December 18, Colcannon will present their annual Christmas Show at the The Longmont Theatre, 513 East Main Street at 7:30 p.m. Featuring The Hub of Eternity, Christmas in Brooklyn, Rug Muire Mac do Dhia and a host of season songs and music. Mick says there’s no better way to get in the Christmas mood . . .
Spanish Peaks, Huerfano County Colorado (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The Spanish Peaks International Celtic Festival will be held September 19-22 in Huerfano County, Colorado, with events taking place in the communities of La Veta, Walsenburg, Gardner, and Cuchara, and at Uptop on Old La Veta Pass.
This festival is now in its 13th year fulfilling its mission to serve Huerfano County and beyond with fantastic concerts, singing, dancing, and tale-spinning plus a wide variety of instrumental workshops taught by our guest artists. The festival also provides free community activities like the 6th Street Hooley Concert in Walsenburg; their very popular picnic ceili (a musical party) at Up Top; Scottish and Irish folk dancing in La Veta Park; a Sunday Sing Along, and numerous free beginning instrumental workshops. Then there is our all-important Schools Outreach Program, which includes artists’ visits to every school in Huerfano County.
The Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival is designed as an intimate four-day gathering led by renowned guest artists, teachers, and scholars from Celtic countries abroad, Canada, and the United States. The Festival offers over 60 different events, including major concerts; two singing programs; instrumental workshops and master classes; a series of demonstration talks and performances on aspects of Celtic music, history, and folklore; a Celtic Harp Retreat; a newly established Piping Retreat; and sprinkled throughout are ceilidhs/ceilis and playing sessions where anyone can freely join in or enjoy as an audience. Finally, the friendly ambiance and spontaneous interplay between artists and participants spark the exciting sharing of music, ideas, and knowledge, all reflected gifts from the fullness of a rich Celtic experience.
More information, tickets, schedule, and more at http://celticmusicfest.com/
Come join Skean Dubh for an afternoon of acoustic Celtic music that features uilleann pipes, fiddle tunes and songs from Scotland and Ireland. Other instruments include Celtic harp, unforgettable vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin, and bodhrán.
Saturday, January 26th
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Old Oak Coffee Shop
136 2nd Ave B, Niwot, CO 80503
Wild Mountain has announced they are returning to the scene of their last video shoot – Violet’s Venue in Wheat Ridge this Friday – at 9:00 pm. This will be their warm up for the Colorado Irish Festival. Come and check out the band. They will feature some new songs.
Image courtesy Colorado Dulcimer Festival
Come and learn how to play, or improve your current technique on the Mountain or Hammered Dulcimer. This is an entertaining, educational festival (held at St. James Presbyterian Church 3601 West Bellvue Avenue, Littleton, Colorado 80123) with 2 days of workshops on February 2nd and 3rd , 2018.
Classes are available for absolute beginners to advanced players. Rental Instruments are available. You will encounter many styles of music, from Celtic to Old-time to fiddle tunes and sometimes even Jazz or ragtime! There are multiple jam sessions on both days and concerts both evenings. We have out of state guest teachers, nationally known players (and 3 national champions! )who teach both instruments, and also wonderful local teachers. Our nationally known guest teachers this year are Kim McKee (with her husband Ken Willson) from Colorado Springs (mountain dulcimer) , and Ted Yoder from Goshen, Indiana (Hammered Dulcimer).
This year we have a new Children’s Mountain Dulcimer afternoon workshop on Saturday 1:30-4:20 plus optional participation in the contra dance band from 4:30 to 5:45-this is geared for children ages 8-12.
No previous experience necessary and dulcimers will be provided. See website for registration and details.
We welcome back out of state teachers Erin Mae(mountain Dulcimer) and our festival’s founder and great teacher in both hammered and mountain dulcimer, Steve Eulberg. Our great local instructors will be Bonnie Carol, Tina Gugeler, Dianne Jeffries, Paul Weidig, Malacha Hall, and Judy Jones. A returning popular feature that premiered last year will be a contra dance where participants can play in the band or dance (no previous experience required!). The Colorado Dulcimer Orchestra will also perform.\
Many of our instructors play in the 2 nightly concerts, so be sure to come hear these instruments played by some of the best performers in the country! Each evening’s concert will be different, and both are sure to please. Expect an exciting, unique acoustic evening of many different instruments and styles of music.
Concerts are open to the public, with tickets available at the door both nights (concerts will be from 7-9:30 pm). If you are curious to hear or are interested in learning either of these wonderful instruments, attend the workshops and/or come to the concerts!
Information on costs, further details and registration at http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com
Just in from Pat McCullough of the Celtic Connection: “Galway Girl” Sharon Shannon & band coming to Denver!
Sharon Shannon gathers a flash mob in Galway.
Photo by Catherine Cronin, Flickr.
Rare Denver date with SHARON SHANNON, Recipient of “Lifetime Achievement Award” (youngest) from Ireland ‘s Meteor Awards -With Special Guest Comedian DR Kevin Fitzgerald at Soiled Dove Underground 7401 E. 1st Ave Denver (Free parking), Thursday March 9, 2017 7:30 PM Show 6:30 PM Doors. Reserve Seats at https://www.ticketfly.com/
The ever popular Elders will return to Colorado for St. Patrick’s Day weekend 2017. Details below.
Thursday, March 16
Rialto Theater • Loveland, CO • 7:30pm
Get the Details
Friday, March 17
Soiled Dove Underground • Denver, CO • 8:00pm
Get the Details
Saturday, March 18
Stargazers Theater • Colorado Springs, CO • 8:00pm
Get the Details
The Elders were founded in 1998 by six individuals with a passion for music rooted in Americana and Celtic folk rock. From the beginning The Elders seemed to be channeling something ancient and enduring – something unaffected by fads, trends and the giant maw of mind-numbing commercialism. Their ability to bring together the art of story telling with elements both musically progressive and rooted in tradition, has won them a broad international fan base, as well as critical acclaim in numerous publications
Come learn to play or just enjoy the dulcimer music!
Come and learn how to play, or improve your current technique on the Mountain or Hammered Dulcimer. This is an entertaining, educational festival (held at St. James Presbyterian Church 3601 West Bellvue Avenue, Littleton, Colorado 80123) with 2 days of workshops on February 3 and 4th, 2017. Classes are available for absolute beginners to advanced players. Rental Instruments are available. You will encounter many styles of music, from Celtic to Old-time to Bluegrass and sometimes even Jazz or ragtime! There are multiple jam sessions on both days and concerts both evenings. We have out of state guest teachers, nationally known players (and 3 national champions! )who teach both instruments, and also wonderful local teachers. Our nationally known guest teachers this year are Susan Trump from New York(mountain dulcimer) , and Jodi Marshall from Washington DC (Hammered Dulcimer).
We also welcome back out of state teachers Erin Mae (mountain Dulcimer) and our festival’s founder and great teacher in both hammered and mountain dulcimer, Steve Eulberg. Our great local instructors will be Bonnie Carol, Tina Gugeler, Karen Alley, Dianne Jeffries, Paul Weidig, Malacha Hall, and Judy Jones. A returning popular feature that premiered last year will be a contra dance where participants can play in the band or dance (no previous experience required!). The Colorado Dulcimer Orchestra will also perform. Many of our instructors play in the 2 nightly concerts, so be sure to come hear these instruments played by some of the best performers in the country!
Concerts are open to the public, with tickets available at the door both nights (concerts will be from 7-9:30 pm).
If you are curious to hear or are interested in learning either of these wonderful instruments, attend the workshops and/or come to the concerts!
Information on costs, further details and registration at http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com
The ever talented Beth Gadbaw will be joined by some excellent musical friends in December.
Renowned bouzouki player Roger Landes will perform three shows with singer Beth Gadbaw in his first Colorado visit since 2012. Visit bethgadbaw.com to purchase tickets or to find out more about upcoming shows in Denver, Allenspark, and Boulder.
November 4, 2016 (Friday) 7 p.m. The Old Gallery in Allenspark, 14863 Peak to Peak Highway, 303-747-2906. With Roger Landes on bouzouki and Sandra Wong on fiddle.
November 5, 2016 (Saturday) 8 p.m. Swallow Hill, 71 E. Yale, Denver CO. With Roger Landes on bouzouki and Sandra Wong on fiddle. Tickets $12-$16 on sale now.
November 6, 2016 (Sunday) 1:30 p.m. Concert Series at Nevei Kodesh, Boulder CO, 1925 Glenwood Drive, 303-443-4567. With Roger Landes on bouzouki and Sandra Wong on fiddle.
Described by The Redstone Review as “a Celtic angel…with all her heart in it,” and by Sing Out! as “lovely, with a light, bouncy energy…her voice often acting as an instrument in itself,” folksinger Beth Gadbaw grew up singing harmonies with her triplet sisters in a musical household in Western Colorado. Gadbaw came of age singing in Irish pubs and English folk clubs, and is a former Fulbright scholar and award-winning singer and teacher. She lives in Lyons, Colorado with her husband and two daughters.
Well-deserving of accolades for Gadbaw’s singing and songwriting skills, Gadbaw’s debut solo album The Green Fields and the Mountains High is a compelling collection of traditional and original songs in English and Irish Gaelic. Some tracks, including the lively opener The Birds in the Spring, are richly accompanied by guitar, fiddle, and Gadbaw’s rhythmic bodhrán drum. Irish flute and Celtic harp also make appearances throughout the record. Other tracks, in the old Irish style known as seán nos, are sung acapella. Gadbaw’s own Thomas Watsonis a captivating guitar-driven ballad taken from the letters of her New York Irish grandmother’s great uncle, who came to Montana via Troy, New York from Ireland during the Great Famine. Another Gadbaw original, Grania’s Song, is a bold, beautifully melodic, anthem-like homage to Irish Pirate Queen Granuaile, and is accompanied only with bodhrán and hand claps.
Beth Gadbaw’s music can be heard on RTÉ’s Raidió na Gaeltachta and Radio 1, as well as on Colorado Public Radio, Folk Alley, and more. She performs as a solo artist, with high-energy traditional band Take Down the Door, and ethereal Celtic harp and vocal duo Gadbaw & Krimmel.
Of ZoukFest founder and director Roger Landes, Celtic Heritage Magazine said: “Not only is Landes helping to legitimize the instrument — he is taking it to a whole other level.” Roger took up the bouzouki in 1981 and quickly set about learning Irish tunes, playing tenor banjo, mandolin, bodhran and uilleann pipes; as well as co-founding the popular Celtic band Scartaglen. When that group disbanded after a decade, he decided to concentrate on exploring the melodic capabilities of the bouzouki. His critically acclaimed CD Dragon Reels is the result of his work mastering the intricacies of Irish traditional music. Since releasing Dragon Reels in 1997, Roger has produced several recordings for other artists, performed in a duo with singer Connie Dover and recorded The Janissary Stomp, a collection of mostly original duets for two bouzoukis with folk and roots musician Chipper Thompson. In 1998 and 1999, he hosted the first international gatherings devoted to the Celtic bouzouki, “ZoukFest, ” in Weston, Missouri. Late in 1999 he relocated to Taos, New Mexico, where he maintains a busy schedule performing, producing, composing and organizing ZoukFest. Roger appeared in and contributed to the soundtrack of the 1999 film Ride with the Devil, directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). He has appeared on the National Public Radio shows Mountain Stage and A Prairie Home Companion. In April 2001, his music was featured in a PBS documentary, Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie. In October 2002, Roger joined Galician piper and Chieftains alumn Carlos Nuñez in his first US tour, and in December of that year he toured in a trio with Irish fiddle phenom Frankie Gavin (De Dannan) and harmonica virtuoso Rick Epping (Pumpkinhead). In April of 2004 he had the pleasure of accompanying legendary Irish fiddler Tommy Peoples (Bothy Band) for a week of concerts during Tommy’s first visit to New Mexico.
Angus Mohr broght their own brand of Highland Rock and Roll to Oktoberfest in Arvada.
Yes, that’s the way it was billed. “Irish Oktoberfest.” Hosted by Odyssey Beerwerks in Arvada, the event kicked off the month of October in style. Angus Mohr (“Highland Rock and Roll”) are always entertaining, and this night was no exception. Always fun to see people in jeans mixed with people in kilts or lederhosen.
Odyssey made a really nice Märzen beer for the event, a traditional brew made in spring and stored in cool caves until harvest time. Several patrons also spread the praises of “Clan Warrior” a strong Scotch Ale that won gold at the 2016 World Beer Cup.
Angus Mohr revitalizes traditional Celtic music’s brogue with an American blues accent while rejuvenating rock ’n roll’s broad spectrum with bagpipes and pennywhistles. No one is ever going to mistake Angus Mohr for a cover band. Sure, they play songs like “Foggy Dew,” the 1916 Easter Rising ballad, and “Whisky in the Jar,” a sixteenth century tale of love and betrayal, and their set list is peppered with songs penned by Dylan, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, and the Ramones. But you’ve never heard “Ring of Fire” or “I Wanna Be Sedated” until you’ve heard it with the pipes’ spiraling keen.
Angus Mohr’s piper, Matthew McDaniel, plays penny-whistles, guitar, and keyboards–sometimes all in a single song. He also shares lead vocals with bassist and frontman Paul McDaniel. Drummer Steve Mossholder takes a turn at the mic as well, lending his tawdry rasp to “Drunken Sailor” and Flogging Molly’s “Devil’s Dance Floor.” Michael Aggson wields his guitar with precision and grace.
