There is a lot to cover in this month’s Newsletter. There are two profiles of Nominees for The Australian Celtic Music Awards. One of the Categories is International Artist of the Year. Roving Crows is a UK band and Clan Celtica is from New Zealand. They are very different from each other and I suspect that the judges will have a hard time deciding on a winner.
I have also included an article submitted by the wonderful Margaret Winnett. Margaret is an Irish dance teacher of note. Every year for the last nineteen years, she and husband Bill head off to Ireland to tour and dance. I’ve always looked forward to her stories when she comes back, so I am very happy to be able to share her “report” of the 2015 visit with you all.
It’s going to be a busy month here in Glen Innes. Apart from being the Editor of this Newsletter, I will be acting as Artist Coordinator for the Friends of the Celtic Festival Show on 20th February.
Just before the show begins, you will see the trailer for Island Bound, a fascinating documentary by Manx-born musician Davy Knowles which tracks the migration of Celtic music with the early settlers to the USA, Canada and Australia. The full film will be screening on Thursday 28th April – book through australiancelticfestival.com/tickets.
I’m very much looking forward to the show. Glen Innes is blessed with some extraordinary talent. We have Martin Moxey, accompanied by Drums O’Crikey who will be introducing two of his own original songs on the night as well as playing two more traditional offerings.
The Abbeys are a quartet who will present two contemporary Celtic songs and a traditional one. Christine Davis is performing outside of her “comfort zone” in that she has not played Celtic music before. She’s been having fun discovering exactly how widely Celtic music has spread and influenced the music of the world.
Christine and Martin will join forces with Vincent Redal later in the evening as “Horse’n’Round”. This is a new collaboration which I am really looking forward to. I love the music of each musician as individuals and I think the mix will turn out to be very special. And then there’s God Bless Texas. The whole idea of a country rock group playing traditional Celtic songs while wearing kilts is ….. interesting!
Come and join us by booking through Julie at julie@giservices.com or phone 02 6732 1355. Tickets are $20 and will go to support The Australian Celtic Festival. You’ll be able to buy your Festival tickets at a discount, too!
Roving Crows – Nominees for International Artist of 2016 at Australian Celtic Music Awards
Roving Crows are an original must-see act, with roots in Folk and Celtic music. Renowned for their high-energy live performance, their shows pull together funked up traditional tunes and catchy original songs, with powerful Celtic undertones and intoxicating tribal rhythms. Roving Crows are successfully self-managed and have toured pretty much constantly for the last 6 years around the UK and into France.
The band has also gained recognition by winning various awards including:
Best Live Act – Spiral Earth Music Awards 2014; Best Folk Act – FATEA Music Awards 2014; Top Celtic Rock Band – Irish Music Awards 2012; Top Fiddle Player – Irish Music Awards 2012
The band comprises:
Caitlin Barrett (pictured here performing in France) from Herefordshire plays the fiddle and sings. She began playing at age 4, taught primarily by her father using the tradition of learning by ear. As her mother is from Donegal they mainly played Irish folk tunes and in this way she developed her passion for Irish music. Caitlin was a member of the Birmingham Comhaltas during her early teens and entered many competitions with the organisation. She became a professional musician in 2009 when she co-formed the Celtic Rock group Roving Crows. Caitlin has strong Australian links. Her Mother (Marian) was born in Donegal Ireland, and brought up in Victoria. After moving back to the UK in her teens, Marian returned to Australia with Caitlin’s father and brother, initially in Victoria then Surfer’s Paradise. Caitlin’s parents settled back in the UK during the mid 80s and Caitlin was born in the UK. The rest of her family are dotted around Australia from Townsville to Canberra, Brisbane to Sydney.
Paul O’Neill from Kildare plays acoustic and electric guitar and sings. He was born into a musical family and has been performing all of his life. He studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and after completing his studies put his focus on to his musical career. Paul is the songwriter for the Roving Crows, writing mainly from his experiences working and living in Dublin, London and New York. He has since settled in the UK where he met Caitlin and formed the band.
Loz Shaw from Worcestershire plays bass, clarinet, baritone guitar, synthesizer and sings. Although he didn’t begin playing music until in his twenties, he developed a keen understanding of sound technology early on, leading to him producing and engineering a number of bands prior to joining Roving Crows in 2012.
Tim Downes-Hall from Cirencester in Gloucestershire plays percussion in the band. Coming from a musical background (Grandparents entertained the troops in WW2) he started playing drums at the age of 13. He played in a number of bands and became proficient in many styles. Turning professional in 2010 he played and recorded with several bands from Swing to Irish-punk! Tim joined the Roving Crows in April 2015 to play percussion rather than a standard drum kit, bringing an Afro-Celt feel to the sound.
To listen to their music or purchase one of their three CDs visit their web addresses:
www.rovingcrows.com
www.facebook.com/rovingcrows
www.youtube.com/therovingcrows
twitter.com/rovingcrows
Our 19th trip to Ireland
Submitted by Margaret Winnett
This year we flew via Bangkok and Helsinki on our way to Ireland, spending two nights in Bangkok. We hadn’t been there for a number of years. It is as hot, humid, dusty and friendly as usual!
On our arrival into Dublin we wasted no time in picking up our hire car and driving south to Bray in County Wicklow – this is where I spent the month whilst Bill was in hospital during July, 2014. Saturday nights in Dublin are great for we set dancers as there is a Ceili happening somewhere – this night it was in St Anne’s GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Bohernabreena. There was a Belgian dance group performing when we arrived, then the tea break, before we could dance a set. Later in the night we were asked to perform to the live music of the Glenside Ceili Band. Brilliant!
The following afternoon we tootled up to Belfast where there was a Ceili scheduled at Belfast Castle with music provided by one of Margaret’s favourite ceili bands – the Cathal McAnulty Ceili Band. Hadn’t seen them for years so it was a real buzz.
After the day in Dublin on Monday we returned to the Martello Hotel, which is on the seafront in Bray, for dinner then attended the local set dancing group which had the great Brian Boru Ceili Band playing. What a great start to our almost seven weeks in Ireland!!
We had heard there was to be a Ceili in a big red barn in Mountrath, County Laois with music by the Neily O’Connor band on Thursday night. This barn had been erected for just the week of festivities and was fitted out with a great dance floor, tables, chairs AND a bar. Great night.
Friday we drove via the Sliabh Bloom mountains, Kinnitty, Birr, Loughrea, Gort, Crusheen and Ennis on the way to our hosts for the next ten days. We stopped off at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis for lunch – this was where our set dancing education actually began way back in 1989. Anna and PJ Keavey have their bed and breakfast at East Quilty, County Clare which is around 2km from the Atlantic Ocean. When the wind blows it really blows, when it rains it really rains and when the sun shines it is pure magic! This would be the seventeenth year we have stayed with the Keaveys.
After the day in Dublin on Monday we returned to the Martello Hotel, which is on the seafront in Bray, for dinner then attended the local set dancing group which had the great Brian Boru Ceili Band playing. What a great start to our almost seven weeks in Ireland!!
We had heard there was to be a Ceili in a big red barn in Mountrath, County Laois with music by the Neily O’Connor band on Thursday night. This barn had been erected for just the week of festivities and was fitted out with a great dance floor, tables, chairs AND a bar. Great night.
Friday we drove via the Sliabh Bloom mountains, Kinnitty, Birr, Loughrea, Gort, Crusheen and Ennis on the way to our hosts for the next ten days. We stopped off at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis for lunch – this was where our set dancing education actually began way back in 1989. Anna and PJ Keavey have their bed and breakfast at East Quilty, County Clare which is around 2km from the Atlantic Ocean. When the wind blows it really blows, when it rains it really rains and when the sun shines it is pure magic! This would be the seventeenth year we have stayed with the Keaveys.
Of course the real reason we travel to Clare each year is to attend the world famous Willie Clancy Summer School. Willie Clancy was a famous exponent of the uilleann pipes. Thousands converge upon the little town of Miltown Malbay each year to spend the week immersed in Irish culture. For us it is the dancing. For others it is the music or the sean nos singing. People hang outside of doors all along the main street listening to the stories or the music being played or watching a bit of dancing. Classes in Irish dancing, music and singing are held each morning then the streets come alive again as everyone pours out to have catch up with everyone else.
Each night of the week a Ceili is held in a marquee in the GAA grounds and maybe two or three nights there is a second venue in use. At Spanish Point there is the Armada Hotel which also hosts set dancing classes during the week as well as running Ceilithe each night. Nowhere is large enough to fit all of the dancers in the one place. When big bands such as the Tulla or Kilfenora are playing the organisers must close the doors when 600 are in the marquee! It is an amazing sight.
When Willie Clancy Week is over Miltown Malbay returns to its usual sleepy self and many people move on to the next summer school at Tubbercurry, County Sligo – another area steeped in the tradition. This is a lot smaller festival but still very popular. We sometimes stop in for a couple of days but after having danced our socks off down in Miltown Malbay we just simply can’t do another full week. Another reason is that there is yet another summer school AFTER the South Sligo Summer School and that is the Joe Mooney Summer School in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. This is on an even smaller scale than Tubbercurry but still a fabulous place for the dancing. Irish school teachers may attend these festivals as students so they acquire sufficient knowledge to be able to teach the dancing back at school………….they also are credited with the days they have spent at the summer school. A definite win/win situation.
The dancing doesn’t stop there as we travelled south to Killarney, County Kerry and managed to dance with the locals two nights there before moving on to Ballyvourney, County Cork to dance with the locals Thursday night. This year we discovered yet another night of dancing in Ballinhassig, not far from Ballyvourney, so that was four nights out of five. Ah, life is so tough!
Killaloe on the River Shannon, County Clare was home to Bill’s great grand- parents before they travelled to Australia in 1857. Joseph Winnett was a farmer who had salmon leases on the Shannon and he married Jane Bowles from Silvermines, County Tipperary – just across the water. Even though we’ve been there a number of times a visit to Killaloe was on the to-do list this year. Whilst in Killaloe we also visited St Flannan’s Cathedral, still trying to add to the information we have on Joseph and Jane Winnett. The wind down towards our trip home involved a few more dance opportunities so we meandered all the way back to Dublin and even took in a Ceili the night before we began the journey home.
When we touched down in Bangkok we had about ten hours to kill so decided to go back to the same hotel where we stayed on the outward journey. What a stroke of luck that turned out to be as Bill had left behind a new pair of spectacles and they were in the lost property cupboard. Had we not gone for a few hours sleep before taking off for Sydney they would still be there!
Clan Celtica – Tribal Thunder
Formed in December 2013, hailing from Auckland, Clan Celtica is a Scottish Tribal 6-piece music group made up of large drums and Great Highland Bagpipes. The performers are 5 drummers and 1 bagpiper. The drummers are Heather Mac, Muzza ‘Hill-Billy’ MacGregor, Fiona McNab and Loag Campbell, all taught by the Scottish percussionist Frankie Mac.
The music is uniquely Scottish, dating from the 1750s. Clan Celtica is the only band of this genre in the southern hemisphere, originating from the days before military pipe bands we know so well today were formed. The sound is best described as an exciting mix of the Great Highland Bagpipes weaving emotive Celtic melodies alongside pulsating dynamic drum beats, both slow to fast. The almost eerie hypnotic atmospheric performance includes original tunes and rearrangements of well known Scottish theme compositions from movie soundtracks, such as ‘Braveheart’ and ‘Rob Roy’.
Frankie Mac – the creator of Clan Celtica, studied at the Royal Scottish Academy for Music & Drama (RSAMD), Glasgow. As a professional session kit drummer and percussionist, Frankie’s client list has included: The Glasgow Philharmonic, Ayrshire Philharmonic, BBC orchestra, Dead-End-Kids, Deacon Blue, Bad Kangaroo (Neil Diament), Eddie Reader, Trash-Can-Sinatras, Love Decree and John Martyn. Frankie is also the main composer, recording producer and manager of the band.
Mich McTent – a professional bagpiper and fairly recent addition to New Zealand has earned the respect of many. Joining in early 2014, Mich has been an integral driving force of the Clan Celtica sound with his mix of contemporary and traditional techniques and feel. As well as working with Clan Celtica, Mich spends most of his working time teaching bagpipes in Auckland schools and colleges and playing as a solo piper.
Email clanceltica@gmail.com or check out these links to see more of Clan Celtica.
http://www.3news.co.nz/tvshows/paulhenryshow/clan-celtic-perform-in-studio-2014091823#axzz3lOf7fkMG
https://www.facebook.com/clanceltica/videos/1628302274094410/
Well, that’s all for another month. To submit articles, please send your material to me at barbara.saxonge@gmail.com.
Barbara McLennan
Editor
Celtic News
02 6734 5189
barbara.saxonge@gmail.com