CEOL AGUS CRAIC: A Summer Full of Music Looms
By ERIN MULLAN
Ceol binn a bhaint as an saol! April is a blessed month here on the coast, with spring full on and glorious with it. It’s also the time of year when the dust settles for summer tour and festival plans. Watch this space next month for a preview of musical highlights from the coming summer.
April also brings a few terrific Celtic concerts to lure us back indoors.......On April 25 there’s a fine night of fiddle music at St. James Hall (the new home base of the Rogue Folk Club) when young Nova Scotia fiddler/pianist Troy MacGillivray hits Vancouver on his first national tour and shares the bill with former Paperboys fiddler Shona Le Mottee.......The utterly sublime Irish band Dervish return to Cap College April 30 on the heels of their fab new disc Spirit.......Mad Pudding will be playing the Rogue birthday party bash on May 14 at St. James.......Quebec band Genticorum may be here in June.........Shooglenifty will be back in mid-July, possibly as part of a double-bill at The Commodore.......One-man band extraordinaire Rory McLeod plays St. James on July 20.......Martin Simpson is a strong possibility for a St. James date in late July.......Brian MacNeill could be here in August.......Four Men & A Dog have reunited for a late summer tour.......Lúnasa will return on October 9.......The Rogue Folks are working on a date for Dougie MacLean in November.
Local motion:
The last Irish céilí of the season is April 17 at the Victoria Drive Community Hall with Erratica supplying the music. Beginners and kids welcome. For more information on céilís or the weekly Irish set dancing, call (604) 731-9513 or (604) 736-8305.......The final Scottish Ceilidh Dance of this season is April 30 at the Scottish Cultural Centre. They teach all the steps and no partner needed. Info: (604) 436-3193........The Scottish Country Dance classes have ended for the season. Watch this space next month for details on summer dancing.......The Wolf & Hound has traditional sessions on Monday and Wednesday nights.......The Irish Heather hosts traditional Irish music sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Recordings:
The Kinnitty Sessions is the latest and possibly the best from Irish super-group Lúnasa. It was recorded live before a small invited audience at Kinnitty Castle in County Offaly.......Mozaik Live from the Powerhouse is another all-star outfit, with Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Nikola Parov, Bruce Molsky and Rens Vanderzalm.in the lineup.......Irish-American singer Susan McKeown has a lovely new release called Sweet Liberty.......Scottish band The Iron Horse have a new release: The Wind Shall Blow For Evermore.......Fiddle player Oisín Mac Diarmada from hot new group Téada has recorded a solo disc entitled Irish Fiddle Music from Sligo.......Up South is a new album by Scottish piper Fred Morrison and bouzouki player Jamies McMenemy.
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