WGBH - Traditional RSS

A Celtic Sojourn 5/11/2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:57 PM +0000

Another Celtic Sojourn, featuring Cathie Ryan's album Through Wind and Rain, as well as tunes from the Platzke Brothers, Kathleen McGowan, Rayna Gellert, We Banjos Three, Duncan Chisholm and more.

Celtic Music for Valentine's Day

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:24 PM +0000

Brian O'Donovan brings you new music from musicians like the pipe and fiddle player, Kathryn Tickell, as well as a set of love songs just in time for Valentine's Day. Gerry Katz visits the studio to talk about the upcoming Joe Val Bluegrass Festival.

LIVE: A Christmas Celtic Sojourn

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:13 PM +0000

Jon Platzke plays the fiddle in the tenth anniversary performance of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn. (Photo: Vic Dvorack)

>>Listen to Act I
>>Listen to Act II
>>Download the Program

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn returns to the stage. To kick off the special performance, Brian O'Donovan hosted the show live for radio broadcast on WGBH 89.7 FM and nationally through PRI from the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston.

Once again, Brian O’Donovan has assembled some of the best musicians, singers, and dancers imaginable from around the Celtic world, and beyond! We hope you enjoy this special 2012 performance.

About the show

Music
Music director Seamus Egan is returning, and his groundbreaking group Solas will be back on stage as well. In 2010, harpist Catriona McKay and fiddler Chris Stout created quite a stir during these shows. They have agreed to return for this anniversary edition. The virtuosity of Winifred Horan on fiddle and Natalie Haas on cello promises to create a lush string sound. Add in the bass of long-time participant Chico Huff with percussionist Ben Wittman rounding off the band and some spectacular instrumentals and song arrangements are expected.

Singing
When the Chieftains visited WGBH in March of this year, the singing of Alyth McCormack from Scotland riveted the audience and she has agreed to join the cast of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn in December! We are so excited. Navan, one of the very first groups to perform in the show back in 2003 will return with their unique four part harmonies. With Lindsay O’Donovan again returning (10th year), the great vocals of Mick McAuley and Eamon McElholm and, of course, host Brian O’Donovan joining in as he's known to do, the songs will be just terrific.

Dancing
Also from the regular touring lineup of the Chieftains, brothers Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, and Cara Butler will bring their unique approach to Irish dance, blending in much of the drama of the Ottawa Valley in Canada where the boys were raised. And what would A Christmas Celtic Sojourn be without the young dancers from the Harney Academy of Irish Dance in Walpole? They have truly become part of the tradition.

Artistically directed again by Paula Plum for the 10th straight year, these concerts promise to be one of the most exciting editions of A Christmas Celtic Sojourn yet.

A Celtic Sojourn 10/27/2012

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:17 PM +0000

On this episode of A Celtic Sojourn: On this episode of A Celtic Sojourn: The Revels new Christmas album, and music from Tim Erikson, Kevin Crawford, Peter Horan (pictured), Pauline Scanlan and an interview with BBC Radio Scotland's Bruce Macgregor.

A Celtic Sojourn 10/20/2012

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:55 PM +0000

On this edition of the program, Brian debuts several recordings made at the 2011 Christmas Celtic Sojourn Concert. Seamus Egan, Ruth Moody, the trio of Halali, and the voice of Len Graham are just some of the artists featured.

A Celtic Sojourn 09/22/2012

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 07:51 AM +0000

This week on A Celtic Sojourn we play new music from Kathleen Conneely, Abby Newton and Paul Brady.

A Celtic Sojourn 08/18/2012

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:10 PM +0000

This week hear a waltz by the Scandinavian Band Johnson, Carr and Marin and new music by Diarmaid. Also music by piper John McSherry and a story song by Christy Moore called "The Rose of Tralee".

A Celtic Sojourn 7/14/2012

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:46 AM +0000

This week Brian brings you Parting Songs, or songs for the end of an evening or gathering. These songs are often sung as the final piece to a music party or a weekend, usually with a rousing chorus and always with a toast to those assembled and a pledge to gather again soon.

A Celtic Sojourn 6/09/2012

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:24 AM +0000

On this episode of A Celtic Sojourn: Loreena McKennitt, Darol Anger, Natalie Merchant, Liam O'Flynn and some Shetland Island music from Fiddlers Bid.

A Celtic Sojourn 5/26/2012

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:07 PM +0000

Brian pays tribute to the fallen for Memorial Day, talks with Russell Gusetti, artistic director of the upcoming Blackstone River Theater Summer Solstice Festival and shares some music from the new Paul Brady anthology, Dancer in the Fire.

A Celtic Sojourn 5/12/2012

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:50 PM +0000

As a tip of the hat to Mothers on Mother’s Day, this program explores a compilation which Brian produced for One Home Many Hopes, an orphanage in Kenya. Lullabies from around the Celtic World and a poem from Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh about his mother.

A Celtic Sojourn 4/28/2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:33 PM +0000

Brian highlights some traditional tunes with the trad band Danu, recorded at the Lowell Folk Festival, Colm Gannon, Jesse Smith, and John Blake as well as Kathryn Tickell, David Francey and more in this edition of A Celtic Sojourn.

Words and Music: Death of an Irishwoman

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:47 PM +0000

April 30,2012

Listen to Word and Music

Irish Poet Michael Hartnett
(Photo: Four Courts Press Ltd)

As part of an occasional series on A Celtic Sojourn called Words and Music, Brian reads a poem by the late Irish poet Michael Hartnett about his love for his grandmother, who he felt came from a different world. The poem is "Death of an Irishwoman", and he connects it with a Susan McKeown version of a children’s lullaby, "Seo Thin, Seo Tho".

Here is the poem, via Poetry International Web:

Death of an Irishwoman

Ignorant, in the sense
she ate monotonous food
and thought the world was flat,
and pagan, in the sense
she knew the things that moved
at night were neither dogs nor cats
but púcas and darkfaced men,
she nevertheless had fierce pride.
But sentenced in the end
to eat thin diminishing porridge
in a stone-cold kitchen
she clenched her brittle hands
around a world
she could not understand.
I loved her from the day she died.
She was a summer dance at the crossroads.
She was a card game where a nose was broken.
She was a song that nobody sings.
She was a house ransacked by soldiers.
She was a language seldom spoken.
She was a child’s purse, full of useless things.

A Celtic Sojourn 4/21/2012

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:25 PM +0000

Ryan McGiver is a New Yorker whose new album, Troubled In Mind, includes unusual and very contemporary versions of traditional Irish and Appalachian songs. Brian explores some of these in A Celtic Sojourn.

A Celtic Sojourn 3/31/2012

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:11 PM +0000

Music by Mick O'Brien and Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh, coming this summer to The Burren (Photo: Lucy Clarke). Also songs from Altan, Johnny Og Connolly, Planxty and a Celtic take on a Beatles hit by De Dannan.

A Celtic Sojourn 3/24/2012

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:06 PM +0000

The song Barbara Allen is one of the oldest in Anglo-Celtic Music. Brian O’Donovan examines two distinct versions with Maighjread and Triona ni Domhnaill, and Jefferson Hamer (Photo: jeffersonhamer.com)

Live at WGBH: The Chieftains and The Low Anthem

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:16 PM +0000

The Chieftains stopped by WGBH's Fraser Studio to share some tunes with fans and members of the WGBH Celtic Club. Joining them were Jeff White, Deanie Richardson, Alyth McCormack and the Rhode Island-based band Low Anthem.

WGBH Presents: The Chieftains and The Low Anthem

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:38 AM +0000

March 16, 2012

BOSTON — While on a world tour celebrating 50 years as one of the most celebrated traditional Irish bands in history, The Chieftains stopped by WGBH's Fraser Studio to share some tunes and meet with fans and members of the WGBH Celtic Club. The Low Anthem joined them.

Listen to the entire Chieftains and The Low Anthem performance:

The Chieftains and The Low Anthem: School Days Over

The Chieftains and Jeff White: Train Medley

The Chieftains Reunion featuring The Low Anthem (Round Robin)

You haven't missed your chance to hear live Irish music — both new and traditional. Tickets are still available for A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn, appearing at the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford on March 17 and at the Sanders Theaters in Cambridge on March 24. Performers include Susan McKeown, The Bee Eaters, Jeremy Kittel , Michael Brunnock and many more.

More from The Chieftains visit:

PHOTOS: Performance and Celebration: The Night is But a Pup!

You Don't Have to be Irish to Enjoy Celtic Music

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:48 PM +0000

March 14, 2012

89.7 FM WGBH radio host Brian O'Donovan

BOSTON — It’s a green week here at WGBH, where we’ve enjoyed a visit from The Chieftains and we're gearing up for performances from the likes of Susan McKeown, The Bee Eaters, Jeremy Kittel and more great musicians at this year’s A St. Patrick’s Day Sojourn. (Performances are on March 17 in New Bedford and March 24 in Cambridge. Get tickets and info.)

Despite a very busy schedule, Brian O’Donovan, host of the weekly radio show A Celtic Sojourn, took a minute to talk with us about his work.

Q: You’ve done live Celtic Sojourn events now for almost a decade. Who is your primary audience? Is it Boston's Irish community?

O’Donovan: We’ve been doing A Christmas Celtic Sojourn longer than we’ve done the St. Patrick’s Day events, downtown at the Cutler Majestic Theater, and that show has been called one of the biggest Jewish-Christmas events in town! Seriously, this music connects with all kinds of people. Of course the local Irish community values the Sojourn events highly, but we get notes and emails from all kinds of people telling us how much they love the broadcasts and the live performances. I even received a note once from an African-American living in Tokyo. He thanked me for the Celtic Sojourn podcast and told me, “The music reminds me of home.”

We don’t just deliver the traditional Irish tunes. We make a point of bringing up new, unheard-of artists, and our audience gets that. They trust us when we tell them, “Here’s someone you’ll really love.” You don’t have to have a Celtic heritage to enjoy really good music.

Q: During the Chieftain’s performance this week in WGBH’s Fraser Studio, you told them you were listening to rock-n-roll in the 60s, but when you heard the tune “Trip to Sligo” on their third album, you were convinced you had been introduced to your own music. How is it different from rock?

Listen to Trip to Sligo

It’s not so different, really. The Chieftains are in part responsible for making traditional Irish music appealing to young people 50 years ago. They took a very structured form of folk music and refreshed it with a young perspective. For those of us looking to England and America for our music, the new stuff the Chieftains were doing introduced us back to the rich music all around us in Ireland. They do the same thing today, introducing new generations to Irish music by blending their style with collaborators like The Low Anthem and Bon Iver.

Q: You complimented Don Cuddy for a recent article on the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn by saying, “He really gets what we are trying to achieve at WGBH.” What do you mean?

Of course we want our Celtic Sojourn broadcasts and events to entertain, but our audience is smart and educated. They want more from us. As I said before, they trust us to give them more. They want to learn about musicians I’ve discovered, but they’ve never heard of. They want to know the context of the music—like what it means that a tune is Celtic, but not necessarily Irish. They even appreciate it when we explain the language and the meaning behind some of the lyrics. There was a tune the Chieftains played—School Days Over—and when I introduced it with Paddy Moloney, the way we explained that the song is about child labor, when children had to leave school and enter the mines to make a living, well, I know the audience really values context like that. They appreciate that kind of richness.

Listen to School Days Over

As Chieftain’s leader Paddy Moloney would shout at the end of a good session: “Mighty!”

SEE ALSO: The Chieftains and Jeff White's train medley (VIDEO)

Celebrating the Sounds of St. Patrick's Day

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:05 PM +0000

March 12, 2012

Listen to the entire Chieftains and The Low Anthem performance:

BOSTON — During a world tour celebrating 50 years as one of the most celebrated traditional Irish bands in history, The Chieftains stopped by WGBH's Fraser Studio to share some tunes and have a few beers with fans and members of the WGBH Celtic Club.

Accompanying the legendary group were several other talents, including bluegrass icons Jeff White and Deanie Richardson, celebrated Scottish vocalist Alyth McCormack and the Rhode Island-based band Low Anthem, who also collaborated with The Chieftains on their new album Voice of Ages.

During the performance, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftans shared a recorded phone call he had with Irish-American astronaut Cady Coleman, currently serving on the International Space Station. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Coleman played a tune for Paddy on a pennywhistle he had loaned her to take along some Irish tradition into space.

Before the last number for the evening, Moloney called out for anyone to join in, saying "If you have a mouth organ or you just want to stand on your head, this is your big moment." Each musician took a solo moment in which to express their own version of the melody, and Tommy McCarthy, co-owner of Somerville pub The Burren, joined in to show he can turn a phrase on his fiddle.

You haven't missed your chance to hear live Irish music — both new and traditional — in Boston this week. Tickets are still available for A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn, appearing at the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford on March 17 and at the Sanders Theaters in Cambridge on March 24. Performers include Susan McKeown, The Bee Eaters, Jeremy Kittel , Michael Brunnock and many more.