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With St Patrick's Day on the horizon, there will be plenty of Irish
music for you to sample I'm sure. We're going to do our best to
offer you some quality entertainment of the Irish/ Celtic genre.
(Concert trivia: What was the only concert in the Celtic concert
series to be cancelled due to bad weather? Answer later.)
On
3/1/01, Patrick Street will perform in the Millard Auditorium. Since
it's likely that date will have passed by the time you read this
article, I'll say no more about them. The next event on our concert
schedule will be the rescheduled Green Linnet Celtic Tour 2001, now
starting at the Millard Auditorium on Thursday 3/22/01. The tour,
originally scheduled as at triple bill, has lost the talents of Liz
Carroll due to the change in date. But never fear, the remaining two
acts will be sure to impress and satisfy you. They are Scotland's
Old Blind Dogs and Ireland's Niamh Parsons Band. (More trivia: What
was the only other double bill in the Celtic concert series? Answer
later.)
Niamh
(pronounced "Neeve") Parsons is a Dublin-born singer of
incomparable richness and depth. Often compared to Mary Black and
Sandy Denny, Niamh's smoky contralto has charmed reviewers and
audiences worldwide. She was recently chosen by Garrison Keillor for
"A Prairie Home Companion's" live broadcast from Dublin on
March 4,2000. (His St Patrick's Day show.) In the last two years,
Niamh has released two highly acclaimed albums of traditional Irish
songs, "Blackbirds and Thrushes" and "In My
Prime". In their review, "The Scotsman" said 'A
songstress like Niamh Parsons comes along only once or twice in a
generation.'
The
Old Blind Dogs, based in Aberdeen, have been mining the traditional
tunes of their native northeast Scotland, and polishing them with a
bright contemporary brilliance, since 1990. This creative quintet
made their Green Linnet debut with the 2000 release of "The
World's Room". On this CD and its predecessors on the Lochshore
label, the Dogs show off their mix of fiery bagpipes, fiddles and
guitar. Original vocalist Ian Benzies was replaced on the last CD by
the rich vocals of Jim Malcolm, a well-established traditional
singer/guitarist in his own right before joining the band. Original
members Johnnie Hardie (fiddle, guitar and mandolin) and Buzzby
McMillan (Bass, cittern and whistles) are joined by piper Rory
Campbell and teenage percussion phenom Paul Jennings. "This is
one of Scotland's hottest young folk properties,” said Scotland on
Sunday.
I
know you'll have a great evening of entertainment with these
two highly acclaimed and talented acts. Come on out to enjoy them in
a post St Patrick's Day celebration on 3/22/01 in the Millard
Auditorium.
The
rest of our concert schedule for the year 2001 is shaping up well.
On 5/11/01, we'll present the Aoife Clancy Band. Aoife (pronounced
"Eefa") is the daughter of Bobby Clancy and former lead
vocalist for Cherish the Ladies. Speaking of those
"Ladies", their gig, originally scheduled for 6/1 then
moved to 6/6, has now been moved (for the last time they promise me)
to 8/16/01. This will be a full-scale performance in the Millard
Auditorium, including their well-known dancers. On September 20th
and 21st we will welcome back Ireland's Dervish. This is one of
their favorite places to play in America, and though we're a much
smaller venue than what they're accustomed to playing in recent
years, they still tell their agent to make us one of the anchor
dates on their US tours. Finally, on 10/3 we'll get another
opportunity to see Danu with their tremendous new vocalist Ciaran
O'Gealbhain.
Tickets
for all but the Dervish and Danu shows are already on sale through
the University of Hartford box office at 1-800-274-8587 or
1-860-768-4228. The tickets for the later two shows will probably go
on sale in April '01.
As
you know we had our annual Marathon fundraiser during the end of
February. Now we really
need to have all of you show your support for the station and the
commercial free alternative programming we provide during that week,
by sending in your check to fulfill your pledge. If you paid with a
credit card you will soon receive the premium you requested. I procured a goodly number
of fine Celtic CDs that we offered to you as thank you gifts for
your completed pledges, but I urge you to recall that it's the
weekly programs that you're really supporting.
Thanks
for your ongoing support of Celtic Airs, the concert series and WWUH
radio. Don't forget to tune me in on Tuesday mornings from 6:00-9:00
AM.
Trivia Answers: The only concert cancelled by foul weather
was to have featured Niamh Parsons in February '96. It took us 5
years to get her to book a gig with us again! The only other double
bill in our 50+ concert series was concert #2 featuring Pendragon
and Fourin A Feire.
Copyright©WWUH: March/April Program Guide, 2001 |
