Milwaukee Irish Fest, notes and highlights

[Robert Phoenix]

Whoops! Forgot to post yesterday and its such a good group too. The High Kings will be in Milwaukee this year! Goood linup so far. Check back later for the next one in their 12 days of Christmas.

[Robert Phoenix]

And on the fifth day we have another band I haven't heard of: Goitse! Decribed at Irishfest.com as five unbelievably talented young musicians from the University of Limerick…Goitse!…(pronounced gwi-cha for the uninformed) Wow...these kids (young adults as they tell us) can play and have fun! This is a don't miss band!

Here is a link to their site
http://www.goitse.ie/

[Robert Phoenix]

We got some Screaming Orphans in the lineup today!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJFf8vHIXdk...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNa7d_mluh4...feature=related

[Robert Phoenix]

A new bunch of Scottish rocks by the name of Skerryvore. I listed to a couple tracks off there website and this band is going to have the crowd jumping. There are three songs . The Ginger Grouse jigs is pretty traditional sounding. On the Road is very modern. Singer reminded me of Seven Nations when I first heard it. The Rox Revival song is the one that gets you going. A fast paced bagpipe with a touch of ska thrown in by the horn section.
Check it out for yourselves!

http://www.skerryvore.com/

[Robert Phoenix]

Bring in a new generation of Irish music we have, for the eighth day, Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones.

http://www.theyoungwolfetones.com/

[Robert Phoenix]

Today the 25th Irishfest Summer School is being highlighted

http://www.irishfest.com/schools/summerschool.php

[Robert Phoenix]

Posted from the Irishfest Website
On the 150th day of Christmas Paddy McFest gave to me: 150??? Well in truth it is the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. So this year in commemoration of that event the Ward Irish Music Archives will be presenting an exhibit on the Irish and their involvement in the war. We'll also be bringing back Civil War historian and singer David Kincaid. David delighted Milwaukee audiences a few years back and we're delighted to have him back!

David's website

http://hauntedfieldmusic.com/DK.html

[Robert Phoenix]

For today we have the band Kintra- a twelve piece traditional band from the North West of Ireland

http://www.kintramusic.com/

[Robert Phoenix]

Red Hot Chili Pipers are back again.
Merry Christmas everyone!

[Robert Phoenix]

Looks like MIF snuck in a couple bonuses, Seamus kenneday and Altan will both be back again in 2011

[Robert Phoenix]

Another bonus! Liz Doherty will be back again as part of the Donegal/Derry showcase as well as teaching a traditional irish music lecture and a fiddle class as part of the summer school.

Liz Doherty Official Website

http://www.lizdoherty.ie/

[Robert Phoenix]

Tom Sweeney was added to the lineup today.
http://www.tomsweeneymusic.com/

[Robert Phoenix]

Continuing with the Donegal/Derry Showcase this year MIF welcomes Bendan Hendry and flutist Brendan Mulholland, along with guitarist Jim Rainey.

http://www.brendanhendry.com/

[Robert Phoenix]

Scythian (pronounced sith-ee-yin) will be back again this year. Good lineup so far. I may need to be there all five days!! Still hoping for Barleyjuice and Albannach.

[Robert Phoenix]

Clumsy Lovers will be back after an absence of several years. They were one of the bands I saw at my first visit to irishfest. Their music is a combination of bluegrass, irish, and a bit of country. It is pretty hard to define their sound but the tunes are very enjoyable. The website is here:

http://clumsylovers.com/

You can here quite a few of their tunes and see their video if you click on the download section of their website. Bobby Banjo, Okay Alright, Smart Kid, and This is Clumsy Love ar my favorrites. Also check out their "ow-sorry" t shirt. Funny stuff