2013
June 2013
Vishtèn
Ticket Prices
On-Line sales for this show are being
managed by www.brownpapertickets.com.
This show is in collaboration with the CU Folk & Roots Festival. Tickets will be handled through the Folk & Roots web site.
For the past decade Acadian powerhouse trio Vishtèn have acted as Francophone musical ambassadors throughout the world. The Canadian trio has dazzled audiences with their fiery blend of traditional French songs and original instrumentals that fuse Celtic and Acadian genres with a modern sensibility of rock influence.
Hailing from Prince Edward Island's Evangeline area and from the most remote reaches of Quebec - the windswept Magdalen Islands - twin sisters Emmanuelle and Pastelle LeBlanc join musical forces with Pascal Miousse to form a sophisticated sonic signature combing tight sibling harmonies, layered foot percussion, virtuoso acoustic and electric instrumentation create an expansive sound that would be difficult to reproduce, in sheer complexity, by a quintet. Their trademark blend of fiddle, guitar, accordion, harmonium, whistles, piano, bodhrán, jaw harp, moog, electric guitar and percussive dance make for a unique tour de force of traditional and contemporary sounds.
After touring extensively on three continents, the name Vishtèn is now synonymous with Acadian music worldwide. In addition to releasing four albums and performing at thousands of international festivals - from the Vancouver Olympics to to France's Interceltique de Lorient - their music has been showcased on American television (ESPN) and the Japanese film, Finding Anne.
August 2013
We Banjo 3
Location
TBA
Ticket Prices
$20
Adult
$10
Student/Senior
Enda & Fergal Scahill and Martin & David Howley are among the most celebrated and distinguished young musicians in Ireland today.
Featuring banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals and percussion We Banjo 3 make a bold and extraordinary musical statement. Creativity, sensitivity and passion are present in full measure and Irish music is at the heart of what they play.
Collectively, WeBanjo3 have been at the forefront of Irish banjo and fiddle for 2 decades. Their competitive success is unrivalled, Martin holding 7 All Ireland titles, Enda with 4, while Fergal and David hold All Ireland titles on Banjo, Fiddle, Bodhran and Guitar.
Enda has recorded and performed with The Chieftains, Frankie Gavin, Stockton's Wing, Grammy-winner Ricky Skaggs and "Instrumental Band of the Decade" The Brock McGuire Band. Fergal has performed with David Munnelly, Martin O'Connor and Kevin Crawford and has toured the world with Ragus and Celtic Legends. Martin was the very first Irish banjo player to perfom at the Grand Ol Opry in Nashville and David is fast building a reputation for his deep, muscular singing.
We Banjo 3 play with swing and soul, effortlessly combining the best of Irish and Bluegrass banjo music and song, mining the rich vein of the American Old Time tradition and thoroughly reinventing the banjo band sound. Modern rhythms, traditional melodies, virtuosic technique and innovative arrangements of music and song add up to an incredible feast of banjo and mandolin music -- guaranteed to put a smile on your face and get your feet tapping.
September 2013
Mick Conneely & David Munnelly
Location
TBA
Ticket Prices
$20
Adult
$10
Student/Senior
Mick Conneely (Fiddle / Bouzouki) is one of the most respected fiddle players of his generation. He has played, toured & recorded with many artists, most notably De Danann. In 2001 his debut solo album "Selkie" was released to critical acclaim on the prestigious boutique trad label Cló Iar-Chonnacht and he has recorded on numerous albums to date. Along with fellow De Danann band member Alec Finn, Mick is a leading exponent of the 6-string Greek bouzouki in Irish traditional music. Mick teaches fiddle and bouzouki classes at various festivals at home and abroad, for example: Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, Ireland; MA course in Traditional Irish Music Performance at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland; Catskills Irish Arts Week, NY, USA; Augusta Heritage Celtic Week, Davis & Elkins College, WV, USA. For more info visit mickconneely.com
David Munnelly (Accordion / Melodeon) was born into a musical family growing up listening to the singing and accordion playing of his Grandmother and the lilting of his grandfather. He was surrounded by music from very early on. At the age of 7 David picked up the accordion from listening to the playing of an uncle and from there continued to show great interest in traditional music. After going to college in Dublin for a few years David was fortunate to be asked to join a band with Niamh Parsons whom he toured with for six years. After a few years playing and touring with such notaries as Gerry O Connor, Garry O Briain, De Danann and the Chieftains, in 1999 he set up the David Munnelly band with the recording of his debut CD titled Swing. He recorded three other band CDs and David and the band have toured extensively in North America, Europe and Japan and with some changes to the line up to the band they continue to tour and promote the unique sound of Irish music that they started with over 10 years ago.
October 2013
Sarah McQuaid
Location
IMC
202 South Broadway Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
Ticket Prices
$20
Adult
$10
Student/Senior
Renowned for her warm, engaging stage presence, Sarah McQuaid is a versatile and beguiling performer. In addition to her own elegantly crafted originals, she interprets traditional Irish and Appalachian folk songs, Elizabethan ballads, 1930s jazz numbers, surprise covers and lively guitar instrumentals with panache and poignance. Her deliciously earthy voice delivers a powerful emotional punch that's matched by her distinctive, eloquent guitar style. Add this to a real rapport with her audience, and you have all the ingredients of a great night out.
Born in Spain, raised in Chicago and holding dual Irish and American citizenship, Sarah spent 13 years in Ireland and now lives near Penzance, Cornwall, in the southwest of England. As might be expected of one who has led such a peripatetic existence, Sarah developed a taste for the road early on: From the age of twelve she was embarking on tours of the US and Canada with the Chicago Children's Choir. At eighteen she went to France for a year to study philosophy at the University of Strasbourg, where her performance at a local folk club drew a rave review in the Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, saluting the "superbe chanteuse d'outre-Atlantique qui fit passer comme une vibration émotionnelle dans une salle conquise" (superb singer from across the Atlantic who caused an emotional vibration to pass through a conquered hall)!
In 1994, Sarah moved to Ireland, where she became a weekly folk music columnist for the Evening Herald and a contributor to Hot Press magazine. She is also the author of The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book, described by The Irish Times as "a godsend to aspiring traditional guitarists," and has presented workshops on the DADGAD tuning at festivals and venues around the globe.
The move to the other side of the Irish Sea was triggered by the death in 2004 of her mother, in whose former home she now lives and to whom her second album, 2008's I Won't Go Home 'Til Morning, was dedicated. Says Sarah: "My first album was immersed in Irish traditional music, which I still love -- but this time round, I felt the need to revisit the Southern Appalachian songs and tunes that I learned during my childhood. All the songs on this recording have powerful emotional resonances for me, and all are connected in one way or another to my mother. Looking back, I guess it was kind of a cathartic process."
November 2013
Comas
Location
TBA
Ticket Prices
$20
Adult
$10
Student/Senior
Since March 2003, Comas have been together as a band. Before that, they toured individually in top acts such as The Drovers, Orion, Eileen Ivers, Urbantrad, Denez Prigent, and the internationally acclaimed Liz Carroll, to name just a few. Although coming from diverse musical backgrounds and residing in different parts of the globe, they found each other through their similar approach to music, bringing together their many cultural influences to forge a unique blend of traditional Irish music that literally had them, within months of coming together, playing in major festivals in Ireland, Belgium, France, England, Denmark, and Holland. This achivement alone is worthy of note, and as further testimony to their deep rooted talents, they were asked back immediately to every festival they played. "Before we even had time to put our instruments away," as guitarist Philip Masure aptly put it.
Comas are a band firmly rooted in Irish music, but with enough space to allow for original compositions. Their openness to new influences and a respectful eye on the past bring Comas to the forefront of what traditional music is about today.
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