Episode 20: Musician - Shane McGowan

Episode 20: Musician - Shane McGowan

This week we pay tribute to legendary trad-punk singer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist Shane McGowan. Famous for his role in bands like the Nips, and the Pogues, this larger than life figure made a lasting impact on the face of Irish traditional music forever.

Episode 15: Interview - Rich Maxham (Luthier)

Episode 15: Interview - Rich Maxham (Luthier)

A curious gypsy fiddle with a long lost brother, discussing the resurgence of Cremona in contemporary violin making and a family lineage that destined him to be a player and maker of violins. Rich Maxham regales us with a variety of stories that is sure to have something for everyone!

Episode 13: Song - Clare's Dragoons

Episode 13: Song - Clare's Dragoons

Up the Banner County as we take a look at a heralded group of Wild Geese fighting on French soil. Stumbled across in an old Irish Song book, this gallant ballad recounts the deeds of the musket wielding foot soldiers fighting for the Jacobite cause.

Episode 11: Tune - Calum's Road

Need help with your New Years goals? How about taking a page from the man who built a legendary road by himself, over treacherous terrain with nothing more than hand tools and determination? It now stands as a living testament to will power and a personal code of ethics that would not be deterred.

Calum MacLeod at 56, working on his roadCredit to www.dailymail.co.uk

Calum MacLeod at 56, working on his road

Credit to www.dailymail.co.uk

Episode 10: Tune - the Wounded Hussar/CPT O'Kanes

A haunting tribute to Irish soldiers who served in foreign wars, this (maybe?) O’Carolyn piece has a twisty history that takes us all the way from the Sliabh Luachra region of Ireland to the banks of the rolling Danube in Austria.

Artistic advisor: J. Calvert Orem

Image by ben pook

Image by ben pook

Episode 7: Song - Anach Cuan

In September 1828, a small boat was on its way to Galway from Anach Cuan. After a goat stomped a whole in the bottom, the boat sprang a leak and 30 people on board sank into the river merely a couple hundred yards from shore. The tale survives as a song and air as well as with a memorial dedicated to those who perished at the dock of Anach Cuan. Eventually made into a poem, the tale is one of devastating yet tangible loss.

The remains of the fated vessel, the caislean nua. credit to anglingcharts.com

The remains of the fated vessel, the caislean nua. credit to anglingcharts.com

Episode 4: Tune - the Banshee (McMahon's Reel)

A session classic made famous by the Bothy band and countless others. Learn about the man who wrote it, the ghouls and fiends it’s named after, and hear a story about gallavanting in the small sea village in the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland!

James McMahon facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/451200488390889/

Artistic advisor: J. Calvert Orem

The Tune book. Note: The Salamanca is one of the tunes typically associated with the Banshee.

The Tune book. Note: The Salamanca is one of the tunes typically associated with the Banshee.