* Santa Cruz-based Celtic band Molly’s Revenge will be celebrating the release of their latest CD, ‘The Western Shore,’ with a concert performance at Kuumbwa, 320 Cedar St. in Santa Cruz at 7:30pm. With David Brewer on Highland pipes, uilleann pipes & whistles, John Weed on fiddle, Pete Haworth on bouzouki & vocals & Stuart Mason on guitar & mandola, Molly’s Revenge has been exciting audiences with heavy-hitting interpretations of traditional Irish & Scottish music for over 8 years. In that time, they’ve played all over the USA & taken their music international with tours of China & Australia. In 2009 they will be performing at the prestigious Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland & at the Jacob’s Ladder Festival in Israel, along with several other European dates.

‘The Western Shore’ is their 7th recording & the band is very fortunate to have obtained the services of John Doyle as album producer. John is, quite simply, the pre-eminent master of the art of the Irish guitar & a stellar singer & has been in high demand for both performance & production work since his days as a founding member of the supergroup, Solas. John, whose website is www.johndoylemusic.com, had the following to say: ‘One would think it was unusual that there would be such strong community of Celtic music in Northern California but there is and Molly’s Revenge are at the heart of it. When I first heard the band in 2006, I was immediately impressed by their obvious love of the music, the energy of their live performance and their excellent musicianship. They bring to the music vitality and joyous creativity that excites even the hardest hearts. This recording showcases the confidence and enthusiasm in their playing and their maturity as a group. Their diligence to the tradition has produced this fine collection of material, old and new, and which fans of Celtic music are sure to embrace.’

The band recently joined forces with vocalist & accordion player Moira Smiley, featured in both capacities on the new CD. An accomplished vocalist in many styles, Moira was the winner of Western USA division of the All-Ireland Singing Championships. Her active musical life does not permit her to join Molly’s Revenge full-time, do visit her website at wwwmoirasmiley.com, but she will be at the Kuumbwa concert. As if all the above wasn’t enough, Fraser Stone from Scotland’s Old Blind Dogs contributed percussion on a few tracks so the new CD not only marks a fraserstone but also a milestone in the band’s career.At the concert, Fraser’s shoes will be filled by Brian Rice, perhaps best known for his percussion work in the band Wake the Dead. For more, visit the websites at www.mollysrevenge.com, www.sonicbids.com/MollysRevenge & www.myspace.com/mollysrevengeband.

Kuumbwa, 320 Cedar St. in Santa Cruz at 7:30pm. Tickets are $16 in advance & $18 at the door and can be purchased either online at the band’s website at www.mollysrevenge.com or at Streetlights Records on Pacific Avenue, opposite The Metro Center, in downtown Santa Cruz. For your $2 Celtic Society member discount, please have your membership card & either your rebate on the advance price will be given at the door or you’ll receive the discount off the price if purchasing at the door.

Please note too, three tracks recorded for but not included on the CD, available by download only, will have the first 30 people making the online reservations being given free access cards.

*The Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay proudly present master Irish traditional musicians, uilleann piper Paddy Keenan & singer/guitarist Tommy O’Sullivan at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9 in Felton at 7:30pm.

A founding member & the driving force of the legendary Irish group, The Bothy Band, Paddy Keenan is widely regarded as the most accomplished & exciting uilleann piper of his generation. Indeed, as the esteemed Irish music writer John O’Regan put it, ‘In Irish music there are legends and legends and then there’s Paddy Keenan.’ Born into a musical family of Travellers (Irish gypsies), Paddy’s wild & unfettered, innovative & improvisational style of playing the traditional music of Ireland, with power & panache, has won him admirers around the world and being hailed as ‘The King of the Pipers.’ A winner of Irish television station TG4’s prestigious ‘Traditional Musician of the Year’ award, at Paddy’s concerts you can feel the exhilaration of standing at the edge of a cliff and, as the music charms & beguiles you, being pulled over the edge & finding to your great surprise, as Paddy’s music soars, that you too can fly. A member of the popular Irish trio Sliabh Notes & with two critically acclaimed ‘solo’ recordings to his resume, Tommy O’Sullivan has been performing with Paddy for over 10 years. Having, in the words of Irish Music Magazine, ‘a tenor voice that has all the ring of Waterford crystal which has only ever served smoky whiskey,’ Tommy teamed up memorably with Paddy for the instant classic CD, ‘The Long Grazing Acre.’ Upon the release of that gem of an album, Grammy Award winner Tim O’Brien declared, ‘Paddy Keenan’s new collaboration with stellar guitarist & vocalist Tommy O’Sullivan represents a new milestone in that lifelong journey in pursuit of the real music.’ A review from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram echoes countless other raves of their performances; ‘They are the finest pipes & guitar duo ever… Keenan’s playing was a masterful blend of sweetness and fiery power… O’Sullivan added subtly percussive and driving guitar. His vocal numbers were gorgeous and soulful.’ Don’t miss these lads! For more, visit www.paddykeenan.com and www.tommyosullivan.net.

* The Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay proudly present one of Scotland’s greatest traditional bands of all time, The Tannahill Weavers at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9 in Felton at 7:30pm.

The Celtic Society can finally scratch a name off our bucket list of performers we’ve always wanted to present before kicking the bucket. Since the release of their first recording in 1976, ‘Are Ye Sleeping Maggie,’ The Tannahill Weavers have been proclaimed as one of Scotland’s premiere traditional bands. Still with two of the original members of that first recording, lead singer & guitarist Roy Gullane & Phil Smillie on flute, whistle, bodhran & harmony vocals (Incidentally, anyone know whatever became of the Tannies, as they are affectionately called, member on that recording, a fella named Dougie MacLean?), who have performing with for a long time with one of Scotland’s finest fiddlers & also accomplished on viola, cello, mandolin & mandola, John Martin, whom you may also know from John’s stint with the much-missed Scots ensemble Ossian, bouzouki, keyboardist & harmony vocalist Les Wilson & since 2001 with one of Scotland’s hottest pipers & whistle players, Colin Melville. The Tannies most recent CD, and 17th album overall, ‘Live & In Session,’ shows the lads still to be in fine & feisty form. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs & original ballads. Their music powerfully demonstrates to old & young alike the rich & varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades for their exuberant performances & outstanding recordings that seemingly can’t get better… yet continue to do just that. The Tannies have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with electrifying effect. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment & rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Winnipeg Free Press noted, ‘The Tannahill Weavers – properly harnessed – could probably power an entire city for a year on the strength of last night’s concert alone. The music may be old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll.’ Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland & named for the town’s historic weaving industry & local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. These one-time trailblazers in bringing Scottish music to the world are now firmly established as among the best Scotland has ever had to offer on the concert stage; from reflective ballads to foot-stomping jigs & reels, the variety of their material is matched only by their lively Celtic spirits. As Mojo Magazine observed, the Tannies are ‘world class musicians with passion and a healthy sense of fun, keeping alive and making accessible the very heart of the tradition itself.’ For more, please visit the website at www.tannahillweavers.com.

The 14th Annual Sebastopol Celtic World Music Festival takes place at The Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St. & adjacent Laguna Park in Sebastopol, CA.

If you haven’t been to this cynosure event before, it is time you enlisted to join the legion of Celtic music lovers who each year charge like the light brigade up to the heights of Sebastopol where the finest music to the right of them and to the left of them volley and thunder to their delight. A true Celtic Festival in the best sense, the performers come from all over the planet, wherever the Celts & their music have left their mark. Artists currently confirmed are Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill from Ireland & the U.S., Slide from Ireland, Cara Dillon from Northern Ireland, Tannahill Weavers from Scotland, Vasen from Sweden, La Muscagna from Spain, Connie Dover from the U.S., Genticorum from Quebec & Vishten from Prince Edward Island.

*The Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay proudly presents the brilliant, young, Irish traditional band Slide at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall,

Hailed by Ireland’s RTE, Radio 1 as ‘the future of Irish music,’ the four original, greatly gifted musicians & composers of Slide first came together in 2000 to play at The Cobblestone in Dublin, a night that shook that venue from rock to rafter & has since become known as ‘The Wobble in the Cobble.’ Still with the band today, these four musicians had accumulated numerous awards for individual musicianship; Aoghan Lynch on concertina & whistles, whose cousins are box maestros Seamus & Brendan Begley, was Ireland television station TG4’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 1999, Eamonn De Barra on flute, whistles, keyboards & bodhran was winner of that same award in 2000, Daire Bracken was the original fiddler of the famed ensemble Danu & Mick Broderick on bouzouki, cittern & mandolin is a member of notable musical family from East Galway, of which flute player & composer Vincent is perhaps the best known (at the moment). These four recorded to much ballyhoo Slide’s first album, ‘The Flying Pig,’ which led to be their named by Irish Music Magazine as ‘Best Traditional Newcomers’ in 2001, which in doing so declared, They can sing, they can write, they can dance across fingerboards and piano keys, buttons and bows and by crikey can they play.’ With the recent addition of former lead singer of De Dannan & LiveIreland.com’s Male Vocalist of the Year, Andrew Murray from the island of Inishbofin, Co. Galway, Slide are poised to become a tour de force on the world’s Celtic music stages. Winners of the ‘Young Musicwide Award’ in 2006, whose panel of judges was led by Donal Lunny, who wrote, ‘This band is taking Irish music to a new place. Their music will touch people far beyond the realm of traditional music.’ From mesmeric trance to nail biting energy, Slide entice the listener on a journey of musical exploration which will undoubtedly leave you on a high while taking you from sorrowful reflections to points of high spirited in between. As John O’Regan in Folk Roots observed, ‘There’s plenty of action and flamboyance in Slide’s music… takes the Dervish/Bothy Band/De Dannan formula and turns it 360 degrees on its head successfully merging youthful arrogance and swagger with traditional expertise.’ By whatever measurement or calculation –Slide rule! For more, visit www.slide.ie

*THE CELTIC SOCIETY OF THE MONTEREY BAY PROUDLY PRESENT
SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL TREASURE
THE BATTLEFIELD BAND

Celebrating the release of their 30th recording, ‘Dookin’,’ winners of the first Scots Trad Music Awards as ‘Best Live Act,’ The Battlefield Band returns to the area with their trademark fusion of traditional & self-penned material, powerfully played with rare passion & contagious joy on ancient & modern instruments. Formed in 1969 & named after the ‘Battlefield’ area of Glasgow, as Billboard observed, ‘What the Chieftains has done for traditional Irish music, Battlefield Band is doing for the music of Scotland.’ The addition of new members has led to continued creativity, freshness, enthusiasm & humor; joining founding member singer & keyboardist Alan Reid, bagpipes, small pipes & whistles virtuoso Mike Katz, fiddle prodigy & master of myriad other instruments Alasdair White, will be Irish singer & guitarist Sean O’Donnell, who is featured on the group’s past two CDs. A recent review in The Washington Post raved, ‘It was a wondrous display of musicians firmly in command of their art… a Highland jam that rang the barn’s rafters… The band’s chemistry at this point is uncanny… the best Battlefield Band in years.’ For more, visit www.battlefieldband.co.uk.

*THE CELTIC SOCIETY OF THE MONTEREY BAY PROUDLY PRESENT THE POWERHOUSE IRISH TRADITIONAL BAND
TEADA

In just a few short years, Teada, pronounced tay-da & meaning ‘strings’ in Gaelic, have gone from winning Irish Music Magazine’s ‘Best Traditional Newcomers’ award in 2003 to one of Ireland’s top tier traditional outfits with three critically acclaimed CDs to their credit. Having presented a trio of the tremendously talented musicians in Teada as part of our Irish Christmas in America concerts the past couple of years has served to make us esurient to have the entire band back in town. Hailed in Sing Out as ‘the young lions of Irish music’ & The Irish Echo, which called Teada ‘as inventive and exciting as any other trad band out there,’ the group features the ferocious fiddling of All-Ireland Cham pion & singer Oisin Mac Diarmada, the brilliant button accordionist Paul Finn, fiery flute & whistle player Damien Stenson, strings sensation Sean McElwain on bouzouki, guitar & banjo & buoyant bodhran player Tristan Rosenstock. For more, visit www.teada.com.