Irish Music & June 2017 Meitheamh Dance Association The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is to support and promote Irish music, dance, and other cultural traditions to insure their continuation. Inside this issue: 10th Annual MIM Festival 4-5 IMDA Honors 6 Summer Music Camps for Kids 10 The inaugural event in the IMDA’s new “Irish Open Mic Night” series was held at the Black Dog Café in St. Paul on the evening of May 23. The audience was treated to an interesting and engaging variety of instrumental music, vocal music and recitations, including the following: . Legacy (Patti Drew, David McKoskey, Kevin Carroll) started things off with a lively song and a tune set. Brian Casey offered stirring renditions of two works by Patrick Pearse: “The Rebel,” and an excerpt from Pearse’s graveside oration at the 1915 funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa (a founding member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood a/k/a the Fenians). Mike Casey, accompanying himself on guitar, sang two of his favorite folk songs, interspersed with the poem “Requiem for the Croppies” by Seamus Heaney. Aja McCullough Beers and Becca Michaelson sang “Tam Lin” (with Becca on guitar) and “Grace” (the moving song about Grace Gifford, who married her fiancé Joseph Plunkett in Kilmainham Jail only a few hours before he was executed for his part in the 1916 East Rising). Sean Egan played a completely improvised (but very Irish-sounding!) air on the clarinet. The Center for Irish Music’s An Luan Ensemble (Aja McCullough-Beers, Emma Liu, Bob Ford, David McKenna) played two rousing sets of tunes. The Young Adult Ensemble (Hannah Flowers, David Ochs, Haley Olson) from the Center for Irish Music also played two nice sets…joined by Norah Rendell! . Patrick Maun graced the audience with some tunes on the uilleann pipes. (It’s not a real Irish Open Mic Night without some piping!) . The band “Unwelcome Visitors” (Ryan Behnke, Buddy Ferrari, Rosa Wells) played a couple of nice tight tune sets …and explained the origin of the band’s name clever name! . Eddie Owens, a member of the Celtic Collaborative, recited three of his own works: “Righteous Rebels,” Family Fox Holes” and “Flow to the Sea.” . Legacy wrapped things up with a set of polkas and the song, “Hills of Connemara.” The supportive owners and staff of the Black Dog Café make it a great venue for this type of multi faceted performance event. The next IMDA Irish Open Mic Night will be in mid-to-late August… watch for more details in future IMDA newsletters, and write to us if you’d like to be included in the next line-up for Open Mic Night! Write to: [email protected] www.IMDA-MN.org Irish Music & 2 Dance Association The IMDA Board is: Tune of the Month by Amy Shaw President: Julia Rogers Vice President: Jan Casey Treasurer: Rob Thomas Whenever I get a new CD by fiddler Nathan Gourley, it quickly Secretary: Jean Bergstrom Board Members: John Concannon becomes my new favorite. As many readers will know, Nathan was a Kevin Carroll resident of the Twin Cities until relocating in 2013 to Boston, where he’s Kathie Luby become a fixture of the traditional music scene. I’ll bet I drove hundreds of Amber Ladany miles last year with Life is All Checkered, the recording he made with Laura Editor: Kathie Luby Assistant Editor Kevin Carroll Feddersen, in my car stereo. IMDA Board Meetings are open to the membership. The Board meets regularly on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at the St. Clair Broiler in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the time and location Now I’m obsessed with Copley Street, the duo album Nathan made shortly before, as meeting times and locations can change. with uilleann piper Joey Abarta. The CD’s title is a nod to the rich history of Irish music in Boston. Copley Street, which is home to Nathan and Joey, is located in Roxbury, not too far from Dudley Square, where many Irish dance Contact Information E-mail: [email protected] halls flourished through the 1950s. (The fascinating story of these big halls is told by Susan Gedutis in See You at the Hall: Boston’s Golden Era of Irish Music and Dance.) Moreover, Copley was the name of a famous record label that released recordings of Joe Derrane, Paddy Cronin, and other Newsletter Submissions prominent Boston musicians. Nathan and Joey clearly love trolling through We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events old recordings and collections in search of interesting tunes, with the result to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month. that it now seems imperative to learn every last tune on Copley Street…if Send to: [email protected] only I can find the time! In the meantime, it will continue to play rather loudly in my car stereo and cheer me up considerably on my daily round. Of this particular tune, the notes state, “Joey learned Cheer Up Old Hag from Denis Murphy [1910-1974] and Julia Clifford [1914-1997], who titled it ‘Bill the Weaver’s’ referring to their father, William Murphy, whose family’s ancestral profession was weaving.” Denis and Julia were, of course, the famous Sliabh Luachra-style fiddlers from Gneeveguilla in Co. Kerry. Usual disclaimers: Any transcription errors are my own. The notation here is not meant to be a substitute for listening. It is simply an aid to learning the tune. www.IMDA-MN.org Irish Music & 3 Dance Association Imagine you at are a recognition event for someone. Cleiteáil, then, is the act of plucking feathers. When Perhaps they have won an award, or earned a trophy, we say of people, fuair siad a gcleiteáil, we're not or published a book, or produced literally saying, "they were a new CD. Whatever the case, if plucked" but rather, "they got a that person already has a string hiding," or were roughed up. of accomplishments, we might say, "That's another feather in And cleitearnach, which looks her cap." like it would mean "feathering", actual refers to "fluttering." It can Cleite is the word for "feather" in Irish. But in Irish, be really annoying when someone is ag cleitearnach we would not put "another feather in her cap," we thart ort, "fluttering or hovering around you" all the would put "another feather in her wing," cleite eile time. ina sciathán. And at the recognition event, perhaps the honoree is so blown away that she says, "you Feathers, that is, plumage or down as opposed to a could have knocked me over with a feather." In Irish single feather, are clúmh. It is what you find in a that comes out as, Leagfá le tráithnín mé, that is, comforter or feather bed, and by extension, can refer "You would have knocked me down with a bit of to fur on an animal, foliage on trees, or hair on a straw." A tráithnín is a dried up stalk of grass. person's body. In the latter usage, it could be used for something like "downy cheeks," but not for an actual As in English, something can be "as light as a beard or moustache. feather": tá sé chomh héadrom le cleite. But in Irish we are equally likely to say tá sé chomh héadrom le Cleite is also used for a quill, and if I wrote this sop, "as light as a wisp of straw." column under a pseudonym, that would be my "ainm Or perhaps the honoree was "unruffled" by all the cleite," my quill or pen name. But I'm not operating fuss. We might say, Níor baineadh cleite aisti, "not a faoi sciathán -- "under a wing" -- that is, feather was plucked from her." But when someone's "surreptitiously" or "under pretence." feathers are "down", a chleití síos leis, that person is "crestfallen." If you are interested in the Irish language, you will find Gaeltacht Minnesota to be "birds of a feather" Now, if you want to put a stop to someone's antics, with you. Stop by www.gaelminn.org to learn more you want to cleite a chur ina shrón, "put a feather in about what we do. his nose." In that instance you might be "sticking your feather in," do chleite a chur i rud, to interfere, Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile or to "stick your oar in" in English. (literally, "One beetle recognizes another beetle," or) "Birds of a feather flock together" There are several subtly related words for some kind of "little feather." Cleiteán is literally a "little feather," but it is also used for a painter's brush, and to refer to any light, dainty little thing. Similarly we find cleiteog mná, a "little feather of a woman." And we also have cleiteachán, which is a "featherweight" in the sense of cleiteachán fir, "a little wisp of a man." (The "featherweight" of boxing is literally "feather - weight": cleitmheáchan.) www.IMDA-MN.org Irish Music & 4 Dance Association Tenth Annual Minnesota Irish Music Weekend (MIM) Center for Irish Music This three-day festival offers a free Friday night Great Session Experience, a Saturday night Master Artists Concert and music workshops and lectures throughout the weekend for children, teens and adults. Weekend Schedule Friday, June 9th 9:30am-12:30pm Beginner Program for children, ages 7-11 1:30-6:30pm Irish Trad Immersion Camp, ages 9-12 1:30-9:00pm Teen program with visiting artists, ages 12-19 7:00-9:00pm The Great Session Experience - FREE Saturday, June 10t 9:30am-12:30pm Beginner Program for children ages 7-11 cont’d 9:30am-4:30pm Teen Program cont’d 9:30am-4:30pm Workshops, interviews and lectures for adults with visiting artists 12:30pm- 1:30pm Lunch 4:45-5:30pm Late Afternoon Performance - Teen Trad Showcase - CJ studio 3 - FREE & open to the public! 5:30pm Pre-concert Public Social Hour, Dinner & Session 7:30pm Master Artists