Irish Music & February Dance Association Feabhra · Northwoods Songs 14 Ceili Corner 18 Smidirini 19 . 2 Irish Music & Dance Association Tune of the Month The IMDA Board isis found

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Irish Music & Dance Association

32th Year, Issue No. 2

February 2014

Feabhra

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.

St. Patrick’s Day – Two Full Days of Fun! IMDA is hoping that you’ve already marked your calendars for our 33rd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish Celebration – on Monday, March 17, 2014. And our 12th Day of Irish Dance precedes it on Sunday, March 16! We’re looking forward to two wonderful days of Irish music, dance, culture – fun for the whole family.

What’s new for the St. Patrick’s Day Irish Celebration 2014? ♣ Tom Dahill and Ginny Johnson will be back. And Tom Klein will be teaming up

with Henry Lebedinsky.

What about the good stuff from the past? Music from CIM’s Advanced Youth Ensemble, Clairseach, Dunquin, the Eddies, Forty Shades of Green, the Giggin’ Síles, Heritage, the Langer’s Ball, Legacy, Locklin Road and Chad McAnally! Irish dance by Corda Mór Irish Dancers, O’Shea Irish Dance, Rince na Chroi, and St. Paul Irish Dancers, as well as Biddies Galore and Emerald Isle, Green Fire Irish Dancers, Knocknagow Irish Dancers, and Mooncoin Céili Dancers. Seminars on a range of topics – the Irish Rebel Songs (with Legacy), the Gaelic Harp (with Clairseach) and the Irish language (with Gaeltacht Minnesota), plus a book talk with Erin Hart and Paddy O’Brien! Great craft activities in the Children’s Activities Area. And special face painting artists, too. The Children’s Stage with special entertainment just for the little ones. Bring the kids along to enjoy fun songs and movement from Common Chord, songs and games with Alisa Potter, and a parent and kid céilí dance party with the Mooncoin Ceili Dancers and stories from a new Irish storyteller.

Add in shopping in the Celtic Marketplace, seminars, a cup of tea (with music) in the Tea Room, bagpipe music from the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band – and it’s the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in good old Irish St. Paul. IMDA’ s Day of Irish Dance puts the spotlight directly on Irish dance, including:

performances by dancers from all ten of our local Irish dance schools debut of a new Irish dance school – Emily Wolff’s Mactír Academy of Irish Dance. IMDA’s Decade of Dance Award presentations Sean Nos dance presentation a showcase of adult Irish dance students special presentations from our own Danielle Enblom, home from Ireland for “the season.” Danielle will present

a dance workshop – “Steps from the Cork Dancing Masters,” a seminar based on her research and a dance performance highlighting the progression of Irish dance in Cork.

Sunday will also include music from Northern Gael and a theatrical presentation from the Celtic Players, as well as tea and music in the Tea Room from returning favorites CIM student ensembles, Beth Engelking, Macalester College’s Flying Fingers, Great Northern Irish Pipers Club and Tipper Road. Look for more information on the artists in the March IMDA newsletter. Details on the schedule will be posted soon at www.IMDA-MN.org.

Inside this issue:

Tune of the Month 8

Gaelic Corner 3

February Calendar 10-11

Northwoods Songs 14

Ceili Corner 18

Smidirini 19

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Tune of the Month is found on page 8 in this issue.

Twelfth Annual Scottish Island Concert

This year we're playing the dozens! Dunquin and friends and author Audrey McClellan present our twelfth Scottish Island Concert at Olivet Congregational Church's Social Hall, 1850 Iglehart Avenue in Saint Paul. Warm up a cold winter's night with Scottish stories and music on Friday, February 7th, 7:30 p.m. (doors open at seven). This year's theme is "Roots and Branches: From Scotland to the New World", and features the double fiddles of Rosa Wells and Kathleen Green. We're celebrating how Scottish music got Cape Breton and American accents once it hit the shores of the New World! The $15 admission at the door (no advance sales) includes a complimentary Scottish Tea at the interval. Come join us, and become an "islander" for the night! For more information and directions to Olivet Congregational, go to www.sherryladig.com. See you there! Sherry, Don, Kathleen, Lisa, Rosa and Audrey

(This event is made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the Scottish American Center).

The IMDA Board is: President: Lisa Conway Vice President: Jan Casey Treasurer: Mark Malone Secretary: Juli Acton Board Members: John Concannon Paul McCluskey Joan Portel Kathie Luby Editor: John Burns

IMDA Board Mee ngs are open to the membership. The Board meets regularly on the First Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Dubliner Pub in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the me and loca on shortly before, as mee ng mes and loca ons can change.

Contact Information Write to: Irish Music and Dance Association

236 Norfolk Ave NW Elk River, MN 55330

Call: 612-990-3122 E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Submissions We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month. Send to: [email protected]

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Feabhra ("February") is upon us, and that brings St. Valentine's Day and thoughts of love. Grá is the most commonly used Irish word for "love". Perhaps you will be sending a card to that special someone, and you might address it to a ghrá, a rún, a stór, or a mhuirnín, all of which basically boil down to something like "darling". (A stór, literally "treasure", is also one of several phrases that is commonly used as a term of endearment when talking to a child.) Your true love, that very special someone, is your grá geal, "your bright love". Indeed, when we say about two people that níl siad an-gheal dá chéile, that they "are not very bright to each other", we mean that "there is no love lost between them". As in English, you can be in love with someone (i ngrá le duine) and you "fall" in love with someone (titim i ngrá le duine). Perhaps they fall in love with you when you sing them a "love song", amhrán grá. Once they are "smitten" with you, they are in the throes of galar an ghrá, "the sickness of love". Then you have your own little éan suirí or "love bird". Suirí is a word for "wooing" or "courtship". Another "love" word in Irish is searc, as in litir sirc, a "love letter" used to do that suirí ("wooing") process. This searc is also used as a term of endearment, as in mo shearc ("my love"). If you're kind of wound up, you might address your grá geal with "a shearc mo chroí", "Oh love of my heart!" Cion is also used for "love", but more in the sense of "fondness" or "affection" than in the sense of romantic love. We say, Tá cion ag Seán ar Mháire, meaning "Seán is fond of Mary." But more literally it means, "There is fondness at Seán on Mary," the "at" construction being necessary because there is no verb "to have" in Irish. We can use a form of cion in the phrase ainm ceana to refer to the "affectionate name" or "pet name" you might have for someone.

Words like grá are not commonly used for expressions like, "I love traditional music". We might say, Is breá liom ceol traidisiúnta, more literally meaning something like "traditional music is fine with me," although idiomatically it is understood to mean something stronger than just being fine. Or we might say, Tá dúil mhór agam i gceol, "I have a great fondness for music". Oh, and remember that galar an ghrá, that "love sickness"?

The Irish say, Níl aon leigheas ar an ngrá ach pósadh, or “The only cure for love is marriage!” Our annual fundraiser at the end of January was a great success, thanks to our many good friends. Our first

"thank yous" go to everyone who attended or who gave a donation. We also enjoyed some tasty snacks and delightful door prizes brought in by various folks. Entertainment was outstanding, and we thank Kevin Carroll and Martin McHugh for rounding up a brilliant musical crew. Katie Stephens Spangler generously sent along a team of dancers from Rince na Chroí who finished the afternoon with an exciting performance. Thanks so much to our faithful friend Suin for running the event, and to Tom Scanlon and the Dubliner for once again providing a welcoming home for the fundraiser. This is the only fundraising activity we do each year, and we're very happy to be in good shape for another year. And to see just what we do at Gaeltacht Minnesota, drop in at www.gaelminn.org . Watch for news of our April workshop. Also in April, we'll be offering a series of "overview" lessons in Gàidhlig, or Scots Gaelic, through St. Paul Community Education. Folaíonn grá gráin "Love hides ugliness", that is "Love is blind" --Will

The Gaelic Corner By Will Kenny

Calling all musicians, dancers, community group members – everyone who is listed on the IMDA Community Resources List. Please review your information and let us know if the information needs

updating. Send updates to [email protected] by Feb. 22. We want to be sure that we share the best and most current information with our guests at our

33rd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish Celebration at Landmark Center!

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More Local Dancers Results from the Mid-America Regional Competition O'Shea Irish Dance brought 53 dancers to the MidAmerican Oireachtas, all of whom competed in 10 eight-hand ceili

teams. Of these dancers, 16 qualified for & competed in solo championships in all the rest danced in their Traditional Set Competitions.

OID Solo Championship Recalls & Places: GIRLS -

U11 Ava Schaeffel, 47th U13 Hannah Sween, 63rd U15 Maggie Laumakis, 40th U16 Meghan Golder, 38th Amy Green, 8th - WORLD QUALIFIER! U17 Claire Dietzsch, 56th Callaghan Long, 29th Rita Wegner, 56th

BOYS -

U14 - Sean Boyles, 2nd - WORLD QUALIFIER! U16 - Liam Slattery, 2nd - WORLD QUALIFIER! U18 - Evan Lowe, 2nd - WORLD QUALIFIER!

TEAMS -

U15th Mixed Team, 5th U15 Ladies Teams, 5th & 11th O15 Ladies Team, 13th O15 Mixed - 1st place - with 300 points (full marks!)

Our Traditional Set Dancers did a fantastic job as well, with many places!

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What Competition Means For Our School By Natalie and Cormac O’Shea

Irish Dance has evolved far beyond its humble kitchen-based beginnings into a hybrid art-sport. It has catapulted it beyond the traditional folk dance of most of its cousin cultures. Many of them have exciting elements, but Irish dance and its rhythmically hypnotizing tattoo of clicks, cadences and kicks got a steroidal shot in the arm by something exceptional - competition. Competition doesn't have to be defined by the crystallized curly-haired, makeup wearing demonstrations you see (although it is funny, that is what sadly remains in peoples' heads.) It means work - hard work at a beautiful and worthwhile craft that takes years to excel in. The early days of competition could hearken back to the days of the hedge schools & "dancing masters", vying for control of the villages and challenging each other to dancing contests (some of these are my favorite stories). Beyond the hedges, a "feis" became an incredibly stabilizing force in advancing the dance nationwide. It was simply a cultural celebration and brought people together for the best of what they have to share, be it music, dance, soda bread or handiwork. Naturally, when a wicked tune was heard or a wild step excited the festival goers - there was cause for response and celebration, and with that came success, development and advancement. "Louder - faster - higher!" You can just imagine the faces of the men and women as they would pit themselves against a worthy adversary whose fast footwork threatened to be more intriguing than their own… Showmanship won over - and if you are the best in the village, what about the town? The county? How do you test that? An Coimisiún stepped up in the early half of the 20th century & was created to preserve and protect this homely heritage. The first All-Ireland championship started only 40 years ago, and awarded with a belt, sash or trophy the best dancers who took the reels and jigs and twisted them round and through the beat of their heart and down through their toes to become one with the music. No matter or how you choose to do Irish dance, it is a beautiful thing; full of music and camaraderie and it sets your pulse to race and your heart aglow. You can imagine, of course, that when you raise your ability to the level of speed, agility and precision that is required for qualification at a major competition, that it fans the fire & becomes an intoxicating adrenaline rush. There - I've said it - Irish dance is addictive! It is an addiction the world has only really caught wind of over the last couple decades, and the flames spread. Excellent dance of any kind demands balance, control, speed and precision… and when it is really done well, you know. You know because the hair on your arm bristles in response. Now imagine you are the dancer doing it. Exciting, right? Well guess what? It is not something that just happens by wishing for it - it has to be earned. The placement of the back foot to kick forward; the rolling of weight to the big toe to go en pointe; the popping off for a swift cut… These movements can be broken down note by note and understood to some degree in their own regard. What a well-trained competitive dancer does is to digest and absorb these details to the point wherein they are not thought of at all, but explode out of their skin into an overture of sound and movement. You could go by the old adage "Anything worth doing is worth doing well…" but how do you know you are doing well? Anyone that is serious about their craft knows it must be studied & tested & constantly challenged. That is competition and that is the alchemy that has made Irish dance golden. Beyond flashy costumes or bouncy hair, Irish dancers train hard. They must be competent in both soft and hard shoe, becoming skilled in four different traditional time signatures to become an instrument within the music. Dancers start at a very young age for the best opportunity to develop the strength, speed and sensitivity that it takes to excel in this highly technical dance form. Serious dancers train two to three hours a night; three to five days a week. Some - when they are not dancing - will keep up with running or weight lifting or soccer. (Believe me, soccer coaches love Irish dancers' quick, agile feet & incredible stamina!) To advance their skills, they must compete. To do this from the "fringe" state of Minnesota, they travel across a fifteen state area to smaller. local feiesanna to earn their places and get their marks to qualify for the majors: Regionals, Nationals and Worlds. They train and work as ceili teams too - and what gets exciting about that is the point at which they are no longer dancing to do the best "for themselves"; they are doing it for the team & the joy spreads exponentially. Millions have been mesmerized by the likes of Riverdance and the uncanny synchronicity the dancers seemed to have with each other… Of course, the only way that can be made to look that easy is by honing and perfecting a skill; not over hours, days, or weeks - but over years. What those show dancers were capable of was much more than that classic "treble&treble&treble&cut-treble" over and over - many average "joes" could be taught that small piece and to manage efficiently enough. The dancers in that original show (and most thereafter) came from the world of competition & the world only ever saw a portion of their skills in that famous first line-up. There were world champion competitors strewn all the way through it. Yes - that dirty word - they were competitors, dancing to win, to excel. Some of them had been positioned against each other for years for places and podiums… but they were ALSO incredible friends & companions. In the constant challenge and fight, they had made each other stronger. They built a shared history - and no matter where in the world dancing took them, they had made a family. We feel that at our school too. Whether it is in class, at a feis, waiting on the awards at a major, or simply carpooling home - we are crafting that shared experience & it is fascinating to look at the bright little eyes and to wonder who will be our champions - and who will be life-long friends? As we watch our school grow and succeed, we still constantly question the place of competition in our school… There must always be a place for fun - and for fitness, and family, as those are the things that make it all worthwhile. The secret joy is… that the shared competitive experience creates a family of another kind. While the moments of winning are certainly satisfying - it is the good, honest, hard work that it is all about, not the "number" or the "place" or the "sash". Until that hard sweat-equity work is done and tested, you don't find the deeper awards that it is REALLY about: commitment, perseverance, discipline, character and sheer stubborn (read Irish) determination. Those are skills for life.

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Money for Mu$ic! Dollar$ for Dance! By Jan Casey

The Irish Music and Dance Association (IMDA) offers Educational Grants to students of all ages to study the traditional arts of Ireland. The program is designed to encourage students who have already made a significant commitment to continue their studies. Musicians, dancers, Irish language students, and costume designers have received grants in the past - and the program is open to other arts as well. In 2013, IMDA funded 6 great ideas – from a family of musicians learning to play as an ensemble, a fiddler heading to the Willie Clancy school, a bagpiper improving her skills and a piper learning to make reeds to a dancer improving her competitive skills and a theatrical costumer designing Irish dance costumes. Over the years, IMDA has awarded grants to help students travel both in the US and in Ireland, to continue with classes here at home and to pursue a research project. Several musicians have received grants to help purchase instruments of their own so that they could move to the next level of mastery. In total, 31 students have received grants since 2006. The grants typically range from $300 to $500 – and may cover all or only a portion of a student’s projected expenses. The grants may be used for traditional study such as a class or master class, but the program is not limited to formal education. Applicants are encouraged to think creatively about what experience they need to enhance their skills.

IMDA’s goal is to encourage students of all ages to pursue their interests in the arts of Ireland. As they continue to learn and grow, they add to the vitality of our community and help to preserve these traditions for future generations.

Applications are due by April 15, 2014. Applications are available at http://www.irishmusicanddanceassociation.org/educationalgrantprogram.html.

For questions, e-mail Jan at [email protected].

Ulster-Scots Representative to Visit St. Paul The Friends of Saint Patrick Minnesota is pleased to announce the upcoming visit of Derek Reaney, development officer with the Ulster-Scots Agency through its regional office in Raphoe, Co. Donegal. He will be speaking at 5:00 on Saturday, February 15 at Claddagh Coffee in St. Paul, and will also attend A Scottish Ramble at the Landmark Center the following day. Reaney has worked with the Ulster-Scots Agency since 2004, and currently manages its grants, summer school and community development programs. He also acts as director in several of West Tyrone's community organizations, and is a member of the Board of Tourism Ireland. He became involved with the Ulster-Scots as a nine year old, when he joined the local pipe band. After earning numerous diplomas in Community Development at Greenmount Agriculture College, Reaney managed a cross border peace and reconciliation project for six years and secured funding for border Protestant communities in excess of £5 million, before commencing his work with the Ulster-Scots Agency. Reaney is a partner in his family's beef and sheep farm in Co. Tyrone, where he lives with his wife, Anne. For nearly 400 years, the term Ulster-Scots has referred to people who migrated from the Lowlands of Scotland to Ulster, and to the Ulster-Scots communities they established across its nine counties. The aims of the Ulster-Scots Agency are to promote the study, conservation, development and use of Ulster-Scots as a living language; to encourage and develop the full range of its attendant culture, and to promote an understanding of the history of the Ulster-Scots. It has been given the legislative remit of the “promotion of greater awareness and use of Ullans and of Ulster-Scots cultural issues, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island." The Agency is funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the Republic of Ireland, and is responsible to the North/South Ministerial Council. It has its main office in Belfast as well as the regional office in Co. Donegal.

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Tune of the Month by Amy Shaw

This month’s tune comes to us from Barry Foy, who moved to St. Paul from Seattle last spring. The author of The Field Guide to the Irish Music Session (Frogchart Press), Barry is a serial instrumentalist, by which I mean that he apparently masters one instrument after another. So far, he’s been out and about with a tenor banjo and a C#/D button accordion, and he’s a great addition to our sessions. Barry arrived not a moment too soon, for it seems that all the regular Irish music sessions in Seattle have shut down. And that brings me to another topic: Terry and Virginia Keegan, who have welcomed musicians to the Sunday night session at Keegan’s Irish Pub for a dozen years, have announced plans to retire soon. They have fed and watered us musicians, set up extra chairs, proudly hung our photographs on the wall, and most importantly, listened to the music. In addition, their hospitality extended to Irish Fair, where year after year they sponsored a traditional music tent that was a “home away from home” for many of us. So here’s a tune for Terry and Virginia in appreciation of their many kindnesses (in fact, Barry played it one Sunday at Keegan’s). We are truly lucky to have enjoyed so many hours of music under their roof. Considering the state of affairs in Seattle, I’m even more grateful for our local music scene here. Long may it continue! And what is a luck penny, anyway? According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable, the luck penny is “a sum of money ranging in value from a few pence to a couple of pounds given back to the buyer of cattle, sheep or pigs at a [livestock] fair or on the occasion of a financial transaction such as the letting of land.” This goodwill gesture was (and perhaps still is) a customary way of sealing a deal, and the higher the seller’s status in the area, the more generous his luck penny tended to be. 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.

Virginia and Terry Keegan

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Harp Program for Valentine's Week The Celtic Junction is pleased to present “The Birds, the Bees & the Gaelic Harp: Music & Mythology of the Heart" on February 14th at 7:30pm . This will be the third in a series of five free public seminar-performances with Ann and Charlie Heymann, featuring the traditional harp of Ireland and Scotland. The Gaelic harp is depicted on every Irish coin and passport and is perhaps best known outside of Ireland on every bottle from Ireland’s Guinness brewery. However its voice was lost publicly for over two hundred years until Ann Heymann became involved. A native Minnesotan, Heymann has played a crucial role in bringing the Gaelic harp's voice to life; indeed the Scotland’s Harp Society Comunn na Clarsaich says "Ann Heymann is the pioneer who brought the Gaelic harp back to a living tradition." Being so close to Valentine’s Day, this program will focus on music of love and romance and delve into the harp's gender identity in mythology and lore. There will be a reception with the artists afterward. Don't miss this opportunity to hear and learn about the famous instrument from its foremost representative. For more information go to: http://www.thecelticjunction.com/

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board,

thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

“Kickin It Irish,” an Evening of Percussive Toe Taps & Tunes! O'Shea Irish Dance is presenting Kickin' It Irish! again this year at The Celtic Junction March 14, 15 and 16th at 7pm and at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre March 17 at 8pm.

As stated in a review of the performance last year, “Kickin It Irish” with artistic direction by Cormac O’Se presents traditional to contemporary Irish dancing with Irish bodhran, flute, guitar and fiddle by Two Tap Trio. Ceili and set dances display social gatherings through Irish dance history with hard and soft shoe repertoire alongside contemporary choreography and influence of Riverdance.

A casual meeting with a strolling performer commences ceili or social dance formations reminiscent of folk songs where finely trained voices emanate Gaelic tune in soft shoe. With arms at dancers’ sides 18th and 19th century traveling dance masters hard shoe clogging and vertical jumps display Riverdance style with traditional minimalist dress and competition costume and wigs to celebrate Irish culture. Set dances in hard shoe with ceili formations did not disappoint as ballet-like fifth positions incorporated into percussive toe tap renditions. Two Tap Trio's tin flute, accordion, simultaneous solo dance and fiddle and African djembe display affect ridden percussives where appreciation commenced entertainment. Audience exalted with abundance as a "Comin' Around the Mountain" rendition gathered Irish folklore as audience of all ages sang of Gaelic entertainment history. Tickets available soon at http://www.thecelticjunction.com/. Visit http://www.osheairishdance.com/ for performances and classes in the Twin Cities!

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IMDA Community Calendar February 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 3pm First Saturday Ceili Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 5:30 pm Halfway to Irish Fair Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Lehto & Wright 3 Crows on the River St, Delano 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Kieran’s Pub, Mpls

9 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

10 Second Monday Sea Shanty Sing Along Dubliner Pub, St Paul

11 5:30pm Irish Hour Merlins Pub 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing Dubliner Pub, St. Paul St. Dominic’s Trio Nye’s, Mpls

12 7pm Traditional Irish Session Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Social Dance 9:30 Patsy O’Brien Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

13 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls

14 La Fheile Vailintin

sona daoibh. (Happy Valentine's Day

to You.)

8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

15 Wild Colonial Bhoys Crooked Pint Ale House, Mpls 7pm Rince na Chroi: From the Stage to Your Heart O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, St. Paul 9pm The Sweet Colleens The Celtic Junction, St. Paul


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4 5:30pm Irish Hour Merlins Pub 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls St. Dominic’s Trio Nye’s, Mpls

5 7pm Traditional Irish Session Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Social Dance 9:30 Patsy O’Brien Dubliner Pub, St. Paul


7 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls 9pm The Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Morrissey’s Irish Pub, Mpls 9:30pm The Tim Malloys Pub 112, Stillwater

8 8pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Jake O’Connor’s, Excelsior 9pm The Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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Irish Music & Dance Association 16

Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 9pm The Irish Brigade Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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18 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls

19 7pm Traditional Irish Session Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Social Dance 9:30pm Patsy O’Brien Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Kieran’s Pub, Mpls

20 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Morrissey’s Irish Pub, Mpls

21 7:30pm Hounds of Finn Charlie’s Irish Pub, Stillwater 8pm Nuala Kennedy Band The Cedar, Mpls 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys O’Donovan’s, Mpls

22 5pm Eigse CIM, A Gaela Event The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 7:30pm Hounds of Finn Charlie’s Irish Pub, Stillwater 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys O’Donovan’s, Mpls

23 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 2pm Third Sunday Pub Sing 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

24 7pm 4th Monday Pub Singing Merlins Rest, Mpls

25 5:30pm Irish Hour Merlins Pub 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing Dubliner Pub, St. Paul St. Dominic’s Trio Nye’s, Mpls

26 7pm Traditional Irish Session Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Social Dance Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Kieran’s Pub, Mpls


28 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

1 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys O’Donovan’s Pub, Mpls


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4 5:30pm Irish Hour Merlins Pub St. Dominic’s Trio Nye’s, Mpls

5 7pm Traditional Irish Session Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 7:30pm Irish Social Dance Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Kieran’s Pub, Mpls

6 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Morrissey’s Pub, Mpls

7 7:30pm Lehto & Wright Lakeville Area Arts Center, Lakeville

8 9:30pm Wild Colonial Bhoys Jake O’Connor’s Pub, Excelsior

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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February 22, 2014

5:00 - 10:30 p.m. at The Celtic Junction Dinner and concert tickets sold out last year so reserve your places early.

The Center for Irish Music and Jim Rogers, Honorary Event Chair and director of the Center for Irish Studies at the University of Saint Thomas invite you to dress up in your finest, bring your friends and join us at The Celtic Junction for Éigse CIM, A Gaela Event.

Éigse [eg-shuh] is an Irish word used for festivals celebrating traditional Irish arts and culture. It is in this spirit that we gather for an evening to raise funds for The Center for Irish Music and the mission of handing down traditional Irish music.

Purchase tickets at www.centerforirishmusic.org/events/gaela/ticket-reservations-2/

Ticket prices $60.00* - guests arriving at 5:00 p.m. for dinner, silent auction reception and concert

$25.00 - guests arriving at 7:00 p.m. for silent auction reception and concert

Emcee, Máirtín de Cógáin finishes off the night with a finale with instructors and CIM students!

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Award Winning “FullSet” Plays The Cedar on February 28

FullSet returns to the Twin Cities on Friday, February 28 to perform at The Cedar Cultural Center. The HiB’s will also grace the stage. The show starts at 8:00 p.m.. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. For tickets, go to http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3944324&pl=cedar or call The Cedar at 612-338-2674. All accomplished young musicians in their own right, FullSet create a stunning and unique sound that is full of energy and innovation, whilst all the time remaining true to their traditional roots. In recent years this young group has received much critical acclaim, even being compared to supergroups such as Danú & Altan by respected Irish Music Magazine. FullSet are set to thrill audiences throughout the world. Following the tremendous success of their debut album “Notes At Liberty”, FullSet are quickly becoming one of the most well known bands in the Irish music scene today. In October 2011 they were honored by being announced as the winners of the RTÉ/RAAP Breakthrough Annual Music Bursary Award. Having been shortlisted along with 12 other groups in 4 different categories ahead of a field of almost 800 other groups and artists. As well as this, in 2012 FullSet were honoured to receive “Best New Group Award” from the well respected Irish American News as well as “Best New Comer” in Bill Margeson’s Live Ireland Awards. Michael Harrison, on fiddle, creates a distinctive sound using original and colourful techniques. Martino Vacca is an exceptional uilleann piper and employs his mastery of this instrument in all pieces arranged by FullSet. Talented musician, Janine Redmond, on button accordion maintains a rich traditional style that is becoming ever so rare in traditional music today. Eamonn Moloney on bodhrán and Andy Meaney on guitar, effortlessly blend the music together with a sensitive yet driving accompaniment section. The emotive singing style of Teresa Horgan completes the ensemble and is guaranteed to captivate audiences of every generation. To date FullSet have performed on some of Ireland’s most prestigious TV programmes including The Late Late Show and TG4’s hugely popular Irish music series Geantraí. They have also performed at various festivals and venues across America and Europe including Copenhagen Irish Festival, the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, The Michigan Irish Festival and also the North Texas Irish Festival. During this time they have shared the stage with some of the biggest names in folk and world music including Moya Brennan, Fred Morrison, Lúnasa, Carlos Núnez, Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny and Beoga. 2013 is shaping up to be a very exciting year for FullSet with the release of their second album “Notes after Dark”.

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Northwoods Songs: Irish Songs from Lumberjacks and Great Lakes Sailors By Brian Miller

Northwoods Songs features a new song each month pulled from my research into old songs collected in the pine woods region that stretches from New Brunswick west through northern Minnesota. In the 1800s, a vibrant culture of singing and song-making developed in lumber camp bunkhouses and on Great Lakes ships. The repertoire and singing style were greatly influenced by Irish folk repertoire and Irish singing styles. Many singers in the region had Irish background themselves. Each installment of Northwoods Songs is also published online at www.evergreentrad.com/northwoods-songs. As of December 2013, I will also videotape myself singing the song of the month. My hope is that others will learn some of these songs and make them their own as I have. Links to song videos will be posted along with the online version. -Brian Miller

WE ARE ANCHORED BY THE ROADSIDE, JIM

We are anchored by the roadside, Jim, as we’ve oft-times been before, When you and I were weary from sacking on the shore,

The moon shone down in splendor, Jim, it shone on you and I, And the little stars were shining when we drank the old jug dry.

But that was those good old days, those good old days of yore,

When Murphy run a tavern and Burnsy kept a store, When whiskey ran as free, brave boys, as waters in the brook,

And the boys all for their stomach’s sake their morning bitters took.

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But times they have now altered, Jim, and men have altered too, Some have undertaken for to put rum sellers through,

For they say that whiskey’s poison and scores of graves has dug, Ten thousand snakes and devils have been seen in our old jug.

But never mind such prattle, Jim, though some of it may be true,

We’ll lie where we’re a mind to, together, me and you, For the drink they call cold water, won’t do for you nor I,

So we’ll haul the cork at leisure, and we’ll drink the old jug dry. I recently checked out the current exhibit at the Minnesota History Center American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (an exhibit which, I couldn’t help but notice, is being “repealed” on March 16th – just in time for a certain holiday). It reminded me of this song which I transcribed from the singing of Robert Walker. Walker referred to it as an “anti-prohibition song” when he sang it for collector Sidney Robertson-Cowell in Crandon, Wisconsin in 1952. It appears on the record Wolf River Songs. Across the northwoods, there was much opposition to prohibition from men who worked in the lumber industry. For many lumberjacks, drink was seen as a necessary relief from long hours and back-breaking labor. “Sacking,” mentioned in verse one, was certainly thirsty work. Walker explained: “When they was driving logs and high water had put ‘em way out in the marshes someplace, and the men’d have to get right into the water and roll ‘em out into the stream again, -- that was sacking, see?” Sacking was made especially harsh by frigid spring waters and huge logs beached far from the open stream by lumber companies’ use of temporary dams. Another Wisconsin lumberman, Robert Nelligan, wrote “There are few kinds of labor more arduous than river driving. We got up about three o’clock in the morning and were at work all day until darkness fell, most of the time wading in icy cold water and sometimes more than wading. Men working under such a strain as this needed stimulants. Whiskey was used and much of it.” The song’s reference to Murphy’s tavern hints at the prevalence of Irish saloon owners in small northwoods towns like Crandon. In fact, when Irish-American Mike Dean transitioned from working as a lumberjack to buying his own saloon in Hinckley, Minnesota in the 1880s, he was taking up a profession dominated, in Pine County at least, by Irishmen. An 1887 list of Pine County liquor license applicants includes the surnames: Dean, Rourke, Tierney, Hurley, Brennan, Durkan, Connors, Connor and Hennesy!

So perhaps it is no coincidence that Dean did not stay long in Pine County after that county joined many other Minnesota counties in voting itself dry in 1915, five years before national prohibition. By 1917 Dean was settled in Virginia, Minnesota which had remained “wet” even though nearby Hibbing (and most of northwestern Minnesota) had gone “dry” along with Pine County in 1915. In fact, some clever songsmith in Hibbing had made another “anti-prohibition” song to the tune of the recent John McCormack hit “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary:”

It’s a long way to Old Virginia, it’s a long way to go, It’s a long way to Old Virginia, to the wettest town I know, Farewell, then, oh ye lager, farewell rock and rye,

It’s a long, long way to Old Virginia, when Hibbing goes dry.

You can read Northwoods Songs online at www.evergreentrad.com/northwoods-songs

1. Sidney Robertson Cowell, Wolf River Songs (NYC: Folkways LP FE 4001, 1956) 5. 2. John Emmett Nelligan, A White Pine Empire: The Life of a Lumberman (St. Cloud: North Star,

1969) 33. 3. Pine County Pioneer, Apr. 15, 1887. 4. Al Zadon, “Power ‘The Little Giant of the North’,” Mesabi Daily News, Oct. 3, 1976.

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Cu Ceoil

" " Music to the Irish is a living delight, a mysterious key to a host of undiscovered emotions hoarded in the secrets of the soul." Mairtin Byrnes

Our music hound this month is Neil Johnston. Neil is a founding member of the MN Irish Rock band, The Tim Malloys. He has played Irish/Celtic music since 1992, and began his musical career in the 1980’s in a band called Zooey. He has recorded 5 albums with The Tim Malloys, and is a guest musician on others, playing bass guitar, bodhran, auxiliary percussion, and vocals. In addition to his work in The Tim Malloys, he teaches painting, drawing, and 2d design at Century College in White Bear Lake. See his work at www.timmalloys.com or www.paintstew.com Irish music is an ever-changing and evolving genre with traditions that are deeply planted in history. Interestingly enough, these traditions often sprout new interpretations of a rich cultural past, and with some cultivation, these sprouts go on to inspire others to create their own traditions. I think this is what makes a musical culture live, thrive, and continue to be a relevant expression of a people. Often, I return to the Irish music of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when I was first introduced to Irish music, for my musical inspiration. This period sparked a new, global, and cross-genre kind of Irish Music. A few of these musical moments have travelled with me, and stayed by me. They remind me of the vibrancy and tenacity inherent in a music that is rooted – rooted in history, tradition and emotion. For me they are lifelines to the future, springing forward from a fertile past. They give me courage, inspiration, and humility – wrapped up in a neat, musical package. I cannot imagine my music collection without these essentials – my musical touchstones.

Irish Heartbeat, Van Morrison & The Chieftains, Mercury Records, Produced by Van Morrison and Paddy Moloney, 1988. This CD should definitely be in every Irish Music Collection, and features many traditional songs re-arranged through the collaboration of Van Morisson and Paddy Moloney. You can almost hear the combination of New York soul and traditional Irish ballad, as he belts out a real street-gritty phrasing of Carrickfergus, rising and falling as only Van can do, with the full support and soulful lacework of the Chieftains. I believe that this album is the first in a long line of “The Chieftains AND…” recordings that would come to feature many rock, country, folk, and classical greats. It is also the first traditional Irish music crossover album that I remember hearing. The combination of depth of tradition, presented and often re-arranged and re-presented resonates with non-aficionados of Irish or Celtic music. The traditional songs on this album are skillfully vaulted into the ears and tastes of a broad audience. This collaborative approach to music making is a hallmark of this period in Irish music.

The Chieftains, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast with Roger Daltrey and Nancy Griffith, RCA Victor, Produced by Paddy Moloney, 1992.

I was on a folk-revival kick in the nineties, hearing the wonderful work of Shane McGowan and the Pogues, and their tireless work fusing Irish aesthetic with post-punk rock energy. I found myself on a quest for ‘rule breakers’ and any music that bucked the musical status-quo. I was surprised by the musical parings on the ‘An Irish Evening’ Chieftains album. Here Paddy Moloney takes another bull by the horns and pairs with Roger Daltrey and Nancy Griffith. The recording is live, and you can hear the audience’s enthusiastic reaction during Matt Molloy’s wonderful and intense flute solo in ‘The Mason’s Apron’. I still smile when I hear Roger Daltry’s near-flippant response to Paddy asking him to do a ‘traditional’ song from London. The pairing of these 2 musical histories – one traditional Irish, the other from roots British Rock and Roll on one stage is magic. The celebration is palpable in Nancy Griffith’s ‘Ford Econoline’ and the Chieftains gladly ride shotgun.

The Pogues, Rum Sodomy and the Lash (WM UK, 1989) or Hell’s Ditch (Rhino, 1990), My list would not be complete without mentioning these 2 albums. The Pogues and Shane McGowan’s influence in Irish music cannot be overlooked. Traditional sounding songs like “The Body of and American”, “Sally MacLennane”, “Dirty Old Town” are paired as only the Pogues did, with gritty songs of the streets like “The Old Main Drag”, “A Rainy Night in Soho”, “Five Green Queens and Jean”. These 2 albums did much to fuel a new-found passion for Irish music, bringing a sense of history and depth to the post-punk rock scene. The Pogues brought Irish music to a brand new audience, in Europe as well as in America and abroad. The Pogues proved the resiliency of Irish music in the later years of the Twentieth Century. They revealed the soulful depths of Irish music to new audiences and helped to define this new genre. These four albums have provided countless hours of inspiration for me. They are touchstones that define a pivotal moment in Irish/Celtic music – a moment of incredible creativity and musical flexibility. I know that these albums were created in the spirit of collaboration and expansion. That spirit is the spark that set the Irish music genre on fire during that period in the late 1980’s and through the 1990’s, and opened up the world to Irish culture. These albums helped to inspire, global recognition, broader appreciation, and cultural depth that Irish Music gained in the 1990’s. They inspired new bands abroad, and added to the evolving definition of Irish Music. I hope you include these albums in your collection and appreciate the touchstones that they are.

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An Leabhragán (The Bookcase)

Someone by Alice McDermott

Farrar, Strauss and Giroux 2013 An ordinary life: a girl grows up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Brooklyn, sharing a small cramped apartment with her working parents and sensitive older brother, who is studying for the priesthood. Her friends in the neighborhood are also working-class Irish Catholics with predictable life trajectories like hers. Neither Marie nor her friends and family can really be considered Anything Special. And yet under Alice McDermott's deft and steady hand, the ordinary moments of life are rendered astonishingly clear and vivid: births, deaths, courtship, work, marriage, motherhood, illness and aging. This account of Marie Commeford's life moves fluidly between the past and present. One moment she's a ten-year-old girl playing with her friends, then an old woman in a care facility, with many diversions in between. There is no chronological timeline, but episodes, much like Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. Gertrude Stein once famously remarked, "Inside we are always the same age" and we see the girl Marie in the woman she becomes, throughout all her life. Through this accounting of a not-distinctive life, we see Marie as Somebody, a person who has woven a rich tapestry of experience, love, and heartbreak into her life, as we all do. It takes years to become Somebody; years of connection, emotion and memory. An ordinary life is an astonishing accomplishment. In the hands of master storyteller Alice McDermott, this little life becomes a lot. If this is your first experience with this author, enjoy this novel and then move on to Charming Billy and Weddings and Wakes. You will be spellbound. Sherry Ladig is a Saint Paul based trad musician and a former reviewer for the Hungry Mind Bookstore's newsletter, Fodder. Sherry welcomes suggestions for books to review---or review one yourself. She may be reached at [email protected]. Happy winter reading!

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Ceili Corner By Bhloscaidh O’Keane

First Saturday Afternoon Céilí - Dubliner Pub, 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul, from 3:00 to 5:00. The suggested donation is $2.00 per person. The dances are taught and called by Paul McCluskey.

Third Saturday Night Céilí - The Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Ave., No, St. Paul.

Irish Dance Classes:

Céilí Dancing - Wednesday Nights Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Learn Irish dancing in a genuine Irish pub with a wooden floor that has known a whole lot of dancing feet. Steps and dances are taught by Paul McCluskey and Kirsten Koehler. Basic beginning steps are taught beginning at 7:00, with advanced lessons and dancing continuing until 9:30 PM. Year-round; no children, and must be of legal drinking age. Free.

Set Dancing - Tuesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Set Dancing at 7:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, music by the Twin Cities Ceili Band. The cost is $5 for the band, beginners welcome, for more information call Geri at the Dubliner (651)646-5551.

Check www.lomamor.org for all up-to-date Irish folk dancing information.

The Center for Irish Music

Come check us out at The Celtic Junction

836 Prior Avenue, St Paul MN

Please check the website for information on our full range of instruction in traditional Irish

music, language , culture and fun.

For class schedule and other information call or email 651-815-0083 [email protected]

Or visit our website

www.centerforirishmusic.org

Dedicated to Handing Down the Tradition

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Smidirini* By Copper Shannon

(*Irish for ‘Bits and Pieces’)

Comhghairdeas lenár gcairde a phós le gairid! (Congratulations to our friends who recently married!) Michelle McGregor (of the Hounds of Finn) and Susan Hamilton were married in January. May your hands be forever clasped in friendship, and your hearts joined forever in love.

Best wishes to Eileen Dahill and the St. Paul Irish Dancers, now offering classes at the Jawaahir Studio. That’s

right off of Lake Street and Minnehaha - next to the 3rd Precinct. Looks promising for lots of shenanigans! Pack your bags! You’re invite to join the staff of the Irish Gazette for a trip to Ireland in March! Dublin, New

Grange, the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, plus Galway and more. Check out the plan at http://theirishgazette.com/irish-gazette-staff-leads-a-tour-to-ireland/.

A Reminder about IMDA Membership: Because of rising costs in printing and postage, IMDA asks that members

who want to receive their newsletter by U S mail support the IMDA by contributing at least $35 a year. All members have the option of receiving their newsletter by e- mail for faster delivery and color photos!

Update on IMDA Membership The Irish Music and Dance Association would like to remind members of a change in policy regarding membership. Because of rising costs in printing and postage, the Irish Music and Dance Association asks that members who want to receive their newsletter by U S mail support the IMDA by contributing at least $35 a year. All members have the option of receiving their newsletter by e-mail for faster delivery and color photos! We welcome your financial support of the IMDA at any level and that support helps us continue our work to promote Irish music and dance in the Twin Cities and beyond. You may also become a newsletter-only member without making a financial contribution. Whichever membership option you choose, we appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at a concert or dance event soon!

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Tear out the above form and send it with a check made out to “IMDA” to: The IMDA Membership Coordinator c/o Jan Casey 400 Macalester St. St. Paul, MN 55105

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Documents

Irish Music & February Dance Association Feabhra · Northwoods Songs 14 Ceili Corner 18 Smidirini 19 . 2 Irish Music & Dance Association Tune of the Month The IMDA Board isis found