By George L. O'Brien
The December 4th fundraiser for the Arizona Irish Music Society (AIMS) at O'Connor's Pub was something of a "coming out party". The event achieved the obvious objectives of raising money to support AIMS activities (such as running the web site, www.azirishmusic.com) while demonstrating the strong support for AIMS by the musicians and Irish community. At the same time, the audience was introduced to some of the many outstanding Irish/Celtic musicians we have in Arizona. The audience response was very positive. Many people told me they had no idea there are so many really good Irish/Celtic musicians here and that they really had a good time. In addition, the event has already lead to some new bookings.
The program opened with a group called "Rossettistone" (Sheila and Kevin Brushes) that do traditional Celtic folk songs and will be at the Arizona Renaissance Faire during all of February and March. Next came dancers from the McElligott Irish Dance Company followed by the Bringers who will also will be at the Renaissance Faire. (The fund raiser led directly to the Bringers being booked to perform at O'Connor's in January). They were followed by Joe Bethancourt (who also plays with the Bringers) whose performance included a couple of hilarious parodies of familiar Irish songs such as "The Bane of the County Down."
The next group, Molly Malone, debuted at this event and will be performing at the Renaissance Faire as well. (Technically they are a "new" group, but two of the members, Paul Knight and Caitlyn Winters performed at last year's Renaissance Faire and the fiddle player Erin Lewis performed there separately). A number of people came up to ask about them. They were followed by the folk group, Rick and Steve (Rick Boyle and Steve Pawlowski) who showed why they are so popular at Fiddler's Dream.
Next came Brian O'Carroll and Gregg Kozak of Carroll MacGreggor. Their performance led to a small rush of people interested in their their CD, "Darker Side of Green." While already reasonably well known, they came away with even more fans.
The next performer, Tony Cummins, brought a number of fans with him to the event. Tony splits time between San Diego and Phoenix and credited "Phoenix, AZ" with backup vocals on his CD, "Cummins and Goins". (Tony graciously contributed one of his CD's as a raffle item). In addition to singing some of favorites, as a surprise Tony brought up fellow San Diego resident, Jerry McMorrow, to sing.
Next came some dancers from the McTeggard Dance School accompanied by Jane Hilton (fiddle player from The Clare Voyants) and piper Caven Clark. In a highly unusual move, Caven came off the stage and participated in one the dance numbers.
The next group up was The Clare Voyants. They are widely considered one of, if not the premier Irish band regularly performing in Phoenix. Their performance only helped to reinforce their reputation.
Originally it was hoped that the new group, Shanachie, would be able to perform (see note below), but when this proved impossible, Austin Carter from Ireland sang a few Irish songs. Next came the showcase band, Cruel Moon. Led by Billy Brett (mandolin player and vocalist from The Clare Voyants), they featured vocals by Pam Greenway (another Renaissance Faire veteran) and Brid Dower. The Bracken School dancers were accompanied by One Eyed Fiona. Even after a long day of performances, the enthusiasm of the crowd was exceptional.
Many people stayed on to listen to Bill Craig, the featured singer from Canada, whose illustrious career includes playing with the Irish Rovers and producing a number of CD's. Bill contributed one of his latest CD's, "Full of Moon" as a raffle item. (Bill's CD is a softer and more contemplative than his previous work and has the virtue of sounding better every time it is played). Bill was there much of the afternoon to provide support.
It was a real challenge trying to keep that many performers on schedule. Ironically, the main "problem" we had was that we had so many great raffle items to give away.
Many thanks to all the musicians whose efforts mad the event a success -- and who are the reason why there is an AIMS.
In addition to thanking the musicians, the many volunteers such as Don and Arlene Boch, Mary and Jack Moriarity, Peter McAvinney, Mike Murray, Ann Casellano and many others deserve thanks for the great work done on the food and raffle. The numerous contributors to the raffle definitely deserve our thanks. A list of the raffle contributors can be found on the AIMS webs site at www.azirishmusic.com/Raffle_Thanks/ . A special thanks goes to Jimmy O'Connor whose support was crucial to making this event a success.
Most of all, I want to thank all the people who came out to support Irish music.
EXTRA NOTE: A new Irish band named Shanachie will be debut in late January. Featuring fiddle player Kenny Mulqueen (formerly with the McMorrows), Steve Colby on various instruments (formerly with the Rambling Rovers) and Dennis McMorrow on the squeeze box. They are scheduled to play at the Colleen Pagent and St. Patrick's Day Faire.
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