This week I’ll lead with a mighty congratulations to Fiona Ritchie, who at the end of last month stepped away from “The Thistle & Shamrock,” the NPR radio show she hosted for over 40 years. Ritchie (https://www.npr.org/people/2101083/fiona-ritchie) is a broadcasting legend whose work with traditional music has enhanced many careers and lead to several awards and widespread acclaim. Forty years is a mighty long time to have done anything but to have done it so well for so long is an incredible achievement. Congrats Fiona and best wishes on your next chapter!
Rest assured that there are still tons of great over-the-air programming options (most of which can also be streamed) around the U.S. Why, New York-based listeners know that if it’s Sunday it’s time to tune into WFUV (http://wfuv.org) for “A Thousand Welcomes” and “Ceol na nGael,” two of the country’s great broadcast homes for Irish traditional music.
But readers should be aware that there is an incredible new show on the broadcast scene with “The Shamrock Shore,” hosted by the great Brian Miller. Miller is someone who should be familiar to this column’s readers. A guitar player and singer, he also plays flute, whistle and banjo. He’s a member of the bands Bua, the Lost Forty, and Two Tap Trio, he performs with acclaimed fiddle player Danny Diamond, and he’s released a couple of excellent, wonderfully researched solo albums that explore the songs of the Minnesota lumberjacks and Irish music in the Upper Midwest.
Miller is also involved in all sorts of other things. For example, he co-founded the Traditional Singers Club of the Twin Cities (http://www.singclub.org/), he is the director of the Eoin McKiernan Library at Celtic Junction Arts Center in St. Paul, Minn., and he teaches at Center for Irish Music, also in St. Paul (https://www.centerforirishmusic.org/), where he can boast of having several students who have gone on to great fleadh success. He also maintains a blog, Evergreen Trad (https://www.evergreentrad.com/), where he presents traditional songs he’s come across in his research.
Further, he’s been featured on radio programs in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland and has also appeared on RTÉ and TG4. He’s also twice received the Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, is a recipient of a Parsons Award from the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, and this year was given the Irish Echo’s Community Champion Award (https://www.irishecho.com/events/2024-community-champion-awards/awardees/brian-miller). It’s an exhaustive resumé!
But perhaps most important, he’s got great taste – the first two shows featured an incredible selection of music, exactly the type that readers of this column, who I hope will be come Miller listeners, will appreciate. “The Shamrock Shore” broadcasts Saturdays, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Central Time on 88.5 FM / Jazz88 in the Twin Cities, but can be streamed anywhere (and any time!) at http://jazz88.fm. Definitely have a listen – it’s a great one!
In other news, I received an intriguing message this week from button accordion player Dan Possumato that included a link to a new tune he’d written called “Planxty Gerard McDonnell.” A Limerick man, McDonnell was a sean-nós singer and a bandmate of Possumato’s who lost his life in 2008 on Pakistan’s K2 mountain. K2 is the world’s second highest mountain (after Everest) and considered the most dangerous. The 2008 K2 disaster took the lives of 11 mountaineers and is known as the single worst accident in that mountain’s history.
McDonnell was a skilled mountaineer. He reached the summit of Mount Everest in 2003 and while he had an earlier, unsuccessful attempt on K2 in 2006, he did indeed reach K2’s summit just before his death, the first Irishman to do so.
Possumato wrote this planxty to honor his close friend. Joining him on this fine tribute are Séamus McGuire (fiddle) and Stan O’Beirne (piano) who do a marvelous job on this heartfelt piece. Have a listen and spare a moment to reflect on the life of the extraordinary Irishman for whom the tune is written. You can have a listen and learn more at Possumato’s site, https://www.danpossumato.com/.
Chris Newman and Máire Ní Chathasaigh.
Finally, if you’re in New York City this Friday and are looking to hear some excellent live music, Don Meade will present harp legend Máire Ní Chathasaigh and acclaimed guitarist Chris Newman as part of his Blarney Star series at the New York Irish Center in Long Island City. This will be a special concert and one you won’t want to miss. The NYIC is conveniently located one stop into Queens on the 7 train. The show starts at 7:00pm, tickets are $20. To learn more about Ní Chathasaigh and Newman, visit their website at http://www.maireandchris.com. To book your tickets in advance, visit the New York Irish Center’s http://www.newyorkirishcenter.org.
