GWEN OREL
The only NY journalist who writes for both Irish Music Magazine and The Forward

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OK, the season, officheck out our FACEBOOK PAGE, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER for in-the-moment  pictures) and loads more.

 Finbar Furey is at New York Irish Center tonight.

We've got a pair of tickets to give away-- and we predict they'll be gone within half an hour! but go along even if you don't get 'em, at $35 at the door it's a bargain. And as Chris Deignan said at the "Savage F*cks of Dublintown" reading Thursday, starring our own Michelle Woods, Honor Molloy, and Kevin Holohan, as well as Maeve Price, the center is subsidized--meaning drinks are truly affordable. Honor and Maeve are opening for Finbar. Should be a great night!

Don't know about Finbar?
Here's a bit of what Wiki has to say:

Finbar Furey is a multi-instrumental folk musician, who was born on 28 September 1946 in Dublin City, Ireland. He is best known for his band of brothers The Fureys who were formed in Ballyfermot, Dublin, where they grew up.

Early life

Finbar's well known musician father Ted started him on the Uilleann pipes while he was very young. By his teens he had won 3 All Ireland Medals, The Oireachtas, and many Feisanna – in fact he was the only piper ever to win the All Ireland, the Oireachtas medal and the 4 province titles in the same year.

Career

Finbar popularized the pipes worldwide while on tour with his brother Eddie in the 1960s. In 1969, Finbar and Eddie began touring as backup musicians for the influential Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers. Finbar played the pipes, as well as the banjo, tin whistle, and guitar with the group live, on television, and on recordings. The Furey brothers left the group the following year and began performing as a duo again. Many bands followed in their wake, but Finbar and Eddie were awarded best Single of the Year by John Peel in 1972 entirely because of the unique sound the Uilleann pipes and whistle made, in the context of what was, at that time, a modern pop sound. They received many other accolades because they were the spearhead of contemporary music of that time.

And there's loads more on his website, finbarfurey.com.

Did you miss the "Savage F*cks" reading? It was packed-- it was at Dixon Place, upstairs, and it was standing room only as the talented authors read from their own works and from the work of Flann O'Brien, Maeve Brennan, James Joyce and others. I've already posted some pics to FB, Twitter and Instagram and will be sharing some video today as well! I apologize for the tardiness of getting proper posts up-- but those of you following NYIA, and me, on social media know I spent a GREAT week in Elkins, West Virginia, at the Augusta Heritage Center for Irish Week. Many pics and bits are up on social media and a full post will be coming.

I'll also be writing about my wonderful time at McGrath's Motel up in the Catskills-- yes, I went to Catskills Irish Arts week for a day and a half before going to West Virginia, which meant I had a 10 hour! drive to get ther. But it was worth it-- ran into friends from home, including Amy Beshara, Peggy O'Mahoney, John Nevins, and NYIA's John Kearns; was outclassed by loads of session players, heard amazing concerts, got scones at Nellie Gavin's Tea Shop... and the fairies sent me a waltz in my sleep! (either that or I heard it at the Session in my sleep... for now it's called "McGrath's Waltz") I'll be publishing that soon, too.

I wrote about Maplewood's own Andy Lamy, the trad clarinet player, and Joanie Madden, for August and September issues of Irish Music Magazine. The piece about Andy is up already on NYIA, with podcast coming, and the one on Cherish will be up soon.

Also stay tuned for a piece on actor Ciaran Byrne, who appears in the TNT series "Public Morals," a series set in the 60s about Irish-American mobsters and Irish-American cops. Good summer TV is almost over so I'm particularly excited about this one!

The 1st Irish Theatre Festival presented by Origin Theatre launches next week and we'll be covering that, too. Stay tuned, subscribe on RSS, Follow us, and..



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Cheers,

Gwen