Thursday, June 15, 2000

"On Song in Portadown" - Máire Brennan Takes Part In A Very Special Event


Thanks to a tip from an anonymous reader, we find out that Máire Brennan took part in a very special concert event in Portadown, Northern Ireland on the night of May 30th. The event took place in St. Mary's catholic church on the Garvaghy Road in the form of a very special concert featuring Máire Brennan, James Galway and a young choir called People in Harmony consisting of people from both the catholic and protestant communities. You can read more information on the event from an article titled "On Song In Portadown" by John Cutliffe from the online.ie web site. The concert was attended by some of the leading politicians in the province including David Trimble, Brid Rogers, Gary McMichael and Peter Mandleson. However, the event, as the author points out in the story, was not about politics, it was about people, and according to the organisers, "raised awareness that ordinary people can and do work towards living together peacefully in Northern Ireland".


RTE TV Special "Gay Bryne Presents" to Include Máire Brennan


Thanks to another anonymous tip, we find that Máire Brennan will be part of a special RTE TV (Ireland) broadcast called "Gay Byrne Presents" with the long time RTE broadcaster, Gay Byrne. The special, which should air sometime in July or August, will also include such noted musical guests as Altan, Ronan Keating (of Boyzone), and others. More information on this to follow. Thanks again for the anonymous tip.


"Fathers To Daughters" PBS TV Special Delayed


From a recent posting to the IRTRAD-L (Irish Traditional Music) mailing list, we find that the long awaited PBS (U.S.) TV special "Fathers To Daughters", originally planned to be broadcast this weekend to coincide with Father's Day in the U.S., instead has been postponed to air sometime this fall. The "Fathers To Daughters" video featuring musical dads and their daughters such as Paddy Maloney, Matt Malloy, Tommy Peoples, the Clancy Brothers (with sons and daughters) in Ireland and in the States - daughters with their dads such as Liz Carroll, Marie Rielly, Dierdre Connolly, Mary Rafferty, Joanie Madden and Mary Coogan - along with Michael and Rose Flanagan and their 2 playing/dancing daughters - Jimmy and Maura Kelly - Patty Conway Furlong and many others. Maire Brennan was also to be included in the special along with her musical father Leo Brennan. The PBS television network is available across the U.S. on local public television stations, as well as on satellite.

"Celtic Tides" Video on Bravo TV Network


The special video "Celtic Tides" will be shown this weekend on the Bravo network in the U.S. The "Celtic Tides" video includes interviews and performances of various Celtic musicians. Clannad is shown on the video from their 1982 performance of "Harry's Game" on the U.K. TV program "Top Of The Pops". Also a short interview of Máire Brennan from the early 90's is shown on the program with Máire talking about Clannad and the orgins of their music. The video "Celtic Tides" will be shown at 5 PM ET on June 10th, and repeated at 11:00 AM ET on June 11th. The Bravo TV network is available on cable and satellite across the U.S. and Canada.


Clannad Music Used on PBS's "The American Experience"


An episode of the PBS television series The American Experience titled "The Donner Party" features the Clannad song "A Strange Day In The Countryside" from Crann Ull.


House Of Blues Review of Máire Brennan's "Whisper To The Wild Water"


There is a review available on-line at the House Of Blues web site of Máire Brennan's latest solo CD "Whisper To The Wild Water".


Clannad Music Available for Legal Download


More online music sites are starting to offer select Clannad albums and songs as music downloads in either the mp3, Real Media, or Liquid Audio Music formats. The on-line music retailer emusic.com offers the entire Clannad album Clannad 2 (Shanachie Records) or select tracks from the album in the mp3 format for legal download. Another on-line music retailer Liquid Music Network offers the new Clannad compilation album Clannad - The Celtic Voice (Erin Records) in either Real Media or Liquid Audio music formats. Again, you can choose either to download the entire album or select tracks from the album.


Clannad "Greatest Hits" CD Available in the U.K.


Thanks to Barry in the U.K. on informing us that one of the recently released Clannad compilation CDs Clannad - Greatest Hits is now availble in the U.K. after first being released in the U.S. a couple months ago.


Yahoo! Music Clannad Section


The be-everything web portal Yahoo! now has a new area titled Yahoo! Music - Clannad. This Yahoo! Music - Clannad page offers a Biography, discography, photo gallery (courtesy of RollingStone.com), a place to find legal mp3 and other music downloads, and a (so far empty) message board for the group Clannad. There also exists another section at Yahoo! devoted to Clannad at Yahoo! Clubs - Clannad which hasn't seen much activity lately.

Thursday, June 8, 2000

Review of Máire Brennan's "Whisper To The Wild Water"


A review is available on-line for Máire Brennan's latest solo CD "Whisper To The Wild Water" in the monthly "CD Review" section of "Visions" magazine, a regional magazine with circulation in the Tidewater, Williamsburg and Richmond Virginia areas and made available by Steven M. Hewitt on his web site.


German Translation of Máire Brennan's Recent CD Lyrics


A web site in Germany has the lyrics of Máire Brennan's "Perfect Time" (1998) and "Whisper To The Wild Water" (1999) translated into German. The web site is by David Decker in Germany.


Origins Behind Clannad's "The Jug Of Brown Ale"


There is a interesting thread that has appeared recently on the IRTRAD-L (Traditional Irish Music) mailing list. The IRTRAD-L is a mailing list discussing traditional Irish music with many contributions from various musicians who play Irish traditional music. The thread is titled "Old Man Dillon" and can be followed in the IRTRAD-L archives for June 2000. As someone has pointed out in the thread, "Old Man Dillon" is an O'Neil title, after the fiddler he got the tune from, as he recounts in his book Irish Folk Music. The tune "Old Man Dillon" is the same as Clannad's "The Jug Of Brown Ale" from their 1976 album Dulaman. It was pointed out that Clannad probably confused the title with the tune's original name "Mug Of Brown Ale" (also known by the name "Paddy In London"). The "Mug Of Brown Ale" is the older name for "Old Man Dillon" as pointed out by O'Neil. The interesting thread goes on with the ABCs for the tune discussed and the different ways it has been played. Interesting reading, as always, with the origins and stories of Irish tunes.

More News Items Available in the May 2000 Archives...

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The Unofficial Clannad News Page
(Web Page Design and Page Concept) Copyright 1999-2000, by Harry Sarkas

The Unofficial Clannad News Page is written on an Apple Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh and served by Eircom.net from Ireland.

The Unofficial Clannad News Page is not endorsed by members of the group Clannad nor the group's current record label, WEA/Atlantic Records, nor Máire Brennan's current record label, Word Records.  Any information contained on these pages should be considered unofficial unless stated otherwise. For official information, be sure to visit the official sites listed.

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