AIMS News and Notes 8-30-2005
Arizona Irish Music Society
www.azirishmusic.com
Information Line: 602-770-8077
Signup - signup@azirishmusic.com
George L. O'Brien - george@azirishmusic.com
News - news@azirishmusic.com

1. Out and About

--- Going Away Seisiun For Brandy Driscoll At Rosie's On Sun

2. Irish Cultural Center News

--- Fri Sept 1 - Chef Steven Return For First Friday Dinner
--- To Make The Center A New Times "Best Of PhoenIX"
--- Fri Sept 8 - Mike Perkins On Role Of Notre Dame In Irish America
--- Sun Sept 10 - No Feis Feis
--- Sat Sept 16 - Pan Celtic Ceilidh On Sat Sept 16 At ICC
--- Sat Sept 30 - Marian Tomas Griffin An Irish Girl's Journey

3. Old Blind Dogs
--- Fri. Sept 8 - Flagstaff - Cline Library Auditorium
--- Sat - Sept. 9 - Tucson - Berger Center
--- Sun- Sept. 10 - Prescott - Hassayampa Inn
4. Knockabouts At Charly's On Thur
5. McMorrows Return To O'Connor's Sept 29 And 30
6. News From Tucson
--- Highland Shamrock Pipe Band Show At Gaslight Theater on Mon, Sept 11
--- New Irish Pub in Town
--- New Traditional Seisiun at The Auld Dubliner (Sun Afternoons)
--- Music Competition Workshop
--- Tucson Celtic Festival Music Competition
7. ASU Folklore Students Want To Interview Irish Musicians
8. Irish Seisiun Returns To Prescott And Sharlott Hall Folk Festival Oct 7-8
9. Pan Celtic Ceilidh On Sat Sept 16 At ICC
10. Leahy On Kaet Channel 8 On 9/4/06 And 9/8/06
11. Calling All Fiddlers
12. This Week In Irish Music

Brandy Driscoll is moving to Seattle. Brandy has been such a big part of the local Irish scene it is hard to believe she's actually leaving. Over the years Brandy has played with On The Dole, The Clare Voyants, O'Carroll's Gate, the Caithers, and Rabharta.

Recently, Brandy has been hosting the Rosie Seisiun and Sunday's seisiun will be her going away party.

Chef Steven is back from his Summer hiatus with the season's final big barbeque! The owner/director of Your Person Chef, the Valley's Premier In-Home Meals and Events/Weddings/Party Service in the Valley will be offering his grilled rosemary, garlic and mint ground lamb burgers with melted stilton cheese on potato rolls accompanied by apple and walnut slaw and onion potato chips. Come and enjoy this last grilling of the Summer all for only $7.00 at this month's First Friday Dinner. Dinner is served at 6 PM and going on until the food runs out!

Don't forget bring your instruments to join the seisiun which starts at 7:00 PM

Join the community in making the Irish Cultural Center a New Times, Best of Phoenix location! Go to www.bestofphoenix2006.com and vote for the Center for Best Irish Pub, Best Place for a First Date, and Best First Friday Hang Out. If you are into doing this by mail, pick up your New Times today and fill out the form. Deadline is September 6, 2006 so hurry! This is a good way to get us on the map and only costs you a few minutes.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Irish in America were known as cops, firemen, gangsters and priests - not college educated professionals. However, a small college in northern Indiana helped to change the self image of the American Irish. With a football team dubbed the "Fighting Irish", Notre Dame became a phenomenon.

Mike Perkins will introduce the movie "Knute Rockne, All American" which gives a hint of the social impact that Notre Dame had on the American Irish. This classic film featured Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, and the "Win One for the Gipper" speech.

The Second Annual No Feis Feis is scheduled at the Irish Cultural Center on September 10th at 2:00 PM.

The No Feis Feis is a unique experience. It is an afternoon of fun-filled mock Irish dance competitions judged by the audience. You don't have to be an experienced dancer to join in the fun. You only need a little enthusiasm to give that mean high kick a go. If you feel like you have three left feet, that's okay too. Join us for the food, drink and judging. Admission is $5 per person at the door. "Competitions" are $2 per dance, and your first two are free. Everyone is welcome!

Tickets are $15 adult/$12 senior (discount available for large groups). With suitcase in hand, Irish actor Marian Tomas Griffin brings us on a journey through childhood days in 1980's Ireland; school days, teenage life, first kisses, Irish mothers, visiting Yanks, departures and losses and more in this hilarious, feisty yet poignant journey of a modern Irish woman. Storytelling at its very best! A must see.

Who: Old Blind Dogs
Where: Cline Library Auditorium in Flagstaff
When: Friday, September 8, 2006 at 8:00pm
Presented By: Living Traditions Presentations
Number for Tickets: 928-523-5661

It's that time of year again...time for the Old Blind Dogs to come to Flagstaff and entertain audiences of all ages. This band has been a favorite since first coming here in 1993. The band has seen some personnel changes over the years, but has always retained that unique sound that is the Old Blind Dogs.

The Dogs have made a slight personnel change for this concert, with Jim Malcolm (lead vocals) leaving the band for personal reasons. Jonny Hardie (fiddle, founding member), Rory Campbell (pipes, whistles), Fraser Stone (percussion), and Aaron Jones (bass, bouzouki) have elected to keep the band as a four-piece, as it started originally 16 years ago. This change saddens those who love Jim, but will give the opportunity for Jonny, Aaron, and Rory to let us hear their singing voices. After hearing solo albums by all three, audiences are certainly in for a treat, as they always are when the Old Blind Dogs come to town.

The Old Blind Dogs are being presented by Living Traditions Presentations, who has brought you bands including Old Blind Dogs, Teada, Danu, Solas, and Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill. The concert will take place Friday, September 8, 2006 at 8:00pm with doors opening at 7:30pm. It will be held in the Cline Library Auditorium on the NAU Campus. Tickets are $20 with a $2 discount to members of Northern Arizona Irish Foundation, Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society, Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music, seniors, and NAU Faculty and Staff. Children (17 and under), and NAU/CCC Students are $10. Tickets are available at NAU Central Ticketing (928-523-5661), Cedar Music (928-773-0799), Jitters Coffee (928-526-6964), and www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, please contact Kari Barton at 928-600-1365 or
Kari@LivingTraditionsPresentations.com.

7:30 PM Berger Center, 1200 W. Speedway (1/2 mile W. of I-10), Phoenix, AZ Tickets also at Antigone Books and CD City now in various rows, mainly center seats. All seats reserved. $20 advance; $23 door 1-800 595-4849 In Concert

7:00 PM Hassayampa Inn 122 E Gurley St St Prescott
928-771-1218 $20 in advance for general seating, $25 at door, $30 reserved in front.

Hey George,

The Knockabouts will be at Charly's Pub in the Weatherford Hotel this Thursday ( August 31) as we welcome back the NAU students. After a nearly a month off, we are ready to get back into the bars! The fun starts at 9PM - see ya there

Hi George,

McMorrows will be playing the last weekend in September 29 and 30 at O'Connors.

Thanks Alexandra
ALEX1715@aol.com

From Aine: updates@tucsonirishcommunity.com
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Highland Shamrock Pipe Band Show At Gaslight Theater on Mon, Sept 11

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Monday, September 11, 2006
Highland Shamrock, featuring Christopher McGrory, William W. Don Carlos and the pipes & drums of the Seven Pipers Scottish Society, will hold a show at the Gaslight Theater, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd., at 7:00 p.m., for the benefit of Tucson's local pipe band. The show will consist a variety of performances, including traditional Irish/Scottish music and song and the dancers of Chris McGrory's Tir Conail Academy of irish Dance. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased by calling the Gaslight Theater: 886-9428.
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The Auld Dubliner, http://aulddubliner.com, is a new Irish pub opening in the next week or so at 800 East University Blvd., near the University of Arizona main gate. The pub plans to host music seisiuns, perhaps even weekly, on Sunday afternooons. (The Thursday evening session at O'Malley's will be discontinued as soon as the Auld Dubliner is open for business.) Watch this space for more specific details on the actual opening. The restaurant's telephone number is 520/206-0323.

One of the great things about the country of Ireland is the rich tradition of the "local" pub. It is there you find friends and family gathering for good food and drink, and great conversation throughout the day and night. Throughout the centuries, the pub has always been the meeting place for everyone in the town or village. The Auld Dubliner concept and brand is based on this principle of creating the "local". This will be fourth Auld Dubliner, the others being in Long Beach, California (est. 2004), Squaw Valley, California (est. 2005), and Lake Las Vegas, Nevada (est. 2006).

Live Irish entertainment will be featured on a regular basis, with local and touring Irish bands performing regularly. Executive Chef Matt Hewitt, one of the top chefs in Los Angeles, has created traditional dishes from Coastal and Southern Ireland.

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The Tucson Irish session has a new home, day and time! Sessions will no longer be held at O'Malley's on Thursday nights.

Irish musicians are invited to an open session at the Auld Dubliner, located just east of Euclid at 800 E. University Blvd. on Sunday afternoons at 4 pm, beginning this Sunday, September 3rd. Sessions will be held weekly. Best bet for parking is the U of A parking garage around the corner on Tyndall.

The session at Rincon Market continues to welcome musicians from 8-10 pm on first and third Tuesdays, to play tunes of all persuasions (Irish, old-time, contemporary contra, Quebecois etc).

For more info on either session, please contact Sharon Goldwasser at azfiddle@mindspring.com
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Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Old Pueblo Harpers is organizing several workshops by Laurie Riley, who will be judging the music competition at the Tucson Celtic Festival. The morning workshop is on Preparing for a Competition, and the afternoon workshop is on Celtic Session Playing. She will also offer a morning workshop on Sunday, November 5th, on How to Score More Competition Points. For more information regarding the workshops, contact (link:mailto:oldpuebloharpers@yahoo.com) Lorna Govier
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Saturday, November 4, 2006
There will be a music competition as part of the Tucson Celtic festival for vocalists and the following instruments: harp, hammered dulcimer, flute, whistle, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, accordian, drums & bodhran, and bagpipes. Children, teens, and adults of all levels are welcome to compete for prizes. The judge will be Laurie Riley, a world-renowned professional musician. Registration is $20, which includes admission to the Festival, and the deadline is October 15, 2006. Participants must check in at the festival with competition staff by 9 a.m. The competition will begin in the morning and last until early afternoon at the festival site, Rillito Raceway Park. To register for the competition and receive a copy of competition rules, contact (link:mailto:oldpuebloharpers@yahoo.com) Jenny Robertson-Tessi or visit (link:http://www.tucsoncelticfestival.org) the festival web site.

Dear George O'Brien,

The ASU ENG 357 (Introduction to Folklore) class is undertaking a Folk Music Collection project in which groups of students will be interviewing folksingers, asking questions about the singer's material and the originality of the singer's contribution to the tradition he/she is performing in. This will be primary research to contribute to a wider understanding of our American musical heritage and the material collected will be archived in the ASU Haydn Library, Arizona collection.

Do you know of any local performers of Irish music who might be interested in assisting us with this project? We would need to both formally interview and to record that interview (on campus). Unfortunately, the project is not in a position to pay any performers for that time.

I represent one of the teams of students doing the interviews and am interested in the Irish Cultural Center due to my fond memories of the evening I spent there with Liz Warren's Irish Folktales Class as a storyteller.

The student team needs to have a performer identified by the end of the first week in September and to have the interview accomplished by the middle of the third week in September.

If you could suggest and provide contact information for possible participants in the this project, we would be greatly appreciative. Please contact me (Harriet Cole) at hcdove@msn.com.

Sincerely,
Harriet Cole
Chris Umstadter
Laura Corrigan
Joel Doolin

The Sharlott Hall Folk Festival is always a great time for Irish musicians to perform and then get together for the AIMS Irish music seisiun on Saturday evening. Jan Alexander (Crosswind and New Potatos) has found us a new venue for the seisiun, the Raven Cafe 130 W Gurley St # 104, Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 445-7464. The seisiun will go from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

AIMS will have a booth at festival and I'm looking for volunteers to help out.

The 28th Annual Folk Music Festival
Saturday and Sunday
October 7 and 8, 2006
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sharlot Hall Museum
Prescott, AZ

Fiddles and banjos, storytellers, dancers, songwriters, and a big Saturday night barn dance.

Sunday morning musical instrument swap meet.

Over 150 performers; workshops on instrumental styles, song swaps, singer-songwriter sessions, theme jams, mini-concerts, sing-alongs, Sunday morning Country Gospel sing, teaching workshops, contra dancing, clogging, Flamenco dancing!

The Sixth Annual Pan-Celtic Ceilidh Presented by the Caledonian Society of Arizona

Who: The Caledonian Society of Arizona
P.O. Box 5853 * Scottsdale, AZ 85261 * 602.431.0095
The Caledonian Society is a Non-profit 501 (3) C Organization

What: The Sixth Annual Pan Celtic Ceilidh
Tickets: Dinner & Ceilidh / $35, Ceilidh only / $10
Deadline to buy: September 7th
When: Saturday, September 16, 2006 * 6 pm * Everyone Welcome!
Where: The Irish Cultural Center * 1106 North Central Avenue * Phoenix, AZ
85004 * 602.258-0109

Fellowship & PARTY with your Celtic Brethren at the Sixth Annual Pan-Celtic Ceilidh! The event takes place on Saturday, September 16, 2006.

Celebrating the revelry of all things Celtic, this annual event has found its home at the Irish Cultural Center, a place where Celts gather to dance, eat and celebrate their Celtic roots. Drape yourselves in plaid! Learn a few new dance steps! Highlights include Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Cornish Ceilidh dances taught by Arizona's premiere teachers Patricia Anderson, Archie MacLellan and Sarah King. Indeed - it's special for everyone!

If you didn't attend last year's event, which by the way was a WEE BIT packed with fellow Celts, with standing room only and out onto the map, you missed a Pan-Celtic Ceilidh of improvident proportions!

Confirmed entertainment this year is Jane Hilton and Pan Celtic Ceilidh Band. Special musical entertainment by the voice of the Highland Games, our very own Iain Walinck! Door prizes include two family packs to the Sixth Annual AZ Irish Festival! Be the first in your family to receive your tickets and tees! Call Michelle at 623-561-2721 or email at desertlass@weberpremiere.com for more information.

Join US! Contact the Irish Cultural Center at 602.258.0109 for more information and tickets.

Join the Caledonian Society of Arizona on the web at www.arizonascots.com for more information and also to view photos from last year's Pan-Celtic Ceilidh.

(The Irish Cultural Center, The Heart Of The Celtic Community, is a Division of the Irish Cultural and Learning Foundation a 501 c (3) Not For Profit Corporation, and is owned and maintained by the City Of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department.)

Hi there,

I wanted to you know that KAET will be debuting a new special featuring LEAHY on Sept. 4 at midnight, with an encore performance on Sept. 8 at 11 p.m. A DVD and live CD will be available through pledging for KAET, and the DVD will be released nationally this fall.

Leahy opened for Shania Twain's world tour in 1999, but they are a much different act musically - Celtic, folk, pop and world-music based - there are eight family members who are world-class musicians and Irish step dancers. It's very unique, and they have all the fire and energy you'd expect from siblings who've grown up playing and singing together. A documentary produced about the family in 1985 won an Academy Award for Best Student Foreign Film.

Donnell Leahy, an amazing fiddler and bandleader, is available for a phone interview - do you publish a newsletter? If you'd like to see video of the Leahys, I can direct you to our web site; there is a 10 minute piece with clips from the Oscar-winning film, and also a music video.

Please let me know if I can send you more information.

Warmest Regards,

[EDITOR'S NOTE: In addition to Leahy, Channel 8 will also be showing Celtic Woman at 1:30 AM Sunday night. It might make sense to tape it]

George,

Can you please post this in the next newsletter?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a fiddler to help out on a project I'm work on. It's a Celtic concept album/set. I'm looking to eventually do some recording, and to play gigs, of course. Compensation will be based on the gigs that we play, and CD sales.

If you're interested, please contact Shanan Suding at shanan187@cox.net, or call me at (623)398-7872

Thanks!
~ Shanan

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Shannon Sunding is better know to the local Irish music scene as Shannon Capes]

Michael McClanathan Will Be At The Westin Kirland Every Evening At Sunset.

WED

Paul Knight will be at into The Bean on Wed.
Scott Jeffers will be at into The Dubliner on Wed.

THUR

Shay Veno will be at Fibber Magee's on Thus

FRI/SAT

There will be an art show and Irish seisiun at the ICC on Fri.

The Clare Voyants will be at the Dubliner on Fri and Sat.

Mike Mercer will be at O'Connor's Pub on Fri and Sat.

O'Carroll's Gate will be at Rosie McCaffrey's on Fri and Sat

Brazen Heads will be at Rula Bula on Fri and Sat

Paul Knight will headline an anniversary party at Into the Bean on Sat evening

There will be a new seisiun at the Aud Dubliner on Sunday afternoon.

The Knockabouts will be at Charly's on Thursday

The Independent Celtic Pipers will be at the Coconino County Fairgrounds/Fort Tuthill on Sun afternoon.

There will be a contradance at the Prescott Activity Center on Fri