Ceilidh - October 2009

Papa Joe and Janet Kretschmer hosted the October ceildih and filled their home with friends, food and great music. Some of the guests who were not participating in the song circle sat at the enormous dining room table and either played board games or a few even worked on their quilting.
Great time had by all. Thanks again, Joe & Janet

First Song, Second CD

On Tuesday, August 25th, received our first demo for the second Little Bird children's CD. Deb Randall was given a mission - write a song about a kangaroo diva. She exceeded our hopes and expectations. We will gather some blues musicians along with Deb and head to Group Effort Studios to begin work on the newest CD. As before, the name will be voted on after more songs are added. We will also vote on the local children's charities that will benefit from the CD. If you have a song to submit, please add a comment or contact a member of the Ceilidh Group.

Get Outta Here

We're heading for the Dublin Irish Festival on Saturday, August 1st. The GOH van will be filled to capacity but if you would like to caravan, we are leaving from the Hamilton Courthouse around 11:30 a.m. If not, we'll look for you up there.

Slainte

Acoustic Thursday on Fountain Square - 7/30/09

This Thursday, July 30th, at noon, three wonderful artists will be providing lunchtime entertainment on Fountain Square. At 11:45, the father/daughter duo of Anna & Milovan. That girl can belt out a tune and her dad plays a mean guitar.
At 12:30 Neil Jacobs takes the stage. He is one of the nation's most celebrated and award winning 12-string guitarist.
Hope to see you...Fountain Square at Fifth & Vine Streets in Downtown Cincinnati.

Get Outta Here - Ohio River Valley Folk Festival

Date: May 15th & May 16th

Location: Madison, Indiana

Cost: $25 for two days (included food vouchers making the cost about $5 per day)

Reason: Music!

On Friday, May 15th we left around 3 pm and headed west to Madison, Indiana. We took Route 42 and went along the river to Markland Dam and crossed over to Indiana. The ride was pleasant and the time passed quickly. Papa Joe called as we were leaving town to say he was there and settled in and would walk around the city and get the lay of the land. A call to Lenny and Linda revealed them just a mile behind so. We caught up in Madison and continued on to Clifty Falls where we pitched our tents then headed back to town for the Festival. It was drizzling but not heavy rain. Paul Burch and the WPA were performing when we arrived but soon after a few lightening flashes stopped the music for about a half hour. We took shelter from the brief pocket of rain then loaded up with plates of delicious pulled pork, green beans and buttery potatoes. Settled into our seats we enjoyed the remainder of Paul's set. With a brief change over we had our drinks of choice and awaited Richard Shindell. I had heard his music for years but had not seen him live. His songs painted pictures that brought us to tears and then laughter. Another change over and we were rocked by the Kennedys. Again I had listened to their sweet harmonies on WNKU but I was not aware of Pete Kennedy's amazing guitar work. Maura sang like an angel, played ferociously and didn't stop dancing and sending out energy for two straight hours. It was amazing!
In the final minutes of Friday, we wandered back to our tents at Clifty Falls and enjoyed nature's concert of rolling thunder and an amazing light show as the rain pounded percussion above us.Saturday morning was a bit drizzly but not enough to deter us from making a big campground breakfast. With full bellies we headed back to the festival for the workshops. First up, Katherine Wheatley, a beautiful musician from Canada, led us in a ceilidh-like play and singalong session. A family of talented brothers joined her on stage with mandolin, banjo and guitar. Each played Katherine as if they had met her before and had time to learn the original songs she threw at them.
Next up, Richard Shindell, looking like he was not a morning person, gave a true workshop on songwriting. His suggestions made sense and his method made me feel like I was doing something right. I wrote down his suggestions and how to incorporate some to my own process.
Without a break the amazing Tim O'Brien took the small stage and the tent filled to capacity. He explained mandolins and bouzoukis.

An added bonus came on Saturday morning. While we enjoyed coffee at a local cafe, Maura and Pete came in for breakfast. We chatted with them for a few minutes and found them to be very lovely. Wouldn't a house concert with the Kennedy's be a great idea!!!

We unanimously agreed that this is a Get Outta Here that needs to be on our calendars for next year!

Contributed by Prudence Hunt

The Ceilidh Group

In 1991 a few friends gathered to enjoy a nice dinner. The evening turned to story, song and poetry and a tradition began. When we came across the Scottish Gaelic word "Ceilidh" we gave our gatherings a name. A Ceilidh is a night of food, poetry, song and sometimes dancing. The same type of evening could be labeled hootenanny, swarp or many other names but ceilidh seemed to fit just fine.
Over the years the Ceilidh Group has grown and in 2008 friends and fellow artists collaborated to produce a family CD called "Isn't It a Wonder". It contains 24 songs by 20 local artists. All proceeds from the CD go to children's charities. The Little Bird division of the Ceilidh Group hopes to produce another by 2010.

We still gather to share music and we now have "Get Outta Here's". These GOH's will be posted on this site. We will add past GOH's as well.

We also host house concerts. Those, too, will be blogged.

Thanks for checking us out. Enjoy.

Get Outta Here - Dayton Irish Festival

Date: Saturday, July 25, 2009
Location: Dayton Metro Park, Dayton, Ohio
Cost: Free
Reason for GOH: Music!

On Saturday we packed the Get Outta Here van and headed northwest. We stopped in Finneytown to pick up Carol Mahan and said hello to Darrel who was staying home. We reached Dayton about 3:30, just in time for Scythian's set. The boys were wide awake and making music! They had the crowd joining in on every song and set a good mood for the day. We moved back and forth between the music tents enjoying just about every group that was playing throughout the day. Some we loved, some we liked and some just couldn't hold our interest. As we had before, we retreated to the van during the afternoon and made some sandwiches. Taking food and drink to a festival that is already free makes the entire cost of the day just a few dollars worth of gas in the van. We did, however, support the festival with a few donations and a couple of cold, refreshing Guinness and Harps.

The weatherman predicted a rainy day with the chance of storms but the sky was clear and blue and the temperature in the low 80's.
As for music, Dulahan, Slide-Ireland and Changling were favorites. Gaelic Storm had the crowd in a frenzy and we stayed until the encore then we took our weary bones back to the van and headed for home.

Did we have a good time? This should say it all!