This year our annual fundraising event to support the Ward Irish Music Archives and the Milwaukee Irish Fest School of Music, The Green Tie, has a 1920s theme. So our archivist, Jeff Ksiazek and some of the other fabulous…

This track called Casu is taken from Lúnasa's album with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra recorded in 2013. The tracks on the album were arranged by Niall Vallely and the majority of the tracks feature the RTÉ Orchestra.  Lúnasa are on tour in the US at the moment and their upcoming dates are as…

We featured an initial track from this album late in 2013 as the release of guitar/bouzouki albums are not a frequent event on Tradconnect.  Randy and John have released another track called Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her/Humours of Ennistymon/Geese in the Bog/Calliope House. Some well know jigs…

This is the first track from Dublin band Lynched and their new album Cold Old Fire that will be released in May 2014. Their strap line reads "Gritty folk songs from the heart of Dublin city" and when you hear this new track you will realise why.  If you follow this …

The humble harmonica makes a rather spectacular re entry into the tradition on Up and About In The Morning.  It’s a duet album featuring the talents of Noel Battle on harmonica and Roisin Broderick…

Next week we have an interview with new Clare group Crag Road. Our interest in their music came from this very well presented video shot in one of their local pubs in Clare.  Its clear from this that the visual medium, when presented well, can bring you so much closer to the personality of the…

10 tracks that you should hear.  Compiled from our Soundcloud News Stream and from tracks sent to us during the week.  

Follow us on Soundcloud and we will pick up on your music.  …

Ceol na Coille will host its annual Summer School of Irish Traditional Music in Letterkenny, Co Donegal 21st-25th July. We welcome Irish Music enthusiasts of all ages and abilities from Ireland and abroad for this weeklong celebration of Irish Music. Some of the country's finest performers and teachers will be on hand to deliver tuition and recitals in what will be a great week of music and fun for all. 

The Summer School provides tuition in Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin,…

Here is the brand new video release from Luka Blooms's new album released today called Head & Heart. Beautiful stripped back track with the song front and center.  Here are some word from the man himself on this release

"Yes I still buy records, and I still love to make them. This little body of work represents a painless…

Last year I was asked by the Temple Bar Trad Fest to write  a cycle of songs to commemorate the Battle of Clontarf which they would put on during the festival this January to commemorate the Millennium anniversary of possibly the biggest thing ever to happen in Dublin. The following live recording from that concert is of the title piece.  The battle of Clontarf was generally…

The following is a session listing for the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA.  It has been supplied via Maureen Donachie at Ceolagusrince.com and is a useful snapshot of some of the session  events taking place over the coming week. …

On paper, this album shouldn’t work as well as it does, and that’s really the magic at the heart of the collaboration between Irish tenor banjo player/mandolinist Eamonn Coyne and Orkney singer and guitarist Kris Drever.…

 The first time I heard the new album from This is How We Fly, I jumped on Facebook to proclaim, “if you want to know what Irish traditional music will sound like in 50 years, you should listen to This is How We Fly.” It was a bold claim, but I stand by what I said and still believe fully that this supergroup of young musicians is making music now that…

On The Beat of the Breath, Brian Hughes's keen ear for phrasing and his intricate ornamentation go without question.  Listening to The Roscommon Reel / Ah Surely, the audio included below, will give a strong indication of the quality that we are dealing with here. Whistle albums sometimes need a strong…

I just received the Master Copy of the album in the post today!! Couldn't be happier now. All set now to send it off to the printers come Monday I'd say after a few sleeve notes edits. Fierce happy now to be nearing the hard copy release date!

We covered Mike Considine and his EP Permanent Resonance last year.  He is based in Hollywood, with roots in The Burren region of Co.Clare.  Mike is a self-taught musician who plays by ear and has an intuitive knowledge of melody, harmony, rhythm and…

We covered The Bonny Men and their debut album back  in 2012.  They are back in the studio again finishing off their 2nd album which is due for release in the Spring.  Its going to be split evenly between songs…

During the 90s, the duet Begley and Cooney reached national acclaim and were regarded as one of the foremost performers of Irish music. Cooney pioneered a new approach to traditional accompaniment and formed a perfect marriage with the energetic West-Kerry style of Seamus Begley.…

A second day of recording was undertaken for the 'Our Dear Dark Mountain with the Sky Over It' CD project over the past weekend.

Once again featuring the incredible musical talents of 2013 TG4 Young Musician of the Year, Dónal McCague, Saturday's session also featured the wonderful playing of accordionist Darren Breslin. As well as being a superb musician,…

Not many people will be familiar with Australian band Sásta. They are leading the way down under as one of our best trad exports with a busy gigging schedule and a second album in production.  We received their debut album last year but didn't quite get round to a review.  As you can tell from the included audio they are a highly…