The Hamburg Fairgrounds Fri., Aug. 22nd -- 5pm-11pm Sat., Aug. 23rd -- 12pm-11pm Sun., Aug. 24th -- 12pm-8pm
Theater Building Irish Classical Theatre Company and O'Connell
& Company have joined forces to produce an original
50-minute show telling the story of the leaving of Ireland,
the crossing of the Atlantic, and the arrival at Buffalo, in
story, song and multi-screen video. The Poetry Collection of the University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo, is the largest depository of Joyce's working papers in the world. More than 10,000 scanned pages of this collection are available for research on two work stations in the reading room of the Poetry Collection. A small part of this exhibit will be on display all weekend of the Festival.
Headquarters Hotel (where the bands are staying) -- Hamburg Holiday Inn -- 1-888-Holiday (888) 465-4329 of (716) 649-0500 -- Ask for the special $99 Buffalo Irish Festival rate, while it lasts -- 5440 Camp Road (NY 75) -- Hamburg, NY 14075 -- or go to www.HolidayInn.com, and use the group code "BIF"
*** New in 2008 *** Traditional Music Tent The Martin Wynne Branch of Comhaltas will host the first-ever Traditional Music Tent this year. Featuring the amazing talent of guitarist John Doyle; fiddler Liz Carroll; Chicago's Bua; and PA's Blackwater. They'll be hosting workshops in dance, guitar, fiddle and more, along with a Saturday night Ceili, and loads of live performances.
*** New in 2008 *** Genealogy and Cultural Exhibit and Seminars
*** New in 2008 ***
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Partial List of Entertainers -- 2008
Christened by The New York Times
as "Irish America's Favorite Son", Andy Cooney has
taken the Irish-American music scene by storm. His
outstanding voice and dynamic stage presence makes
him a favorite with audiences as he renders songs
ranging from all-time favorites like "Galway Bay"
and "Danny Boy" to his hit records "The Irish
Wedding Song", "Boston Rose" and "Shannon River".
Andy's talent and versatility provide the ability
to deliver a song directly to the hearts of his
listeners. The Prodigals are one of the
most successful bands to emerge from the East-Coast
Irish scene. The band members grew up largely in
Ireland; their original songs blend a funky and
anarchic energy that is pure New York with a
genuine passion for the traditional music of
Ireland. They have played throughout the United
States, from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to Chicago,
Boston and Maine, as well as abroad in Canada,
Germany and Ireland, but they remain firmly rooted
in Manhattan. A quintet comprised of some of
America’s most talented, young musicians, Bua
have been described by Irish Music Magazine as
“the essence of a superb band,” their
sound “a throwback to the playing of the 1960s
and 1970s, keeping the music down the path of
tradition” and their 2006 release, Live at
Martyrs’, “a work without gimmicks, where
the musicianship is of the highest quality.”
It is no surprise then that Bua, lending to its
Irish Gaelic meaning of ‘innate gift,’
have quickly risen to the status of America’s
premier traditional Irish music
ensemble. The Orlando-based five-piece
Seven Nations encompasses a wide variety of
diversity in music, but the love for creating their
own musical sound remains a common goal. Seven
Nations pushes American trad rock and Celtic roots
rock while intertwining the brooding beauty of the
mandolin, violin, bagpipes, and horns for a
worldbeat seascape of rock & roll. Independent
success has been entirely on the band's own terms,
for Seven Nations has had their own ESPN, PBS, and
CNN specials and sold more than 125,000 copies of
their countless releases without ever being
promoted and signed by a major label. Seven
Nations, who formed in 1994, is comprised of
vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Kirk MacLeod, fiddle
player Dan Stacey, bassist Struby,
mandolinist/bagpiper Scott Long, and drummer Ashton
Geoghagan. They have played to over 40,000 people
at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and in fall
2000 Dewar's Scotch signed on to promote the band's
mainstream self-titled debut. After a few high
profile appearances (including shows at the New
York City Marathon and the 2002 Winter Olympics
Torch Arrival Ceremony,) they stepped back into the
studio. And Now It's Come To This arrived in the
summer of 2002. Seamus Kennedy, originally from
Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been entertaining
audiences all over the United States for the past
32 years. With a ready wit and a vast store of
songs, he travels from Alaska to Florida, Maryland
to California, performing for audiences which range
from Popes and presidents to bartenders and
bricklayers, from college students to
kindergartners. In concert or festival, in pub
or club, in colleges or high schools, Seamus
Kennedy has the repertoire and the ability to make
folks forget their cares for a while, to relax and
enjoy themselves. He encourages the crowd to sing
along to silly lyrics and daft ditties or act out
the choruses of children's songs. When he plays a
lively Irish jig or a reel, Seamus will often coax
someone to jump up and dance to the music of his
guitar or bodhrán - to the delight - and
often amazement - of their friends. His audience
participation songs and tongue-twisters have amused
the ablest of participants and the nimblest of
tongues. Part of the new traditionalist
movement in Irish music, the partnership between
fiddler Liz Carroll and guitarist and singer John
Doyle is exciting news in the folk and Celtic
worlds. Although born and raised in
Chicago, Liz Carroll has found a stunning amount of
success in her ancestral homeland of Ireland. In
1975, at the age of 18, the fiddler won the Senior
All-Ireland Championship - the first American to
win that title in nine years, she recalled in an
interview last week. After John’s appearances on
Liz’s last two CD’s, and having
co-produced the latter (Lake Effect) with Liz, they
have discovered a dynamism and sympathy in their
creative work together that now moves from the
studio to stages across the world. Liz and John
have appeared in festivals and venues throughout
the U.S., and in special tours of Japan and
France. Impossibly in demand in the
studio and on the road, immensely talented and
blessed with an acute ear, a wicked sense of rhythm
and seemingly endless bag of tricks in his playing,
composing, performing and producing, John is
solidly establishing himself as one of the most
versatile, creative and prolific voices in folk and
traditional Irish music. Formed in 1996, Blackwater takes
audiences on a musical journey through all Celtic
lands and styles. The band is equally at home with
an achingly beautiful aire, a light and comical
ballad or a blistering reel. The performers who
comprise this five piece band are no strangers to
the Celtic music scene, particularly in the Lehigh
Valley. Dynamic Vocal harmonies, fiddle, Irish
flute and whistle, button accordion, guitars,
mandolin, bouzouki, piano, and bodhran lend the
group its unmistakably traditional sound. Original
compositions and innovative arrangements freshen
the mix for a show that has been described as
“sheer ceili aerobics!” Blackwater is:
Sean Hennesssy, Allison Gillespie, Fionna Hennessy,
Tom Gillespie, and Al Keller. For nearly twenty-five years,
Tom Sweeney has travelled the highways and byways
of Ireland, Europe and North America with his
seemingly endless rattle bag of songs, stories,
poetry and tunes. His one man show is replete with
the very essence of Irish culture which comes as no
surprise when you consider that he has been
immersed in the great tradition of ballad singing
since he could speak. Tom’s maternal
grandmother, Sarah Makem, is generally considered
to be one of the greatest sources of songs in the
entire history of Irish music and as a boy he
learned many of them around his granny’s
kitchen in County Armagh. Having played every state in the
USA and every province and territory in Canada for
many years, Tom was honoured in 1998 to receive a
personal invitation from President Clinton and the
First Lady to perform his classic peace song
“Anthem for the Children” at the White
house on St Patrick’s Night. This was a short
time before the signing of the Good Friday
agreement in Ireland, and all those engaged in the
talks were at the performance. The Dady
Brothers are skilled and versatile singers and fine
multi-instrumentalists. Performing professionally
for over 30 years, they have taken their talents to
venues all over the Unites States, Central America,
Canada, and Ireland. Their talent combines country,
bluegrass, folk, and Celtic styles. John and Joe
have performed more than 5,000 concerts at
churches, concert halls, nightclubs, music
festivals, schools and libraries. They have shared
the stage with a wide array of international
artists including, Tommy Makem, Rick Danko (The
Band), Ani DiFranco, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Kate Wolf, Arlo Guthire, and Bill Staines.
Many thousands
have enjoyed the range of music presented by the
Dady Brothers - from thoughtful, original
compositions to traditional Irish ballads. Drawing
a mixed crowd of all generations, their
light-hearted humor and good-natured wit
accompanies them onstage for each musical
performance. "The Dady
Brothers have it all - taste, talent, and
dedication." - Tommy Makem Dave North, and
the Trio is a great favourite with local crowds.
Dave, who hails from Slough in England (near
London) has an amazing repertoire of traditional,
modern, comic, and just plain obscure songs that
make any evening spent listening to the "Trio" an
enjoyable one. Marc plays the base and the banjo,
while Dianne is a whiz on the fiddle. Fred, of
often joins the Trio has a blues guitar style that
won't quit, and when he brings out his slide
guitar, the audiences are enthralled. Dave himself
plays the guitar. The entertainment (whether Dave
alone, the Duo, the Trio, or the Quartet) means an
evening well spent. Seanache Seanache, the
Gaelic term for storyteller, originated in a little
town called Kilrush. This small town is located at
the mouth of the river Shannon, in County Clare at
the southwestern end of Ireland. It was in this
small town that the founder of the band, Gerry
Dixon honed his craft; singing and playing
traditional Irish music and telling stories of his
culture. Gerry was greatly influenced by his family
and renowned artists such as Christy Moore and
Finbar Furey. Like many others from Ireland he not
only sings, but plays a myriad of instruments
including the guitar, tin whistle and Bodhran.
During his travels, Gerry met another musician who
shared a fondness for Traditional Irish and folk
music. Enter Joe Ernst, a native of western New
York. He accompanies Gerry with his banjo, mandolin
and guitar. In 2006 the O'Donnell Brothers also
Western New Yorkers joined the band,Colin on Bass
and Patrick on Fiddle. Together, through their
music, they take you on a memorable trip to the
Emerald Isle. Penny Whiskey 'Penny Whiskey' is a brand new
band with the old world sound. The brain child of
Kirk McWhorter and Tim Leonard from the critically
acclaimed Celtic band 'Kilbrannan' 'Penny Whiskey'
promises to offer the best in acoustic music from
both Ireland and Scotland along with home grown
bluegrass and folk influences. The foundation of 'Penny
Whiskey' is the melodic vocals of Kirk, who also
plays guitar, banjo, bodhran and whistles, backed
up by the solid playing of Tim on acoustic guitar
and mandolin. The quartet is rounded out by Jon
Carlson on bass and Paul Kneis also on guitar and
mandolin - and of course, everybody sings...
including the audience! With audience participation
songs, rousing pub sings, comedy tunes and tearful
ballads, 'Penny Whiskey' offers something for
everyone. The Dustmen play Irish and
Scottish pub songs, jigs and reels, rebel songs,
folk songs, and modern Celtic music In 19th Century
Ireland, the dustmen swept up the coal dust in the
streets. Today in Western New York, The Dustmen
provide the best in traditional and modern Celtic
music. No Kevin, No Party, Know Kevin,
Know Party! “Solo Artist with a Full
Band Sound” Voted Top Solo Artist at the 2000
& 2001 Buffalo Music Awards! With over 15 years
of playing experience, Kevin McCarthy has developed
into one of the premier solo artists in the
Northeast. From his extensive catalogue of songs
ranging from pop, alternative, original, Irish,
rock, oldies, and off-the-wall, Kevin utilizes
state-of-the-art technology in his show, with his
own unique and live backing tracks at his
fingertips. This allows for a dynamic full band
sound. Sons of the Gaels Kindred is the
husband and wife team of David and Felicia Meyer.
With Felicia Meyer's incredible voice and guitar,
and Dave Meyer's dynamic and versatile cello
playing, KINDRED brings to life both old and new
music in the Celtic tradition. Schooled in
theatre and classical music as well as folk and
popular song, they bring a compelling stage
presence to their wide ranging repertoire capturing
the hearts of audiences throughout the United
States and Canada. Comhaltas Musicians Rince na Tiarna Dancers Clann na Cara Dancers Rochez Dancers Woodgate Dancers O'Sullivan Dancers Cairde Almost Seamus Amhran O'Cair Celtic Music School Celtic Spirit Pipe Band We are Swallowtail Trio! Irish and Old time
Music for All Great Fiddle tunes! Hand clapping
Sing- alongs! And just enough humor to keep a smile
on your face!! Come with us and enjoy the
Craic!! Emerald Isle
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