Return Of The Mac

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Oisín Mac Diarmada, fiddler with the band Teada, who was recently hospitalised in Munich with a (thankfully) benign tumour on his spine. He’s back home in Sligo now, and two weeks ago played his first concert with the band since becoming ill. “Feeling very good again after the operation and looking forward to getting the radiotherapy started so I can get back on the road in the new year,” he writes. Teada are due to head over to the States in February for a two-month tour.
Last February, South Sligo band The Border Collies were voted top dog (sorry) over 500 fellow entrants to the Comhraigh Ceol competition held in the National Concert Hall. As part of their prize, they earned recording time in Studio na Lífe and 1,000 copies of the recorded CD; they also won an additional 500 copies in a special audience poll on the night. The result is now out, in the form of their debut album, Unleashed. Founded by singer, flute and whistle player Colm ‘Shep’ O’Donnell, the six-piece outfit also features Declan ‘Fido’ Payne on piano accordion, Declan’s wife Theresa ‘Tess’ O’Grady on banjo, guitarist Shane ‘Bruce’ McGowan, Maria ‘Sal’ Lynn on piano and bouzouki, and Colm’s daughter Siobhán ‘Sheba’ O’Donnell on bodhrán and backing vocals. Look for a review in the next issue of hotpress.
Congratulations to the website www.tradmusic.com on having just listed the 1,000th performer on their Artist directory.
Following the publication of the report ‘Towards a Policy for the Traditional Arts’, the Arts Council is advertising for a Traditional Arts Specialist to join its team of art form specialists on a consulting basis. Required for the post are at least five years’ experience working at a senior level within the traditional arts in Ireland or overseas; a developed knowledge and understanding of the aesthetic and artistic environments within the traditional arts, nationally and internationally; and a developed knowledge and understanding of the public policy, voluntary and commercial operating conditions within the traditional arts, nationally and internationally. The application deadline is 12 noon on Monday, November 22. Further details can be obtained from Adrienne Martin or Karen Whelan on (01) 618 0219, or Email [email protected]
That same report is the focus of a substantial article by former Arts Council traditional music specialist Dermot McLaughlin in the November-December edition of the Journal of Music in Ireland. “Personally, I doubt if demand for money from those involved in the Irish traditional arts will reach the funding level of the top four or five art-forms in the foreseeable future – as the report suggests it should,” he writes, “but the report puts it up to musicians and all those involved in the traditional arts to engage with the Council and to start playing ball, so let the games begin!” More info on the JMI can be found on the website www.thejmi.com
The Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and to mark the event the centre’s director, Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, has proposed a change of title, announced the winner (architect DLB Cordier) of the international architecture competition for the Irish World Performing Arts Village and unveiled a three year plan leading towards the opening of the Village in 2007. At this point it all becomes a tad too poetic for the likes of me, so I’ll quote directly: “The Sionna Academy of Music and Dance at the Irish World Performing Arts Village will rest on the Clare side of the River Shannon. A ‘living’ bridge will bring the world across the river in an inspired arc through the treetops from Limerick into Clare to be greeted by the Academy. This point will be the new epicentre of the emerging ‘University of the Shannon’. Here the Irish Goddess Sionna will meet Akademicus, the Greek friend after whom Plato named his Garden. This Garden of the Arts will take its inspiration from the flow of the river and will take its form from the riverbanks. Here, inspiration and knowledge, Art and Science, Sionna and Akademicus, will be as ‘two solitudes that border and protect one other’ (Rilke).” Ooof! Anyway, the Sionna Festival at the U of L is in full spate at the moment, with events continuing through November 28; also ongoing are free lunchtime concerts and seminars through December. For more info, see www.iwmc.ie.
The new CD Flute Players of Roscommon (see review elsewhere in this issue of hotpress) was recently launched by Fintan Vallely in Strokestown Park House at the end of the Féile Frank McGann weekend. “Four other CDs were launched the same night,” writes Maureen Carty, “so there were plenty of musicians and music around.” The other launches were for albums by Rig The Jig, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Liz & Yvonne Kane and Catherine & John McEvoy.
The twelve participating artists on the flute CD have contributed to the project on the basis that all future royalties will be used for the education and development of young musicians. With the support of the Arts Council and Roscommon County Council, all profits for this project will go to the purchase of flutes and the provision of bursaries and master classes for emerging musicians. The CD is available only from www.roscommonarts.com/trad or by emailing [email protected].
Paul Lee, who ran a terrific concert series at the Cobblestone and more recently at Mother Redcaps, is now the bookings manager for a new folk venue at The Hub in Temple Bar. Upcoming shows include a trad session with Pauline Scanlon, Peter Browne, Oisin McAuley, Shane McGowan and John Joe Kelly on November 19, Jim Page on November 27, Galldubh on December 4, Beoga on December 11 and New York-based ‘Celtic rock’ band The Prodigals on New Year’s Eve. For more information and a terrific selection of groan-inducing jokes, visit www.musiclee.ie.
Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor Christy Burke has put forward a motion to erect a statue of Luke Kelly to mark the 20th anniversary of his death. “I am delighted that the Council backed this motion unanimously,” he says, “and has agreed to commission a statue and to find a suitable location for its erection in the Docklands area or in the North Inner City.” The recently released Best Of Luke Kelly album remains in the No. 2 position on the Irish album charts this week, having been only narrowly kept from the top spot by a ‘Best Of’ compilation by Robbie Williams.

Musicians and singers with news to share can e-mail Sarah on [email protected]