Traditional value

As we bid goodbye to the Celtic Tiger (long may he roar in that great jungle in the sky), it’s gratifying to be able to report that the traditional Irish music business is doing just fine in the new century.

2001 got off to a good start with the second annual Celtic Flame festival at HQ, a two-week extravaganza featuring concerts by Sharon Shannon, Dolores and Sean Keane, Dervish and Niamh Parsons among others. Equally impressive was the four-night Beo festival at the National Concert Hall in August, with performances by young Mancunian gun Michael McGoldrick, De Danann, Capercaillie, Lunasa and more.

Other major shows included Altan (currently putting the finishing touches on their next album) at Vicar St., Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at the Olympia, the Afro Celt Sound System at the Ambassador, and a month-long residency at Vicar St. by Paul Brady that featured a reunion of his legendary 1978 Liberty Hall lineup – Andy Irvine, Matt Molloy, Liam O’Flynn, Paddy Glackin and Noel Hill.

A welcome development was the launch of a new weekly club, Sessions @ the Shelter. Organised by flute player Conor Byrne, nephew to Christy Moore and Luka Bloom, the club ran from January through July and hosted acts from Maighread, Tríona and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill to Matt Molloy, Donal Lunny, Seamus Begley, Alan Kelly, Calico, and of course Conor’s own band Dorian.

Music Network continued their Best Of Irish series, sending musicians on ESB-sponsored tours around the country; a pat on the back is also due to Paul Lee of the Cobblestone in Smithfield, who’s been quietly bringing in a wide-ranging assortment of trad and folk artists to his superb listening room upstairs above the bar.

One of the most refreshing things about the scene in recent years has been the appearance of so many new bands. Young, gifted and highly sussed, they’re bringing out CDs and press kits when their predecessors would have still been sitting around the kitchen arguing about what to call themselves.

Osna, Teada, Aru, Danu (whose singer, Ciarán

Ó Gealbháin, deservedly won this year’s TG4

traditional song award), Faolan, Cian, the

aforementioned Dorian, WhirlyGig, Slide, Providence, Galldubh, Dubh Linn – it’s hard to keep track…

Finally, it’s great to see that thanks to the team of Terry Connaughton and Chris Keenan, Monday nights at the Harcourt have been revived; Máirtín Ó Connor’s gig there in November was a trad reunion of sorts. Long may it continue.