By George L. O'Brien
Busy Summer
After a surprisingly busy summer, this fall things are beginning to really take off for the Arizona Irish music scene.One of the real highlights of the summer was the 10th Anniversary Party at O'Connor's Pub on July 15th & 16th. This was an incredible two day event that went from noon to close on both Saturday and Sunday. This event featured almost 24 hours of Irish music. This is a longer period than any Phoenix event ever done. To give some perspective, our St. Patrick's Faire with two stages only went a total of 12 hours. Jimmy O'Connor should be commended for his strong support for Irish music.
The performers included The Clare Voyants, Rich Bailey and the Irish Ramblers (now named Rich Bailey and Trinity), Seanachie, Pat McCrossan, Carroll MacGreggor, Mike Donovan, McElligott Irish Dance Company, Owen Keating, and One Eyed Fiona.
On the following Saturday, many of escaped the heat to go to Flagstaff Celtic Festival. This event featured the California based bagpipe and drum group called Wicked Tinker, but the response to One Eyed Fiona was nearly as strong as reflected in their strong CD sales. Also performing well was the new traditional Irish/Celtic band, Home Brew, from Prescott. John Good, President of the Welsh League dazzled people at the second stage with his skill on the pennywhistle before leading a performance by the fine Welsh choir. The Arizona Irish Music Society booth attracted a good number of visitors, several of whom purchased CD's by The Clare Voyants. Paul Knight of The Clare Voyants along with his wife Caitlyn (from Molly Malone) helped organize an informal seisiun.
Next came the Third Annual Phoenix Irish Feis Fundraiser, on Sunday July 30th. This year's event featured five bands with a reputation for doing "jigs and reels": Molly Malone, One Eyed Fiona, The Bringers, Round the House, and Seanachie. With all three dance schools represented, there was an opportunity for the dancers to dance all they wanted. The event was followed by a seisiun. In addition to the music and dancing, there was a send off for Brigid O'Neill as the Phoenix representative to the Darling Girl of Clare competition.
Griffin's Pub held it's second anniversary party on August 19th and featured One Eyed Fiona, Molly Malone, Tony Cummins, and Pat and Rosie Maloney. The performance by Molly Malone featured the debut of a fourth member, Robin Dodder, on the flute which went very well. Pat and Rosie came down from Dewey to perform and will be at O'Connors Pub during the weekend of September 15th and 16th.
August 24th began a three day grand opening of the new Irish pub in Tempe, Rula Bula. Scheduled performers included Owen Keating and John Abberton, Seanachie, The Clare Voyants, Caven Clark, One Eyed Fiona, Rich Bailey and Trinity, and performers from the dance schools.
August 25th featured a visit from the Australian Celtic Rock group, Brother at the Cajan House with The Clare Voyants opening for them.
A Very Busy Fall
This fall promises to be even busier. On Saturday, September 9th, One Eyed Fiona will have a special concert at Fiddler's Dream with Rossettistone opening for them. This is follow-up to their Fiddler's Dream debut in June which was huge success. There are many performers that have played Fid's numerous times without ever being asked to do a concert, so this is a real coup.
On the same night, the highly acclaimed Irish rock group, The Young Dubliners will be at the Cajan House with The Clare Voyants opening for them. The Cajan House is one of the premier venues in the valley and we are really excited about getting this kind of visibility for local Irish bands.
On September 15th, Sheila Maguire will come to town as will Martin Lacy to play with Brid Dower and Ashling. Sheila is a spectacular fiddle player and everyone looks forward to her far too infrequent returns to the valley.
On the first weekend in October (October 7th & 8th), the Sharlot Hall Museum Folk Festival in Prescott will feature several Irish musicians including the groups Round the House (from Tucson) and The Bringers from Phoenix. The Arizona Irish Music Society will be running the Irish jam session and we hope to include some of the Prescott area musicians such as the members of New Potatoes, Home Brew, and The Granite Creek String Band. There are plans to organize a seisiun Saturday evening after the regular program is through.
The Eileen Ivers band will be in Tucson on Wednesday, October 11th at the Leo Rich Theater/Tucson Convention center. Eileen Ivers gained world wide fame during her time Riverdance and was last in Arizona while performing with the Chieftains a year and a half ago.
On Thursday, October 12 the band Small Potatoes will be in town to play at the Glendale Public Library at 7:00 PM.
On Saturday, October 14th there will be a Arizona Piping and Drumming Workshop at the Tempe Police Department hall. Saturday evening there will be a performance/session.
The 17th annual Phoenix Irish Feis will be held on the weekend of October 20th through 22nd at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Sun City. This year's program will open on Friday evening with an adult competition plus a "small" ceili. During the day on Saturday, there will be not only the dance competition but also a small Irish fair, a beer garden, a song competition, and music by Round the House. Saturday evening, there will be a dinner followed by a ceili featuring The Clare Voyants.
On Friday, October 20th, the Fenians will be at the Cajan House with The Clare Voyants opening for them.
On Saturday, October 21st, Seanachie will be playing at fund raising event for the Friends of Compass. This is a black tie dinner to be held at Tempe Town Lake. It's only $100 a ticket. Tickets can be ordered through James Donley (Donley Service Center), 602-995-1117.
The Tucson Highland Games will be held on Saturday, November 5th to be held at Rillito Downs. As of press time I do not have information on who will be performing.
The evening of November 5th will feature a performance by the outstanding traditional Irish music group, Solas (voted the "best touring band" for 1999 by Irish Music Magazine)to be held at the Berger Center.
On Saturday, November 11th, the Arizona Music Forum will be holding it's second annual festival. The Arizona Irish Music Society will be in charge of the music for the VIP tent. This promises to be a great opportunity to demonstrate that there is more to Arizona Irish music than St. Patrick's Day.
With all other scheduling information issues, the best place to get up to date music information is always to check the Arizona Irish Music web site, www.azirishmusic.com and to get on the e-mail list aims@azirishmusic.com to receive the e-mail calendar and News and Notes. In addition to calendars (by venue, band, and by date, news, articles, directories of bands and venues, lyrics, and other information about the local Irish music scene - there are links to hundreds of very interesting Irish web sites.
One final note, in the year 2001, the Phoenix St. Patrick's Day Parade and Faire will be held on Saturday, March 17th. This promises to be the largest Irish event ever put on in Arizona and we will need all the volunteers we can get. Anyone interested in helping on the Faire should call me (George O'Brien) at 602-770-8077 or better yet e-mail me at aims@azirishmusic.com.
