Arts and Entertainment

Gatehouse, “Heather Down the Moor” • This quartet’s second album carries the same appeal as its first: masterful technical proficiency among the musicians, but also those indefinable yet invaluable qualities – spirit and temperament – with which they... Read more
A welcome fixture in the annual March festivities, “A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn” returns this month for its 13th year of featuring performers with ties to Boston and New England as well as others from further afield. The show will stop at Rockport’... Read more
Last year at this time, the award-winning Irish folk quartet Lankum had recently finished its first-ever tour of the US, which included a stop in Cambridge where the band played to a full house in Harvard Square’s Club Passim. The tour was a foundational... Read more
Seamus Egan, who has lived in Mayo as well as metropolitan Philadelphia and its suburbs – is in the midst of his third winter as a resident of Vermont, at the western edge of the Green Mountains, and all things considered, it has been going pretty well. “... Read more
Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Sweat” is currently stirring the emotional pot at the Huntington Theatre. Set in Reading, PA, and based on interviews Nottage conducted with residents there, the play chronicles what happens in the working-class... Read more
Two of the most accomplished and revered Irish singers of the past half-century (give or take a few years have added to their discographies in recent months: Andy Irvine, “Old Dog, Long Road Vol. 1” • If you haven’t already been thoroughly impressed,... Read more
Two-time #1 Billboard Charting artist Tim Janis and Grammy/Emmy nominated artistMáiréad Nesbitt (founding member of the global phenomenon Celtic Woman) return to Public Television in 2020 for the brand new musical special Celtic Heart. Celtic Heart... Read more
Despite cold temperatures throughout and a snowstorm on its closing night, BCMFest (the Boston Celtic Music Fest) enjoyed a highly successful 17th year when it took place January 16-19. The Harvard Square-based festival, which celebrates the rich trove of... Read more
    Westwood native Ashley Smith-Wallace can cite time-honored reasons for her success as a youthful Irish step dancer, and then as a multi-style dancer/choreographer and rising actress and singer – things like hard work, patience, support from family and... Read more
by R. J. Donovan  Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted that ”music and wine are one.” Kristen Lee Sergeant is living that conviction to the fullest. A native of Manchester-by-the-Sea, she’s a jazz vocalist and composer who has blended her passion for music and... Read more
Bob Bradshaw, “Queen of the West” • With every album he makes, Bradshaw, a Cork-born singer/songwriter who has been living in Boston for some years now, has shown himself willing and very able to take bold steps forward and try out new things. This time... Read more
In addition to BCMFest, January’s Irish/Celtic area happenings will include another Boston visit by Galway Irish-Americana quartet We Banjo 3, which will perform at the Somerville Theater on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m., as part of the Global Arts Live series. “WB3... Read more
In addition to BCMFest [see separate story], January’s Irish/Celtic area happenings will include another Boston visit by Galway Irish-Americana quartet We Banjo 3, which will perform at the Somerville Theater on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m., as part of the Global... Read more
BY R. J. DONOVAN SPECIAL TO THE BIR Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham is celebrating the holiday season with “Miracle on 34th Street,” based on the classic 1947 film of the same name, starring Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood. Directed by Ilyse... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR Liz Carroll and Haley Richardson, outstanding Irish fiddlers from different generations, and Newfoundland folk/traditional singer Matthew Byrne are featured in this year’s “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” the holiday show... Read more
By Sean Smith In addition to “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn” (see separate story ), there are – unsurprisingly – plenty of other Irish/Celtic-related holiday music events in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts over the next few weeks. •The Irish... Read more
BY SEAN SMITH Martin Hayes & Brooklyn Rider, “The Butterfly” Hayes is a paragon of East Clare fiddle, with its somewhat slower, relaxed feel compared to other traditions, marked by long, fluid bowing. He’s also shown himself adept at bringing East... Read more
Irish music singer and scholar, Dan Milner plumbs integration of New York’s ‘Unstoppable Irish’ Time frame: 1783-1883 By Sean Smith Special to the BIR Dan Milner has an enviable triple-threat musical quality: He’s equally good at writing and talking... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR Understand, it’s not as if Bob Childs wants Childsplay to end. For more than three decades, the Boston-based all-star fiddle ensemble for which Childs serves as artistic director as well as namesake has gathered almost... Read more
By Sean Smith Special to the BIR For Boston musician, singer, dancer, and composer Christine Delphine Hedden, memories don’t always reside solely in the mind. The red bow adorning her fiddle’s pegbox, for example, is a remembrance of her second visit to... Read more

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