Arts and Entertainment

The Kane Sisters, “In Memory of Paddy Fahey” • Perhaps writers should be subject to some kind of formal reprimand for using the phrase “words fail me” – if they do, then why are we here anyway? – but it’s awfully tempting to do so regarding the newest... Read more
We’ve all heard of William Shakespeare, playwright, poet and actor.  The Bard of Avon. But have you heard of Henry Condell and John Heminges? Probably not. Yet history tells us that without the last two, we might never have heard of the first. When... Read more
•The high-quality, well-loved and equally well-attended slate of concerts that Brian O’Donovan organized, nourished, and emceed for so many years at the Burren Backroom will now live on there in his name. And the Brian O’Donovan Legacy Series will get off... Read more
The tributes have been constant and numerous since Brian O’Donovan died earlier this month, as well they should be. He did so much to make Boston a fertile environment for folk and acoustic music, Irish/Celtic in particular, through his WGBH “Celtic... Read more
  “Lizzie Borden took an ax And gave her mother 40 whacksAnd when she saw what she had done,She gave her father 41.” So goes the macabre children’s ditty referencing the horrific Fall River family murders possibly carried out by Lizzie Borden in 1892.... Read more
The phrase “relentlessly creative” seems an apt one for Dundalk native vocalist and flute/whistle player Kennedy, one of the more active and prolific figures in Irish music for the past decade or so. In addition to her solo work – “Shorelines” is her... Read more
When he set out to make his recently released recording “Refractions,” New England Celtic musician Neil Pearlman discovered the full significance of the phrase “solo album.” “There’s really nowhere to hide,” says Pearlman, a Portland resident who’s been... Read more
A look at Irish/Celtic music events in Greater Boston over the next few weeks: •Donegal fiddler Oisín McAuley, a member of Danú who’s also performed with bands like Cran and Stockton’s Wing – and happens to be director of summer programs at the Berklee... Read more
Organizers hope to establish the festival among other major cultural events that now take place during the year in the Mill City, including the Lowell Folk Festival, Southeast Asian Water Festival, and Winterfest. It’s a mid-day to late-night affair,... Read more
  The Rockport Celtic Festival at the Shalin-Liu Performance Center (Sept. 14-17) is geared toward exploring the similarities as well as the differences between music traditions, Irish and otherwise, that have become associated with The festival, now in... Read more
Clannad, the Donegal family band that improbably became a worldwide pop music sensation, is calling it quits after more than 50 years, and will bid adieu to Boston on Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. at the Wilbur Theatre [thewilbur.com]. Sadly, Clannad’s “In a... Read more
All well and good when you have an artistic inspiration that seems fascinating in concept and explanation. But can you make it come alive in a way that actually is fascinating? If you’re Jackie O’Riley and Rebecca McGowan, two Boston-area Irish dance... Read more
It’s a brilliant summer Sunday afternoon, and inside The Cottage Bar in Weymouth a singular moment of anticipation is taking place. Around a large rectangular table in a corner of the restaurant, there are 15 fiddles tucked under youthful chins; 15 bows,... Read more
Art is the magic mirror you make to reflect your invisible dreams in visible pictures. You use a glass mirror to see your face: you use works of art to see your soul. – George Bernard Shaw   This month I am going to steer clear of the major issues of the... Read more
*[UPDATE: The Frankie Gavin-Catherine McHugh shows have once again been postponed, and are being rescheduled for a later date.] After having to cancel their planned American tour earlier this summer, fiddler nonpareil Frankie Gavin and pianist Catherine... Read more
  The fourth album from the Dublin quartet of self-described “folk miscreants” finds them continuing to meet expectations by defying them.  Starting out as Lynched, an experimental psychedelic folk-punk duo of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, the band took... Read more
  When Jack Mullen steps onstage as Scuttle, The Seagull, in “The Little Mermaid” at Reagle Music Theatre, he’ll bring with him more professional experience than the average 21-year-old might offer.   The Millis native began his professional stage career... Read more
The quartet Reverie Road seems a curious, even improbable combination: three pillars of Irish traditional music — Winifred Horan, John Williams, and Katie Grennan — and Indian-born Utsav Lal, dubbed the “raga pianist” and known for his unique blending of... Read more
  A look at upcoming Irish/Celtic events in Greater Boston: One of the most compelling figures to emerge in the 1970s Irish music scene, concertina player Noel Hill, will be at the Burren for a 4 p.m. show on Aug. 13. At a time when the Irish folk revival... Read more
John Doyle & Mick McAuley • Their membership in Solas overlapped for roughly two years, but clearly that wasn’t enough of a collaborative opportunity for these two – among the most accomplished, high-profile Irish musicians of their generation –... Read more

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