Glowing with the approach of St. Patrick's Day

I always loved that ole bit of poetry that goes “In Spring, a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of St. Patrick’s Day…” or something like that.

Whatever the quote (yes, I know the real one), it is that time of year when we find people really DO want to listen to a variety of Irish songs and tunes…some they know, and some they have yet to discover. Well, we have a bunch of dates coming up that you may want to mark on the calendar…and we hope to see you soon so we can play the stuff you know, and maybe introduce you to a new favorite!

• March 15, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 16, 11:30a-1:30pm @ Brooksby Village Retirement Community, Peabody, MA (as Sligo Road w/ Terry Weir) 
• March 17, 1-4pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 17, 7:30-10:30pm  @ Feile Restaurant, Wells, ME
• March 21, 5:30-8:30pm  @ The Port Tavern, Newburyport, MA (as Sligo Road w/ Terry Weir)
• March 22, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH
• March 29, 7-10pm  @ Ri Ra, Portsmouth, NH

Who was that man? ….. now …. it *was* a man wasn’t it?…..

Ian from Kate O'Shea's Irish Pub, with our friends Mark and Claire Tobyne

Well, they weren’t lying. I stopped in last week to confirm an upcoming gig with owners Ian and Kerri, and they were very welcoming and friendly. Then again, I like any pub where the owners book live music.

Don’t take my word for it, though! Come on down to check out Kate O’Shea’s Irish Pub for yourself this Friday night (Feb. 19). We’ll be playing there starting at 7:30 pm, and hope to make our debut at Kate’s a great night. We’re looking forward to seeing some friends there, and maybe even dragging Mark and Claire up on stage to sing us a song.

Not that Irish love songs end particularly well, mind you. Seamus Eagan from Solas once opined that the relationships in Irish love songs “either never get off the ground, or they end particularly badly.”

Anyway, we recently had a few requests for a particular love song that I hadn’t heard in years, called “Grace”…so I went ahead and learned it. Now that I’ve done a bit of research about the song, I thought I’d share the history of this lovely classic.

This isn’t some kind of sentimental saccharine of this Hallmark holiday…this song made famous by Jim McCann tells a true story of love that is directly tied to the fight for Ireland’s independence.

Grace Gifford

At the turn of the last century, there was a young Irish woman named Grace Gifford. A cartoonist by trade, she was engaged to a poet and journalist by the name of Joseph Plunkett. They were supposed to be married on Easter Sunday in 1916 in University Chapel on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin.

Now those who know about the Easter Rising in 1916 will recognize Plunkett’s name. He was one of the leaders of the rebellion and, at age 28, was the youngest to sign the Proclamation of the Republic that Patrick Pearse read at the General Post Office in Dublin.

In planning the revolt, the secrecy required meant that Joseph couldn’t tell Grace that their wedding plans would be replaced by the Easter Rising.

Joseph Plunkett

Following the failed revolt, Plunkett and the other leaders were sentenced to death by firing squad at Kilmainham Jail. When Grace learned that her darling Joseph was to be killed the next day, she bought a ring and rushed to the jail at night. She and Joseph were married in the chapel in the early morning of May 4 under guard from 20 soldiers and, as soon as the ceremony ended, Plunkett was taken back to his cell. Later that morning, he was marched to the courtyard and shot.

I can’t imagine what it would have been like for Grace to look into his eyes and pledge her undying love, knowing that he’d be taken from her in just a few hours. As the last line of the song’s chorus says: “There won’t be time to share our love, for we must say goodbye.”

Some people may point to Romeo and Juliet as a great love story, but that was fiction. The true story of Grace and Joseph takes my breath away. I don’t view the song a republican anthem, it’s a terrific reminder that we should always let those we love know how we feel every chance we get.

Kevin Dolan as he looked when I first met him in the early '90s

I was psyched the other day when I got an email from an old friend of mine, Kevin Dolan. For anyone who’s read my bio on this site, you’ll know that Kevin was a big influence when I was first considered moving from the punter’s seat to the stage. He and Marty Quirk were extremely supportive when I would show up at The Wild Rover in Manchester, bodhran in hand. Not only did they let me join in on the occasional song, but we had many long conversations about music, songs, and life in general.

Anyway, when I got Kevin’s email, it had been a while since we had last spoken. But he was excited to send me a link to a YouTube video that his bandmate Simon Crawford had put together for one of Kevin’s songs. Called ‘Freedom Road,’ it’s a tribute to the men and women in uniform that serve our country. I thought it was definitely worth sharing…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve always been a fan of Kevin’s songwriting and I even do one that he wrote called ‘Kings Highway‘ — I got that one from a bootleg called “Kevin is Dead.” Long story behind that name…and I dare not get into it here.

As you may know, I don’t usually suggest CDs here, but you might want to check out one of the albums Kevin did with his band, Acoustic Nuisance. Our friends at Ossian USA can hook you up with their first one, and the live album they did a few years ago is on CD Baby.

Of course, nothing beats seeing Kevin perform live. I’m trying to get him to have him come down to Portsmouth to sit-in with Dave and I on a Monday night at Ri Ra, but that hasn’t worked out yet. In the meantime, if you’re up north for a ski weekend, he plays every Sunday at The Shannon Door Pub in Jackson, NH. You should definitely pop-in for a pint, a bite and a song from himself.

Great hearing from you, Kev. Freedom Road is a fine song. Good on ya, me ol’ china!

However, if you were planning to stop by RiRa’s on Monday night (1/25) to see us, you’ll be out of luck. They’ll be closed for a private function, so we get the night off. We’ll be back the following Monday, of course.

Such is the life of musicians…which reminds me of a joke, which should tide you over until we see you in-person again:

We're not getting in, no how...

During the tune a woman walked over behind Pete to listen a little closer – and when we were done she said to him “That was beautiful … that’s my waltz.”  Pete smiled, and she added, ” I’m Amelia … Bob McQuillen wrote that for me.”  Now she had our attention and we enjoyed the first chance for all of us to meet ‘the’ Amelia.

After we’d chatted for a minute. I asked her to confirm or correct the interesting story I’d heard about how she’d been named ‘Amelia.’  The tale had started with Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight in1927.  As two large wooden crates had been built for his plane’s ocean journey back to the states,  they were given to the ship’s captain, Admiral Guy Burrage.  He built them into a humble cottage in the woods near Contoocook NH.  In about 1980 Amelia’s mother, Deana Stiles was living in that cottage, and Amelia was born right there.  I had heard that, with the Lindbergh connection, she’d been named after Amelia Earhart – but last night I got ‘the rest of the story.’   She said her mother loved Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Amelia’ — which does reference Earhart, but has some broader threads.  As her mother played flute at contra dances with Bob, he wrote the waltz for Amelia when she was about 3. 

One more note – I see that the cottage was bought and moved to Canaan, Maine, where it’s been restored as the centerpiece of Lindbergh’s Crates Museum there.

All in all, quite a special moment for us all – seeing the real Amelia there as we finished playing her song.

In doing a little homework, I came across a fantastic documentary that the BBC did about “Fairytale” which as been posted on YouTube. The hour-long show is posted in six 10-min chunks…definitely worth watching.

Hope you’ll come out to RiRa’s tomorrow and will shout back “Well so could anyone” as we give “Fairytale” it’s last run before Christmas.

BTW, I tried recruiting our friend Sue Young to sing Kirsty McColl’s part in “Fairytale,” but unfortunately her schedule this fall didn’t allow us to rehearse too much. While I’ve been doing the song solo, Sue will be joining us at RiRa tomorrow, so I may have the lyrics printed for her to jump into Kirsty’s role. 

Liam Clancy, 1935-2009

If you’re a fan of Irish music, I’m sure by now you’ve heard the news that Liam Clancy, the youngest and last surviving Clancy brother, passed away on Friday (Dec. 4). He finally lost his long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, the same disease that claimed his brother, Bobby, in 2002.

A lot of the media reports are quoting Bob Dylan, who described Liam as the “best ballad singer I’d ever heard in my life.” When you think about how many ballad singers Dylan has met, and that statement is fairly mind-blowing.

The praise for Liam’s contributions have begun. Brian O’Donovan did a spectacular tribute show yesterday on WGBH’s Celtic Sojourns, during which he and his guest made the case that Liam’s approach to singing — especially as a solo artist — redefined how Irish folk music is sung and that all modern performers can draw a line from him. I don’t know if that’s true, I’m no expert…but I have no reason to doubt it.

Liam Clancy’s voice was part of the soundtrack to my childhood. I am forever grateful for the stories, poems and songs he introduced to me through his records.

I’m saddened that we’ll never hear him sing again unless it’s a recording. This YouTube post seems as good as any to remember him by.

RIP Liam Clancy

We’ll have two open chairs that we’ll mostly pre-arrange with the couple of players or singers who want to be part of our little ‘collaborative performance’ each week. It’ll be more planned and controlled than a session, but we hope everyone will see that it offers some things that wide open sessions don’t:

• For those who come to listen, this format means you’ll get to  ‘really hear’ the great musicians from the Seacoast and beyond play with us…and each week will be different because the other players will bring their own repetoire to the table.

• For our musician friends, the smaller table means we’ll be able to hear each other better — so the music will be tighter and sound the best it can. Plus, you’ll have more chances to lead the songs and tunes.

On November 23rd, Ramona Connelly and Emery Hutchins will join us to put the plan into action.

Ramona will bring her  fiddle and plenty of super tunes – and, when we be lucky enough – we hope she’ll give us some songs.

Emery, with the  combination of concertinas, guitar, banjo, drum, and stories that he chooses, will light up the night for us all.

Hope you can swing by for a pint and/or to give us a song or two.

And if any of our musician friends are interested in getting into the mix, let us know when you might want to stop by and we’ll get you there. Looking forward to some great craic!