Arts and Entertainment
A look at some upcoming Irish/Celtic-related music events in Greater Boston
•Fódhla, the trio of Medford fiddler Ellery Klein and Maine residents Nicole Rabata (flute, whistle) and Bethany Waickman (guitar), makes a rare and welcome return to the Greater... Read more
Well-traveled and accomplished Boston-based fiddler Mari Black and Nova Scotian fiddler/pianist Troy MacGillivray – one of the leading lights in Cape Breton music for most of this century – team up on June 20 at Harvard Square’s Club Passim for a special... Read more
This month's events include album launches by Pine Tree Flyers (May 5, Club Passim). and Louise Bichan (May 8, Brian O'Donovan Legacy Series), which you can read about separately. Here's what else is going on:
•Two fiddlers in the Scottish and Cape... Read more
New England-based Scottish fiddler Louise Bichan seems to have a thing about journeys of discovery.
The epic travels of her grandmother, Margaret Tait, through Canada as a young woman provided the inspiration and the basis for Bichan's 2016 debut album... Read more
There are bands – whether Irish, pan-Celtic, rock-n-roll, jazz, pop, funk, death-metal, or any other genre – that come together by circumstance or by accident, or even just for laughs.
Then there are bands like the Maine-based Pine Tree Flyers, a... Read more
Robert Frost is, arguably, one of America’s finest poets. The four-time Pulitzer Prize winner was born in San Francisco in 1874. Following the death of his father, he and his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. He graduated from Lawrence High... Read more
A look at upcoming Irish/Celtic music events in Greater Boston
Guess these things just happen sometimes: By whatever twist of fate, this coming month includes an abundance of concerts with performers who have brand new or recently released albums.
•At... Read more
Quite a journey for this Belfast band, which started out more than a decade ago as a trio with uilleann pipers Conor Lamb and Aaron O’Hagan – both also playing whistle and flute – and guitarist and vocalist Deirdre Galway. By the release of their second... Read more
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh has known for quite a while that she’s onto a good thing.
The co-founder, lead vocalist, and fiddler for the acclaimed Donegal band Altan, Ní Mhaonaigh began playing traditional music as a kid and has scarcely stopped since then.
“... Read more
At first glance, a theatrical collaboration between the acclaimed Irish playwright, screenwriter and director Conor McPherson, and American music legend Bob Dylan might appear an unlikely partnership. However, the resulting project, “The Girl from the... Read more
If it seems like a long time since Matt and Shannon Heaton last released an album, well, it is: not since 2014, when the local Irish music duo came out with “Tell You in Earnest.”
But in January, the Heatons formally launched their sixth recording, “... Read more
So, here we are, in what is arguably the most active month on the Irish/Celtic music calendar – especially here in Greater Boston/Eastern Massachusetts. A sampling of what’s coming up follows.
– SEAN SMITH
We’ll start with the Burren’s Brian O’Donovan... Read more
By Sean Smith
BostonIrish Contributor
The passing of Brian O’Donovan last fall has been felt keenly by the Celtic music community in the Boston area and elsewhere – a community he had no small part in fostering.
O’Donovan died on Oct. 6 of glioblastoma;... Read more
From spirited comedies to award-winning dramas and Broadway legends, here’s a sampling of what will be brightening Boston stages in the coming weeks.
“Thirst”Through March 17, Lyric Stage Company
In Ronan Noone’s latest... Read more
Eugene O’Neill’s classic drama “Long Day's Journey Into Night” follows one devastating day in the life of the Tyrone family. Set in 1912 in the family’s Connecticut summer home, the highly autobiographical Pulitzer Prize-winning play reveals a family... Read more
On the heels of the successful “Postcards From Ireland,” Celtic Woman will carry on its legacy of uplifting performances packed with breath-taking harmonies and instrumental virtuosity. The group today announced it will bring an all-new live show to... Read more
February might seem like the paradigmatic calm before the storm of March and its St. Patrick’s Day-related festivities, but there’s a fair amount of Irish/Celtic music in Boston and vicinity during the shortest month.
•The phrase “pure dead brilliant” is... Read more
Cillian Vallely and David Doocey, “The Yew & the Orchard” • Vallely and Worcester native Doocey share some significant attributes, notably the strong presence of traditional music in the family: In fact, both have siblings who, like themselves, are... Read more
By R. J. DonovanSpecial to Boston Irish
The Here Comes Everybody Players, in collaboration with Tir Na Productions, will present the world premiere of “Bumbled,” a new comedy by Colin Hamell and Bernard McMullan that is directed by Carmel O’Reilly and... Read more
If it seems like a long time since Matt and Shannon Heaton last released an album, well, it is: not since 2014, when the local Irish music duo came out with “Tell You in Earnest.”
But on Wed., Jan. 24, the Heatons will formally launch their sixth... Read more
