By George L. O'Brien
While summer tends to be a slow period for entertainment in Arizona, there are a number of things happening in the Irish music scene.
O'Connor's Pub will celebrate its anniversary party the weekend of July 15th-16th. At press time the entertainment had not been finalized, but in past years this has been a nice party with plenty of food and music.
Carroll MacGreggor will be having a CD launch party "sometime" in mid July before they leave on a three month tour. This will be their second CD. The recording was done in England by the people who handle Jethro Tull and the CD and will feature backup performances by members of Fairport Convention.
Tucson's The Molly's will be in Phoenix for a concert on Sunday, July 16th at Lifesource Church, 3312 E. Campbell at 6:00 PM. There will be a $10 admission.
The Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society will be holding their annual Arizona Highlands Celtic Festival, scheduled for Saturday, July 22, 2000 at the park by City Hall. Local musicians performing up there will include One Eyed Fiona, Welsh harpist (and flutist)John Good, and Home Brew out of Chino Valley. For more information, call (520) 779-3817 or by checking their web site www.flaglink.com/nachs/events/highland/index.asp.
The new Irish pub, Rula Bula (4th St. at Mill in Tempe) is expected to have a "soft" opening in early July which will be primarily for the Irish community. Watch for more information on this at the Arizona Irish Music web site, www.azirishmusic.com.
The newly reformulated O'Brien's Pub and Grub will have The Clare Voyants for the weekend of the 8th and 9th and Mike Donovan for the weekend of the 21st and 22. O'Brien's Pub is on 35th Ave, just south of Dunlap.
One of the main events this summer will be the third annual Phoenix Irish Feis fundraiser to be held on Sunday, July 30th at the Dubliner Irish Pub, 40th Street and Thunderbird. Performing will be One Eyed Fiona, The Bringers, Molly Malone, Round the House and Seanachie. This is a lineup that not only plays great music, but are all adept at doing the "jigs and reels" the dancers want.
While One Eyed Fiona has become adept as a "pub band", they are still best known for their ability to play Irish dance music. At this past St. Patrick's Day Fair, they opened for the main stage and drew a good audience. One Eyed Fiona frequently plays for the local dance schools. Fiddler Jerica Turner and vocalist/bodhran player Brian Abernathy are both mainstays of the local seisiun scene with Chris Turner on Guitar. Their CD, "One Eyed Fiona" has received radio air play in more than six countries so far and is carried at some of the Barnes and Noble stores. They also will be playing at Fiddler's Dream on July 8th at 17th Street and Cactus Wren (one block north of Glendale Ave).
The Bringers were headliners at the Renaissance Faire and are regularly featured at Fiddler's Dream (they will have a major concert on July 9th at Life Source Community Church 3312 E. Campbell, Phoenix at 6:00 PM). The Bringers feature fiddler Michi Regier, bodhran play by Vash, guitar by Joe Bethancourt, Byron Miller on theDijeridoo, and vocals by Catherine Rustenbeck and Nichelle Scott. The Bringers hope to release their inaugural CD sometime in August.
Molly Malone performed at the Renaissance Faire and features Paul Knight, vocals and guitar(best know for vocals playing the bodran with The Clare Voyants), Erin Lewis on the fiddle (who has played with The Clare Voyants an the Irish Ramblers), and Caitlyn Winters on bodhran and vocals. (Paul and Caitlyn married on July 17th).
Round the House will be coming up from Tucson. Their reputation as a ceili band is unmatched and they are one of the most active Irish bands in Tucson. Fiddle player, Sharon Goldwasser got the chance to play with Chieftains when they last visited Tucson. Dave Firestine (mandolin, tenor banjo, bodhran, vocals) also plays with New Potatoes of Precott. Mike Smith plays the guitar and Clare Zucher plays the bodhran and does vocals.
Seanachie was only formed in January, but they have already become popular favorites by people who enjoy their "Clancy Brothers" style sound. At this event, the fiddle playing of Ken Mulqueen (best known for his work with the McMorrows) will be featured. Lead vocalist, Steve Colby (best known for playing with the Rambling Rovers) will play the guitar, 5 string banjo, tenor banjo, and Irish bouzouki. Dennis McMorrow is beginning to establish himself as a fine vocalist and accordion player (and not simply the younger brother of John and Jerry).
After last year's performance, there was a great seisiun. This year it could be even better.
The Arizona Irish Music Society (AIMS) has been receiving a number of very nice comments from people who appreciate the work we have done. Many people have come to rely on the web site - www.azirishmusic.com and our weekly e-mail calendar letter. The web site has become an important resource for people who want to know how to reach a band, get to a venue, or how to contact an Irish organization. A number of out of town visitors have made it to the seisiuns because they found out about it on the web site.
Some of the upcoming activities of AIMS include have information booths at the Celtic Festival in Flagstaff, the Sharlott Hall Folk festival in early October, and the Phoenix Irish Feis in mid October. In November, AIMS will assist the Arizona Music Forum in putting on a major festival in the ASU stadium parking lot. AIMS will run the music for the VIP tent -- for 14 hours. The VIP tent will be limited to major sponsors, venue owners, people from the recording industry, media, etc. This is an incredible opportunity for us to put Irish music on the map in Arizona.
We have made a good start in recruiting people into the AIMS management team, but we need a lot more help. Anyone interested in helping or simply be added to e-mail list for the weekly calendar/news and notes should send an e-mail to aims@azirishmusic.com or call George L. O'Brien at 602-770-8077.
One final comment - our web site, www.azirishmusic.com has added a number of new features such as a big increase in the number links to other Irish sites and a directory of major Irish music artists. Purchases of music through the site will generate a small commission to the Arizona Irish Music Society. It isn't very much, but we hope it will help defray some of the costs of running the web site. I might also mention that sales of "An Irish Cookbook - On CD-ROM" not only help support the Arizona Irish Music Society, but also helps to promote the local artists that are included on the program.
Arizona Irish Music Society www.azirishmusic.com aims@azirishmusic.com
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