Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Ashley MacIsaac ready to settle down

Ashley MacIsaac performing at the Burlington S...Image via Wikipedia"The one-time Cape Breton bad boy is talking about settling down.

Ashley MacIsaac has been lying low in his adopted hometown of Windsor, Ont., and even looking at buying a house.

But the mercurial spirit remains. A creative urge to resist being tied down to one place or style of music is in evidence on his latest record, Crossover, which comes out in June.

Crossover has the genre-busting qualities of his breakout 1995 bestseller, Hi How Are You Today?.

'I've gone back to the original concept of finding ways of incorporating fiddle songs into other forms of music,' said the 36-year-old Celtic fiddler, who moved to Windsor in July 2008.

The idea came to him just after his abortive run at the federal Liberal leadership in 2006.

'I went to Scotland for a couple of months, and came back with the thought of making a new record similar to the earlier crossover records.'"

Monday, May 23, 2011

Eileen Ivers

Eileen IversCover of Eileen IversThe blue electric she tucks under her chin is the first thing you notice about Eileen Ivers. Then she begins to play and you know why she is such a revered performer. Ivers is the daughter of Irish immigrants and grew up in the Bronx, NY, one of New York City’s most culturally diverse boroughs. Surrounded by traditional Irish music, she became a nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion and won her tenth All-Ireland championship for tenor banjo.

After graduating magna cum laude in Mathematics from Iona College, Ivers began to explore the various musical sounds she heard growing up in multicultural New York, finding connections between different traditional music styles. In 1999, she began a touring production, which eventually became Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul. Ivers also created the multimedia show Beyond the Bog Road, which uses music, story, dance and film to tell the story of the Irish immigrant in America. She has also shared the stage with classical violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and jazz phenomenon Regina Carter in the show Fiddlers Three.

In addition to her recordings and live performances, Ivers has branched out into films, arranging and performing “Lament for Staker Wallace” for The Gangs of New York. Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul is currently touring throughout the United States.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Westmont Irish Dancers Perform With In Love With The Dance

"In Love With The Dance is an all new Irish dance concert, featuring world-class Irish dancers, some of Ireland’s most gifted traditional musicians playing whistles, uillean pipes, accordion, banjo and guitars, as well as talented vocalists; all providing the backdrop to a powerful display of Irish dance.

Brian Donnelly and Downers Grove’s own Jenny Bailey are the driving forces behind the show by being the Directors and Producers of In Love With The Dance. They both achieved championship dance titles throughout Ireland and the World during their careers. They will be leading, by example, the 10 strong dance troupe as they perform the lead roles through the tour. Included in the troupe are local dancers Jeanine Bentley and Michelle Herlihy of Downers Grove and Erin Bailey and Colleen O’Donnell of Westmont.

Promising a breathtaking showcase of the very best of Irish dance, music and song, In Love With The Dance takes the audience on a journey of love, sadness and exhilaration."