response 205 of 226:

Jan 12 14:36 UTC 2001

Here I go again, letting my fingers get the best of me. :)

I was just checking out the webpage of the Austin Paramount Theatre, looking
for information on silent movies, and I found an announcement for a "Celtic
Rock Musical" called CELTICFUSION. I thought I'd mention it here, since the
touring show will play 3 venues in Michigan, this Spring. (Is March Spring
for y'all?)

From the information I've gleaned from the website
http://www.celticfusion.com
I gather that this is another type of Irish step-dance show, in the same vein
as "Riverdance" and "WAVES." Co-creators Liam Harney and Kevin Patterson,
along with composer Ivan Drever and lighting designer Eric Lotze are the only
team members listed on the website, and it looks as if they are trying to
recruit champion Irish step dancers from around the country. It will be
interesting to see how this all comes together. 

The three Michigan performances are:
Mar 9 - River Raisin Center - Monroe MI
Mar 11 - The Rozsa Center - Houghton MI
Mar 17 - Sturgis-Young Auditorium - Sturgis MI
and last, (but never least)
Apr 7 - Paramount Theatre - Austin TX
the remaining Spring dates are listed at
http://www.celticfusion.com/showlist/showlist.html

It looks like there was an Autumn tour, in the Northeast, Virginia, and
California, so maybe somebody out there has seen this already, and can
comment.

response 207 of 226:

Jan 13 22:31 UTC 2001

Ivan Drever, listed as the "Composer" in Mickey's resp:205, was in 
the band Wolfstone.  

response 209 of 226:

Jan 24 01:59 UTC 2001

Waaaay back there: I listened to snippets of the new Enya album, and 
the critique here is accurate-- same ol' stuff I like more or less.  I 
would have to get it and listen to it more to say anything further.

For the most part, Watermark and Shepherd Moon were my favorite 
albums.. although there is material in other ones I like.

Forgot to get "Paint The Sky With Stars" when it was available as a 
single CD-- I didn't want a "Best Of"-- just that particular title 
track.

response 211 of 226:

Jan 31 16:21 UTC 2001

There's a nice review of last night's Chieftains concert in Austin here:
http://thebards.net/tales/articles/journal20010130.shtml
Written by Marc Gunn, a member of the local band The Brobdingnagian Bards.

response 213 of 226:

Feb 26 04:38 UTC 2001

Patrick Street, the Ark, 2/25/2001:

I've been in a cranky mood so this won't be the best review.
Instrumentally the Irish supergroup was very tight; the songs 
in the first set were mostly dreary emigration songs which 
didn't appeal to me at all.   Second set picked up quite a bit,
with Ged Foley singing the Australian song "The Diamantina Drover,"
a favorite of mine, and Andy Irvine singing "Stewball."

Irvine joined Foley on acoustic guitar for a fine version of 
"Music for a Found Harmonium," originally by the Penguin Cafe
Orchestra, which has become a folk standard in Ireland and Britain.
Foley played guitar throughout, and he's a great anchor as a 
rhythm guitarist; Andy Irvine mostly played bouzouki, which 
instrument was his contribution to Irish music.  (Mike had some 
comment last time I mentioned that, and I didn't understand it.)
So I was glad to get to see Irvine, who's a bit of a legend
for all the work he's done over the last 30 years.

Lots of kids in the audience; I had the impression they were there 
in large groups as part of a cultural outing.

response 215 of 226:

Feb 26 05:13 UTC 2001

It's on the "Live" album from 1999 which I bought at this show, and the 
band said they recorded it a long time ago.  <krj grubs around on 
allmusic.com>    Says here "Harmonium" is on the "3 Irish Times 3"
album from 1989.  I can't even remember which of their albums I have 
after the first one.

response 217 of 226:

Mar 17 23:01 UTC 2001

(Ah, there it is.  The title is "Pure Bodhran.")

response 219 of 226:

Mar 18 07:34 UTC 2001

Oh, why shouldn't it be real?  "The Most Bodhran Music You'll Ever 
Hear", that sounds good.  Someone once put out a record 
called "Pachelbel's Greatest Hit" (singular), consisting of half a 
dozen increasingly inane arrangements of the infamous Canon.

response 221 of 226:

Mar 18 07:55 UTC 2001

Dan in resp:218 ::  For a review of "Pure Bodhran," see:
 
http://www.muse.ie/180800/reviews/revu_pure.html
 
or just run a google search on "pure bodhran ie".  The album is 
listed as a special order through US Amazon and a stock item at 
musikfolk.com.  Definitely not a joke.  I'd order it tonight if I hadn't
already blown the month's music budget.

response 223 of 226:

Mar 19 05:53 UTC 2001

I really liked Tears of Stone.  The Joni Mitchell piece was wonderful, and
Raglan Road just reminded me again why I really liked Joan Osborne.  Since
I'm a big Loreena McKennit fan, that was really cool, too. :)  And Cherish
the Ladies was a boatload of fun.  And it was because of this cd that I got
hooked on Diana Krall's voice.

response 225 of 226:

Aug 8 18:54 UTC 2001

Re a bunch of responses:

I admittedly haven't eard much Irish music. My meager collection consists of
all the Enya CDs (which the last CD is more of the same), MISTY EYED
ADVENTURES by Maire Brennan, a couple of Altas CDs and the Green Linnet 20th
Anniversary 2-CD set. I've enjoyed all that I've heard so far, but know it's
just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks for the discussion above. Reading the last 20 responses give me some
good ideas what to buy next.