Irish Christmas in America at ERHS

It was another great night last night as we welcomed the tour Irish Christmas in America, featuring Teada and Karan Casey. They did not disappoint... Teada was in top form and Karan's voice was every bit as sweet as it is on her many recordings. There were several great sets of quick reels and jigs, but for me the highlights were Karan singing The Parting Glass and the encore of her singing Silent Night in Gaelic.



For our opening set we welcomed guest musicians Jayne Pomplas (fiddle), Kevin Crouch (bouzouki), and Ted McGraw (accordion), and it was also the first performance for three new 8th graders, Austin, Alyssa, and Brittney, who look like the future of this group. Our set: 1) Reels: Swallowtail, The Banshee, Merry Blacksmith; 2) Jigs: Leitrim Fancy, Butlers of Glen Ave., The Tenpenny Bit; 3) Waltzes: South Wind, The Gentle Maiden; 4) Jigs: Morrison's, The Butterfly; 5) I'll Tell Me Ma, The Silver Spear. Congrats to the students on a great performance!



The show was followed by a truly great session at Timothy Patrick's with a couple of dozen musicians that went well beyond 1:00 am. (And thanks again for the sandwich, Mr. Malone!)

Special thanks to Mr. Regan who did an absolutely brilliant job with sound; Seth, who ran lighting for us; Bill Ertle, whoh got us our video and helped keep us safe while we worked on the set; and to our good friends in Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann who brought the tour to town and put the whole thing together. This is - I think - our 7th collaboration with CCE.

Hope you enjoy this video of I'll Tell Me Ma & The Silver Spear!