Milwaukee Irish Fest

Milwaukee is known as the city of cheese and beer, but one other defining feature should be added- festivals. The Milwaukee Irish Fest is possibly the biggest Irish fest in the country and one of the most impressive. Representatives of ICONS attended this year's festival that took place from Aug 14-17th (including myself) and witnessed the magic of Milwaukee's festival grounds. The fest is on the same grounds as Summerfest and the many other festivals that take place in the summertime. The grounds are about a mile long and stages appear around every corner. More than 100,000 people attend the festival and I have never seen so many people in green and Irish paraphernalia.

The lineup at Milwaukee was diverse and featured some amazing talents. The Scottish Arts Council helped sponsor the festival and brought Lau, Jenna Reid, The Anna Massie Band, Bodega, and The Peatbog Faeries over to perform. Each band delivered fantastic shows, but I think my favorite was Anna Massie's show on Friday night. Check out their album 'The Missing Gift.'

(Photos top to bottom: Lau, Jenna Reid, Anna Massie Band, Bodega, Peatbog Faeries)

Other highlights of the weekend were Solas with their new singer Mairead Phelan (who will also be at ICONS), John Skelton with Kieran O'Hare and Liz Knowles, and Troy MacGillivray with Allan Dewar and Brent Chiasson. Troy had the whole crowd on their feet with his fiddle (and dancing!) skills. On Saturday night, he brought Liz Knowles up to play with him and they played one of the longest sets I have ever heard. I lost track after 30 minutes.

(Photos top to bottom: Solas, Troy MacGillivray)

Each night ended with roof-top tunes and to top it all off, it was perfect weather. Couldn't have asked for better!

Ronnie Drew: The voice we adored

Sadly, Irish music lost another icon today: Ronnie Drew, founder of The Dubliners and a major figure in the Irish folk revival, passed away at 73, having battled throat cancer for the past two years. He was as striking in appearance, with that big bushy beard and those piercing eyes, as he was in voice -- all guts and gravel and unapologetically Dublin. As Ramblinghouse notes, "He lent an endearing quality to the working class Dublin accent, so often despised as 'Jakeen' by the rest of the country."
Earlier this year, Ronnie was paid tribute with "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew," a song and accompanying video that included the talents of Bono, Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Shane McGowan, Sinead O’Connor, Damien Dempsey, Glen Hansard, Mary Coughlan, Bob Geldof, Gavin Friday, Paddy Casey, Moya Brennan, Ronan Keating, Mundy, Eleanor Shanley and Andrea Corr, as well as members of The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Kila and U2. The song was written Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Bono, the Edge and Simon Carmody.

Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore
Like coals from a coal bucket scraping the floor
Sing out his praises in music and malt
And if you're not Irish, that isn't your fault

You can watch the video here -- which will likely be impossible to do without choking up.

--Sean Smith

Luka Bloom: He still believes

"Cynicism just isn't an option for me,'' Luka Bloom tells Steve Morse in the latest installment of the "Morse's Corner" series on ICONS 2008 performers. "I find cynicism almost boring, actually. It's an easy way out. It's easy to look at the whole scenario and just say, 'You know what? (Bleep) it.' But, no. There are a lot of great people in this world who are really trying to make it a better place – and who want to live simple, creative, beautiful lives. And I can choose which way I want to be. Do I want to hide? Do I want to just not bother? Or do I want to participate? I'm choosing in my own personal little way to participate by writing these songs and coming at people to offer another way of looking at all of this."
Read Steve's complete profile of Luka Bloom.

In the flesh

The Tannahill Weavers' Roy Gullane demonstrates a, shall we say, less-than-conventional promotional technique. The thudding sounds you hear are marketing consultants everywhere hitting the floor in shock.



We're not sure if Roy will be quite so bold when the band performs at ICONS, but he's certainly not the shy, retiring type.

--Sean Smith

Morse's Corner: Lúnasa and Solas

Former Boston Globe critic Steve Morse, who's now writing features for ICONS, checks in on two of this year's acts, Lúnasa and Solas.

Happy campers

If you're a Scottish/Cape Breton music enthusiast, and you play the fiddle, it's got to be one of your favorite things, ever: The Annual Boston Harbor Fiddle Camp, which is taking place for the sixth year on Thompson Island from Aug. 9-16.
The camp is one of those countless examples that abound in the Boston folk/acoustic music community of tireless efforts by the relative few benefiting the many. In this case, credit goes to Barbara McOwen, a teacher and mentor to Scottish-style fiddlers everywhere, and Marcie Van Cleave, executive director of the Folk Arts Center of New England and a well-regarded folk dance caller (during the summer she runs a popular weekly open-air dance in Copley Square).
Think of it as a very desirable turn on the "What if you were stranded on a desert island?" bit: Classes are available in all levels for fiddle and other instruments, including piano, cello and pipes; the camp's faculty has included the likes of Jerry Holland, Laura Cortese, Kimberley Fraser, Troy MacGillivray, Hanneke Cassel, Laura Risk and Janine Randall.

PHOTO: A welcome for Visitor's Day guests at the 2006 Boston Harbor Fiddle Camp (Photo from the BHFC Web site)

Disclaimer: I've never actually been there. But people I know who've attended swear by it, and if you look at the photos on the camp Web site you can see why. The setting is picturesque and secluded, all the better to immerse yourself in the music, enjoy yourself, make new friends and learn a ton. They also have a "Visitor's Day" for non-campers which includes an afternoon concert, dinner and (of course) jam session. One of these years...

Scott Alarik interviewed Hanneke Cassel about the importance of such camps in this 2004 Boston Globe article.

--Sean Smith

If I go 10,000 miles

ICONS isn't looking to foster competition, mind you, but we've noted that The David Munnelly Band estimates that they traveled more than 10,000 miles during 2007. So we're just wondering who among the other ICONS 2008 performers have met or exceeded that standard in the course of the past year? Send in your guesses.
Below, you can see for yourself just why David Munnelly and crew rack up all that mileage -- because people everywhere want to see their wildly energetic playing.


(Anyone know who's playing fiddle with them? He looks as if he's traveling a fair distance all by himself.)

--Sean Smith