A bunch of items for your consideration this week. First up is the Mick Moloney Memorial Concert, taking place at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, at the New York Irish Center in Long Island City. This beloved annual event, hosted by the great Donie Carroll, raises funds for the Mercy Centre in Bangkok, an organization that provides shelter, food and education to some of the city’s most vulnerable children.
Now named in honor of Mick Moloney, the concert pays tribute to his enduring legacy and his deep connection to the Mercy Centre, a place that remained a profound source of inspiration and service throughout his life. The Centre continues its vital mission, carrying forward the compassion, generosity and humanity that Mick so beautifully embodied. These days, Carroll stands firm as one of its most ardent supporters.
This year’s lineup features a superb bunch, including James Keane, Brendan Dolan, Liz Hanley, Don Meade, Donie Carroll, Daniel Neely (hey! that’s me!), Bob Malenky, Barbara Rosica, Dan Larkin, Niall O’Leary Irish Dance Group and Brenda Castles, master of the concertina. It promises to be a great night of music!
You can learn more about the Mercy Centre through their website. For tickets to the “Mick Moloney Memorial Concert” (which are $70/ea), or to arrange a donation, you can reach out to Carroll directly at DucksyMusic@gmail.com.
And then there’s this: singer and bouzouki player Tony Davoren now has a radio program! “Welcome Kind Stranger” broadcasts from KRVS in Lafayette, Louisiana each Sunday from 5-6pm CST. Don’t live in Louisiana but want to listen in? You’re in luck, because it streams online! You can find it through the station’s site here.
Davoren has a great plan. Each show will focus on a theme, which might be a tune, a song, or even a moment from the Celtic calendar, and he’ll tie into the music associated with it. The first episode’s theme was “Samhain,” and featured music from Polca 4, Lankum, Paddy Glackin, Kathryn Tickell, Fay Hield, and others. Subsequent themes will include things like songs from the Maritimes, music from the Celtic nations, night-visiting songs, and the story behind “Riverdance.”
Davoren will make a brilliant host. He has an expansive and refined musical taste initially developed as a “mere” musician: he toured with Riverdance for five years, recorded with folks like Sting, the Chieftains and Sinead O’Connor, was a featured performer on two Grammy Award-winning recordings, “The Long Black Veil” and “Riverdance the Show,” and directed the music for “Dancing at the Crossroads.” But he’s developed his scope over the years, as the producer of recordings for Katie McMahon and Dave Donohue, and as tour manager both for bluegrass artist Tim O’Brien and for the band Altan. And were that not enough, he was a music consultant for the critically acclaimed horror film “Sinners.” “Welcome Kind Stranger” has the makings of something special – give it a listen!
In other news, Lúnasa has just announced its winter tour! The band will be on the road Dec. 2-21, with stops in New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Georgia, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts, and this time around they’ll have the outstanding Dave Curley with them on vocals. Lúnasa always puts on a great show, so go check them out if they pass by near you! For more information on the band and its upcoming travels, visit here. And as an extra added bonus, Lúnasa’s Cillian Valley and David Doocey have finally released their album “The Yew and the Orchard” – an album I called “sophisticated, well selected, and brilliantly executed” when I wrote about it – as a digital download. You can purchase (if you’ve not already) here. A must have album, for sure.
And hey, speaking of Brenda Castles — the Augusta Irish Retreat 2025 takes place this weekend, Nov. 6-9. Retreat director Castles has put together a fabulous staff of instructors for this year that includes Eimear Arkins (fiddle/vocals), Eileen Gannon (harp), Jefferson Hamer (guitar/mandolin/vocals), and Dan Lowery (flute/whistle). Over the retreat’s four days, attendees can look forward to intensive study, mighty sessions, céilís, and fabulous concerts. It’s a great group of performers who have a lot to offer and there’ll be craic to spare. Did you know that Mick Moloney founded the Augusta Irish Week and that it was inspired by the Willie Clancy Week and was the first Irish music teaching week in the United States? Learn more at its website.
