Looking forward to gigs with Murray & Falkenau in Germany over Easter. On Thursday, April 2, we are playing in the Peißnitzhaus Halle, a venue that came highly recommended. On April 4th we are looking forward to returning to the Geleitshaus Weißenfels and Uwe and the gang. Always a pleasure. And on Sunday April 12th we’ll be playing a concert in a lovely medieval church in Panitzsch, part of the little town Borsdorf. The concert there starts at 17:00. But beforehand, tomorrow eve I am delighted that we’ll be playing a session in Padraigin’s in Furbo with Ged Foley and Steve Sweeney. Just a great night of music ahead, if the last couple of nights are anything to go by. A cracker! www.murrayandfalkenau.com

A busy weekend ahead around Galway, with two charity gigs (Enable Ireland and Chroi) and four session gigs. Sunday will see me a tune or two later :- Ged Foley and myself very much enjoyed the DC Music Club gig in Dublin. We’ll be in Padraigin’s in Furbo this Saint Patrick’s Day with the one and only Steve Sweeney between 4-7. And the weather is promising to be nice! Spring is in the air!

playing at DC Music Club tomorrow eve, Friday Feb 20 with Ged Foley, very much looking forward to it. Here’s a video clip from The Phil-Murphy-Weekend, Wexford last July.

you can now watch the video/interview from Custy’s music shop/Ennis. some chat about the CD and the title track… Continue reading Custy’s video →

English radio presenter John Stannard will feature music of Féileacán na Saoirse tomorrow from on his program between 1-3pm . Listen on www.blast1386.com

Wishing you all a Very Best New Year. We had a great gig in the Crane, Ged Foley, Steve Sweeney and myself, and I ll have some video clips up soon.

Meanwhile, Féileacán na Saoirse is listed for Album of the Year on Tradconnect.com …. to vote for it, please  go to http://tradconnect.com/profiles/blogs/traditional-irish-album-year-2014-1

Happy about a lovely review from FolkWorld.

“Féileacán na Saoirse” – Butterfly of Freedom – is not just the title but a fair description of the fiddle player’s at the same time rhythmic but gentle style. Anna Falkenau grew up in east Germany but made her home in Ireland. She studied for a Bachelor of Music Degree at University College Cork, being a member of Liz Dohertys Fiddlesticks group. The past decade saw her in Galway City, playing regularly with Johnny Connolly, Mary Shannon, and Johnny Moynihan. With her duo Murray & Falkenau she has toured internationally. So now this is Anna Falkenau’s first solo album, featuring tunes from the Irish and American traditions (e.g. the old-time tune “Richmond” which evolved from “Cuckoo’s Nest”) but also new compositions from herself and others, just to mention the prolific Irish-American fiddler and composer Liz Carroll. Anna is joined by a stellar cast: accompaniment by guitarist Ged Foley (Patrick Street) harpist Holly Geraghty and bodhrán veteran Johnny McDonagh, embellishment by banjo players Lena Ullman (Buffalo in The Castle) and Mary Shannon (Bumblebees, Sharon Shannon Band). However, Anna Falkenau’s rootsy playing is always in the centre. Her personal style lends itself equally to swinging jigs, fiery reels and emotional slow airs. The Butterfly of Freedom has started its journey, and we will probably learn more of Anna’s art in the coming years. (Tom Keller, Folkworld)

Looking forward to tomorrow eves concert at The Crane with Ged Foley and Steve Sweeney. Some great song, Irish, American and original tunes…

Welcome to Out of the Woods, a 3-hour program of mostly acoustic music produced in Concord, New Hampshire. The show airs weekly on the following national and international FM and online
stations: WSCS-FM in New Hampshire, Saturday at 7 pm e.s.t., The Global Voice,  http://www.theglobalvoice.info – Sundays at 5 pm  e.s.t.,  (repeating at 11 pm on Mondays),  Boston Free Radio,http://bostonfreeradio.com/, Sunday at 7 am e.s.t., PineKONE Radio, 100.9 FM, Pine Mountain Club & Bakersfield, CA, Sundays and Wednesdays at 8:30 pm Pacific,  WYAP-FM in West Virginia (check schedule), Addicted To Music Radio in the UK, http://www.a2mradio.com, Tuesdays at 2 pm, KXCR-FM in Oregon, Tuesdays at 9 pm, and Wednesday at 7 am, KGIG-FM in Modesto, CA (check schedule), KONR-FM in Alaska, Tuesday at 1 pm, and Neopa Community Radio in Canton, OH (check schedule), and weekly at http://aircheck.us


The show can also be heard anytime by visiting the archives.


To listen to the archived version of the show online, go here:
http://archive.org/details/OOTW20141213

For the syndicated version for broadcasters (split for local breaks), go here:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/78399

click on image to listen to podcast…. a wonderful program that also featured some great archival Tommie Potts tracks and much more….

The launch in Spiddal of Sean O hEinaighs new CD was a really lovely night. You should check the CD out when you get a chance! … Called into Paidricin’s on the way home and caught a few tunes with Charlie Lennon who was standing in and Steve Sweeney and Johnny Connolly and friends. Lovely, lovely music. Got to try out a new Viola bow curtesy of Gary Leahy, it makes all the difference! The weekend continued as musical as it started… Will be calling into Custy’s in Ennis to do a podcast on Friday morning and looking forward to another of these wonderful tunes in Paidricin’s on Friday. Saturday  I ll join Jimmy Dillon in Taafe’s in Galway City.