Donie Carroll is very well–known in Irish music circles in New York. Many know him from his work with the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra. His debut album Down the Slippery Gap brought him to the attention of many in the US Irish American community and for those who are based or visit the Big Apple, you can catch him live on Friday and Saturday nights at Murphy’s Bar in Sunnyside, Queens.

Dan Neeley of the Irish Echo says “Donie Carroll’s new DC, Divil of a Noise, is a wonderful album that explores Donie’s nostalgia for growing up in Cork and for when he first fell in love with music.” His album is somewhere between Seamus Creagh and Jimmy Crowley. Full of some great songs, such as an Irish re–working of the Vesta Tilley song the Army of Today, the track opens with Eamon de Valera’s reply to Churchill’s criticism of Ireland’s WWII neutrality. The songs could have been plucked from a Saturday afternoon on Radio Eireann in the 1960’s and we feature one of numbers, The Moon Behind The Hill as our Story Behind the Song article this month.

www.barruletrio.com

The unique sound of traditional Manx music is the Celtic Music World’s best kept secret. This is set to change with the introduction of Barrule, an exciting new trio hell–bent on taking the Isle of Man’s music to a much wider audience.

Named after the famous Manx summit where legend says the ancient Celtic God Manannan MacLir stalked his mighty fortress, Barrule fuses three distinct musical forces – gifted 19–year–old fiddle–player Tomas Callister, accordion wizard Jamie Smith (of Mabon) and Adam Rhodes (Mabon and Manx band King Chiaullee) on bouzouki.
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www.ramblingboys.org

The Rambling Boys of Pleasure are a collection of Irish musicians who love to explore their music and look for new directions in which to take it. Their aim is to explore the influence of Celtic music in different cultures around the globe, and to see if they can take that merging of cultures somewhere new. Having been brought up on songs that have travelled the globe and returned, they are fascinated by the journey these songs have taken, and the influences they picked up on the way. Wherever they travel, they intend to work with local musicians, and incorporate their music and culture into their set.

By working with local musicians, they aim to explore the commonality in their storytelling and song–writing traditions, and hope that this cultural cross–fertilisation will inspire all involved to create new works. The Rambling Boys of Pleasure are: Bernard O’Neill, Gino Lupari, Alan Burke, David Munnelly and Sean Regan. They have a sampler EP out now on iTunes. The Rambling Boys of Pleasure were heading into the studio at the end of April to make a full album.

www.facebook.com/BlazingBows

Blazing Bows is Cathal Hayden,Dezi Donnelly, Tola Custy, John Joe Kelly and Ed Boyd. Their other bands include: Lúnasa, Four Men and a Dog, Guidewires, Sharon Shannon, Flook and many more. They got together for a series of summer shows in 2012 and will reconvene in June for another batch of gigs.

CultureFox described them as follows: “Through their playing, these five extraordinary musicians have become ambassadors for traditional Irish music all over the world. Together they created a sound that is truly sublime.” The band will play the Hawk’s Well Theatre Sligo in June.

www.benoneilldungarvan.com

Dungarvan based Ben O’Neill celebrated 40 years in record retail this past April. His shop supplies IMM with our Waterford Top ten each month and Ben is always ready to offer advice on the best albums for the discerning collector and the novice alike. Having traded through the eras of Vinyl and into the CD age he is confident that the boutique specialist album store can survive in the digital download times and is delighted to still be selling excellent Irish albums four decades after starting out.
For further information www.benoneilldungarvan.com

www.gael-linn.ie

This Double CD comprises a set of recordings of genuine Irish traditional music dating from the late 1960’s which were published on LP and tape by Gael Linn, in association with Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann.
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The group was formed this year by well–known singer/musician Carmel Gunning and is very busy touring Ireland at the moment,  playing in Inisturk and Listowel in July and Gloucestershire, England in October. The members of the band are all established musicians such as Carmel Gunning, John Regan, Seamus O’ Kane and Joe Grady.
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The University of Limerick is about to launch a new taught Masters Course at the World Academy of Music festivals. The University is looking for a PhD to lead the course, which will run from next September and the post attracts a salary of between €50k – €81k.
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www.thewillisclan.com

If raising a large family was an extreme sport, Toby and Brenda Willis would be gold medalists. In a bucolic country setting in middle Tennessee they focus full–time on family life which includes their 12 children, ages 2 – 21, who are accomplished singers, songwriters, multi–instrumentalists and in the case of the older kids, internationally–ranked competitive dancers.The Willis Clan, a new series premiering on Great American Country (GAC), Thursday, June 27, 8:00 p.m EST goes behind the scenes with this musical family of talented, self–reliant and exceptional siblings.
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