George O'Brien - Arizona Irish Music Society
I visited the Los Angeles Irish Fair a couple of months ago to promote our new web site, www.azirishmusic.com. I had a chance to listen to many of the LA's Irish/Celtic performers. Many of them are quite good. None the less, the Irish/Celtic performers in Arizona compare very favorably.
People new to Arizona are surprised to find there is an active Irish music "scene" with a good number of excellent performers. When I hand out promotional flyers for the Arizona Irish Music Society with calendars of events, most people are pleasantly surprised at how much is going on.
Irish/Celtic music in Arizona offers considerable diversity. Arizona has a number of excellent "traditional" groups such as the McMorrows, The Clare Voyants, One Eyed Fiona, the Rambling Rovers, Crossbow, the Bringers, Round the House (Tucson), Pat and Rosie Maloney (Dewey), New Potatoes (Prescott), and Bill and Patty Cummins (Flagstaff). Carroll MacGreggor does traditional material plus a lot of original music. Also performing traditional songs (as well as other material) are Irish born entertainers such as Pat McCrossan, Mike Donovan, and part time Arizonans Tony Cummins and Bill Craig.
Some Celtic groups do mostly original and new material in an eclectic style such as Wander the Earth, the Mollys (Tucson), Ashling (modern Irish Rock). In addition, there are Celtic folk artists such as duo Rick and Steve, Celtic Harpist Megha Morganfield, and new age Celtic from Meadowlark. This impressive array of performers have been doing their part to put Irish music on the Arizona map and Arizona on the Irish map.