One of you smarties guessed it yesterday. Making their first appearance this year at the Kansas City Irish Fest are Canada's Barra MacNeils. We had the Barras booked for the 2003 Fest, but a last minute conflict forced a cancellation. Which is probably just as well, since we all nearly drowned in the deluge and they would have been rained out anyway. Ed, Keli, Patti and I saw the band on our trip to the Celtic Colours festival last October and heard firsthand what 20 years of playing together can do for a band. This is going to be a show.
The MacNeils are a family band, comprised of siblings Kyle on vocals, guitar, violin and mandolin, Lucy on vocals, bodhran, harp, fiddle and step dancing, Sheumas on keyboards, piano, bodhran, fiddle, bouzouki and vocals, Stewart on vocals, accordion, tin whistle, flute, bouzouki, guitar and step dancing, Boyd on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, percussion and step dancing, Ryan on keyboards, percussion, pipes, tin whistle, bodhran and step dancing, and Jamie on bass. They're consummate musicians and great performers.
More announcements on the way as the band signings really start heating up. You'll get them all first right here.
P.S. If you're wondering why The "Barra" MacNeils, Barra refers to the island of Barra off the coast of Scotland which is the traditional home and stronghold of the Clan MacNeil. The MacNeils of Barra claim connection to the O'Neill's of Ulster. Proof once again that we're all one big happy family.
Posts
17 comments:
How about the locals. It is the KC Irishfest after all. There are two that I think would go over really well. Kelly and The Lucky Charms.
The addendum clinched it for me, Dan. That, and a conversation I remembered having with Ed on the mezzanine of the Phillip's hotel in 2003. It's going to be a terrific show!
The local and regional Irish music scene will be very well represented, I promise.
The Barra's were booked for 2003 but the rain stopped them from coming. They were then booked for KCIF 2005 but poor management kept them from coming even though the t-shirts and posters had them here. Cathy Ryan and her band played instead. Remember?
How about Connie Dover! We'd love to see the local girl who's internationally known play at KCIF!
Connie Dover, yes please. The Lucky Charms, that's another yes Please, and if Kelly is as pleasing to hear as all the above ladies, that's third YES.
If this is any indication of what The Lucky Charms sound like: http://kansascityband.com/irishbandtheluckycharms/ then I think I'll pass thanks.
It wasn't all that bad...but what's with the phony accents? "Nawncy Whiskey" ?
Bad recording, they are MUCH better than that. You can hear them on their own website http://www.theluckycharms.com
Live is best! Computer recordings never do the bands justice. I don't think they posted the song on the other website.
Lucky Charms ain't that good live either.
"Hey, I've got an idea! Let's do a Kingston Trio version of Black And Tans and combine it with a hackneyed 80's pop song! Ooh, and let's make it six minutes long! It'll be awesome!"
No, it won't.
I saw Connie Dover at the Westport Irish Fest many years ago and felt that a Festival setting was unsuited to her style of music. An indoor venue would be the best place to see her play.
Zzzzzzzzzzz........
Ugh. No Lucky Charms are just plain bad, live or otherwise. Ditto Kelly.
WoW!!! You people need a life. I think I will go see them just because of all of this. Just wondering are all you "anonymous" people just one person with a bone to pick, cause it sure sounds like it.
I don't know anything about The Lucky Charms but the name alone turns me off. It invokes an image of a horrible 'leper-chaun' running around with a bad Irish accent. No thanks!
As a guy who can't carry a tune in a bucket and plays exactly as many musical instruments as my cat does, I stand in awe of all musicians, especially those-like the people who make up Kelly, The Lucky Charms, The Elders, etc.- who are actually able to earn a full or even partial living at it.
Booking bands for this festival is a ticklish business. That's especially true when it comes to local bands. This isn't a big city and the Irish community is even smaller. We all know each other. We don't like it, but we're always going to disappoint or anger the bands and their fans who don't get signed for Irish Fest. There's just no way around it. Our responsibility is to put on stage the very best talent available to us. We do want to showcase local and regional talent and we're blessed with a lot of it. But unfortunately we have neither the budget, time or space to give stage time to every local Irish or Celtic themed musician. We evaluate our bands with a critical eye. Musicianship is not enough. On a festival stage, the intangibles-showmanship, for lack of a better word-are just as important. A few years ago I spoke at an Irish Festival Directors conference to one of the organizers of the Milwaukee Irish Fest about a very well known Irish player. I told him what a fan I was and that I'd love to have this particular musician play Kansas City. I was not surprised to hear that she'd played the Milwaukee Fest. I was surprised when the director told me that he wouldn't book her again. An internationally known virtuoso on her instrument, with dozens of great recordings to her credit, she was apparently completely dead on stage. That kind of performer may do well in a concert hall. At a festival where we rely heavily on the energy of our crowds, it's death.
I'm rambling here, but the basic point is this: we respect and admire all the great local talent we have in Kansas City. We're very fortunate to have such a vibrant live music scene. We wish we could book every Irish band who hangs out a shingle. But the reality is, that's not going to happen. We work hard on our schedule and I think you'll be pleased when you see the finished product. But if you're favorite local band isn't on it this year, it's not necessarily because we don't think they're good enough. It's not necessarily because they're not lively enough. It's absolutely not because we have some personal ax to grind with them. Please believe me when I say, in the words of the great Michael Corleone, it's not personal. It's business.
Post a Comment