2026
•Lest you forget, the first-ever Tunes on the Charles festival hits full stride this weekend, with plenty of sessions, concerts and workshops. Get the backstory on the festival here.
•The Burren’s Brian O’Donovan Legacy Series has a decidedly local focus to it this month, starting on May 6 with an album launch concert by fiddle-cello sibling duo Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, and you can read more about it here.
On May 10, the series features vocal quartet Forsyth, whose members Erin Hogan, Kate Knudsvig, Helen Kuhar and Kate Wallace are all active in various aspects of the local folk/trad scene. They represent wide-ranging musical talents, interests and experiences (ranging from Americana-styled songwriting to contra dance to classical to pure-drop traditional Irish) that join together to present songs from Celtic and other music traditions. With groups like Ye Vagabonds and Lankum as inspiration, Forsyth puts its focus squarely on their voices – solo, in unison or harmony, with little or no instrumental accompaniment – and the words and melodies squarely in the spotlight. They have an album coming out later this year, which no doubt will get a preview at this concert.
Three days later (May 13, if you don’t want to do the math) is the ever-popular Revels Pub Sing led by David Coffin, known to many through his appearances in the annual Revels productions. There will be plenty of sea chanteys and maritime songs, but the subjects of work, love and general recreation and fun are likely to be well represented, too. While joining in on the chorus is certainly not mandated, you'll certainly be in the minority if you don’t.
Contemporary Irish folk band Ishna takes the stage May 27, led by spouses vocalist Ciaran Nagle – a founding member and producer of the Three Irish Tenors – and violinist/vocalist Tara Novak, who in addition to The Three Tenors has been in "Riverdance." Nagle, Novak and their cohorts – David McGrory (piano, accordion, viola), Dan Meyers (uilleann pipes, whistles, flute, bodhran), Bjorn Wennas (guitar) and Brian O'Neill (drums, percussion) – bring a wealth of influences, including classical, pop and world music, to their arrangements of Irish traditional music. Last year, the group released its first album, "Slí Amach: Way Out," which includes some classic songs like "The Foggy Dew," "Whiskey in the Jar" and "Cúnla" and popular instrumentals ("Blarney Pilgrim," "Drowsy Maggie," "My Love Is in America").
Information on all Burren/Brian O’Donovan Legacy Series events is here.
•Small-hall concerts seem to be on an upswing, and certainly one of the more prolific is the Live at The Druid series, which takes place at The Lilypad in Inman Square (next to the titular pub). On May 22, the series will host John Paul Wick, an accomplished fiddler from the New York City area – a member of the estimable Mike Rafferty-Joe Madden branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann who’s studied the East Clare/East Galway style under Siobhán and Willie Kelly – accompanied by bouzouki player Ted Davis, a mainstay in Greater Boston Irish music for decades. Tickets are available here .
Another cozy venue is at the Luthier Collective in Somerville, the headquarters for a group providing instruction, repairs and other resources for string players. The Collective has been hosting a Scottish music session as well as occasional concerts, and on May 28 will feature the fiddle duo of Clara Rose and Raphaella Hero. Rose and Hero, who met at Berklee College of Music, incorporate Celtic, Scandinavian and American traditions along with their original music and improvisations, offering listeners a means for contemplation and relaxation, “an invitation to be.” Tickets here.
•For those whose Celtic music tastes extend to Quebecois, the trio É.T.É will be at Harvard Square’s Club Passim on May 3. Élisabeth Moquin (fiddle, step dancing, vocals), bouzouki player Thierry Clouette (guitar, bouzouki, feet percussion, vocals) and Élisabeth Giroux (cello, vocals) – the first letters of their first names form the French word for “summer” – combine that irresistible Quebecois rhythmic vibe with folk and jazz influences and their own material as well as charming vocal harmonies to create what they call “Power Chamber Trad.” They’ve won numerous honors, the most recent being the Création Aldor 2025 award, which recognizes the commitment and achievements of important figures in Quebec's traditional culture scene.
Passim’s annual Memorial Day Weekend Campfire Festival – which this year takes place from May 22-25 – is an opportunity to listen to many iterations of folk and acoustic music, and this year’s edition includes performers from Greater Boston’s Celtic scene.
Adam Hendey, who will kick off the festival on May 22, is an accomplished guitarist and singer who can often be found co-leading sessions as well as collaborating with various musicians and singers in town or elsewhere (such as Scotland’s Iona Fyfe). He’s just released his second solo album, “Illuminate,” with songs from Scotland, Ireland and New England as well as his own compositions.
Isabel Oliart has won competitions for Scottish fiddle playing as well as Scottish-style tune writing, a fast-emerging aspect of her music; her tastes also extend to Irish, Cape Breton and contra dance. She’s played solo and collaborative concerts at The Burren and BCMFest, and in 2023 released her debut album, “Late Evening’s Dram.” At Campfire, she’ll open Day 3 (May 24) along with Anne Hooper, a distinguished figure in local Scottish music who has mentored numerous fiddlers and served as music director for events by Boston’s Royal Scottish Music Country Dance Society.
Information about Club Passim events is available here .
•The Irish Cultural Centre of Greater Boston in Canton presents a trio of special music events this month, starting on May 16 with the Ryan McCombe Trio. McCombe is a New Yorker of Irish ancestry who, not being content with being a champion step dancer, took up an assortment of instruments – octave mandolin, guitar, bass, bodhran, piano, tenor banjo, accordion, whistle and perhaps a few more – and delved into singing. His song repertoire is very much in the “Irish Diaspora” vein, from “The Rattling Bog” and "Leaving of Liverpool" to Shane McGowan’s “Fairytale of New York,” as well as covers of Buddy MacDonald's "Getting Dark Again" – with a special video featuring 35 dancers from three countries – and even The Saw Doctors' "N17." McCombe is quite proficient playing tunes as well, and has often collaborated with numerous New York CIty-area musicians for gigs and recordings.
Neil Byrne has been a regular visitor to Greater Boston as a member of Celtic Thunder (since 2007), but on May 25 he'll be doing a solo show, "It's An Irish Thing," at the ICC. The Wicklow native often tours as part of a duo with fellow Celtic Thunderer Ryan Kelly –- they've released five albums, all produced by Byrne, and an award-winning music documentary – and has recorded an EP, "Sensitive Souls," as well as a full-length pop-oriented release, "Faces," as Pale Blue Jak. His other projects have included composing a musical score with animator Aidan McAteer for the short film “Deadly” in collaboration with Celtic Thunder musical director David Munro, earning a “Best Film Score” award among 110 films at the Underground Cinema Awards for Short Film.
Tyrone-born singer-songwriter and fiddler Bernadette Morris, who is at the ICC on May 31, is one of those relatively rare individuals who took the proverbial step of quitting her day job to take up music full time, and has been able to make a go of it. Her debut recording, "All the Ways You Wander," featured mainly Irish and American traditional songs but her most recent, 2023's "To the Well for Water," is mainly her own or co-written compositions, with a recurring theme of self-discovery and being comfortable in one's own skin; two of the songs, "Calling Out Your Name" (with co-author Bob McNeil) and "Believe In Yourself" (with co-author Johnny Brady), reflect her Christian faith. But she certainly hasn't completely left Irish trad behind, as her rendition of the reel "Jerry's Beaver Hat" indicates.
