As of a couple of days ago with 785 members, the following is the member make up by country. 

Argentina 1

Australia 8

Belgium 2

Brazil 4

Canada 22

Czech rep 1

Denmark 4

Finland 1

France 9

Germany 12

Hungary 1

Indonesia 1

Ireland 332

Isreal 6

Italy 3

Japan 2

Madasgar 1

Netherdlands 4

New Zealand 2

Nicaragua 1

Norway 1

Phillippines…

A quick reminer to all members that one of the last Trad Festivals for the year is taking place in Tuam, Galway on September 16-18 this year.

Following the phenomenal success of Tuam Trad Festival 2010 the organisers have been given the inspiration and encouragement to make this festival an annual event. 

The Festival aims to host the best of traditional entertainment, to encourage musicians to revisit Tuam and to bring together the very best of Irish musicians,…

Three Reels on Tenor Banjo - Steven HawsonNew

Hard to believe this is only the second recording from such a great band. Between albums there have been some changes, most notably in personnel. Frances Black is forging ahead with her…

  Once you find the momentum you should never abandon it. That's one of the great lessons I learned in life. As the old saying goes: strike while the iron is hot. Momentum doesn't last forever. there are moments of complete stand still. This is normal. We all have that. I am glad I am persistent in making blog posts because this is the thing that gives me…

This may well be the best kept secret or the worst kept secret in traditional music. When Cormac Breatnach, Niall Ó Callanáin and Paul O’Driscoll went into the studio all those years ago they really created something special with this album. They brought…

I am looking to start a house session in the LA area, USA  (Pasadena actually).  

I envision a three part format for the event.

1.  Learning/ Teaching (30-60 min.)

2.  Standard Tunes warm-up  (20-30 min.)

3.  Session (no restrictions) (90-120 min.)

I envision this with no written music or music stands.  The teaching/learning portion could be done by a live teacher who could be present or on Skype, and by video and/or audio recording.  The first…

Kid brothers to iMpempe B/Bb combo arrived today. Lovely D with Eb-tube this time.

Can only recommend Ian Turnbulls whistles!

The topography of her native Sligo informs a large part of what Carmel Gunning does, and this disc is no exception.  As well as two self composed tunes, both named after local landmarks, three of the five songs in English are by local song makers.  Of these, two are place name songs, a genre which does not always earn plaudits for poetic quality.  However, while the sentiments of these two are fairly…

from Kalmar, after the funniest, craziest weekend in a long time.

Played two gigs with Eamonn O'Riley, live recordings at local pub/café, great craic with great people! Hopefully there will be more gigs in the future!

Here are the lads, me, Markus Tullberg, concert flute, Eamonn O'Riley, vocals, guitar and Paddy Lawless,…

Another excellent debut album from another brilliant young Irish musician. Josephine Marsh is a box-player from County Clare. This is not another Sharon Shannon: Josephine's music doesn't have the attack of the first lady of Irish accordion. What it does have is a warmth and…

Some selected images of Fleadh 2011 in Cavan that I took yesterday.

 …

  I am asking statements from musicians to post on my site with a corresponding link to the websites. It is called Peace: what it is for me, and what can we do to achieve it?

Feel free to contribute.

Banjo Tribute to Jimmy Shand

OK, so another summer is nearly over and our 6 week move to our mobile home down in Ballymoney Wexford is nearly over. It's time to pack the bags and head up to Cavan for the weekend to get a flavour of the Fleadh. Not much music these last few weeks in Wexford apart from checking into TradConnect twice a day on a crappy laptop in an area with little or no reception. Apologies if the approval process has slowed down a bit. No music but plenty of swimming, kayaking, a bit of golf. Lots of…

Hmm... We can't post videos with singing in the video section, but no explanation why. 

OK. Let's try it here.

When I came up with this arrangement of SotCD I wanted to do something different from everything else. Let me know what you think.

Hammered dulcimer - TradConnect member Jim Rathbun and his 10 year old student Noah Jefferies

6 string Banjo - Greg Kaiser

Fiddle - Kelly Kaiser

Guitar and vocal - Bruce Evans…