Welcome to "This Is It!" This is a story about how I grew up listening to Irish and Celtic Music. Here in Boston, we are blessed to have a thriving Irish music scene with great showbands, fine radio programming, and socials and festivals all over New England. Today, Celtic artists from Mary Black & U2 to Margo and the Cranberries give an Irish lilt to the world music scene.
But it wasn't always that way. When people were growing up in Boston, St. Patrick's Day was must about the only time you'd hear Irish music. And it was mostly penned by Tin Pan Alley composers who sang about "The Isle Of Innisfree," "The Mountains of Mourne" and "The Same Old Shalliegh My Father Brought From Ireland."
Most of the Irish singers of that time-Dennis Day, Bing Crosby & Carmel Quinn, among others-would sing about a nostalgic Ireland of leprechauns and foppish dancers.
When Tommy Makem & The Clancy Brothers burst onto the folk music scene in the 1960s, people saw a new type of Irish music, one that was rebellious and explosive in nature. They would influence performers like The Wolfe Tones, Planxty, Moving Hearts, Derek Bell, Stockton's Wing, and U2, among many others. And they would give Irish music a new way of expression.
That's exactly what this blog is all about-my experiences with Irish and Celtic music.
