The great Robbie O’Connell needs no introduction to most readers of this column. A singer and songwriter with a fabulous voice and an unmatched sense of phrasing, he recorded several solo albums over the years, was a longtime member of the seminal group Green Fields of America, performed as “Moloney O’Connell Keane” in the 80s with Mick Moloney and Jimmy Keane, and was a member of the Clancy Brothers when he joined his uncles as Liam Clancy’s replacement in 1977. Based in the U.S. for over 40 years, he’s been back in Ireland for some time, leading a quiet but fulfilling life in Waterford with his wife and musical partner Roxanne.
Robbie O'Connell.
Now retired from the life on the road, O’Connell launched an ambitious new project in July: to release his complete songbook on the popular publishing platform Substack. The idea was to write a post a week that focused on a single song. Each post would include the song’s lyrics, some historical background, and a youtube link allowing listeners to hear how it sounds. As of today’s writing, he’s already at eighteen.
His most recent post, “How Does Denis Do It?”, a brilliantly hilarious song about Margaret Thatcher’s husband, Denis, is concise, engaging, and above all, thoroughly entertaining; it’s the kind of weekly diversion you would genuinely look forward to. And that’s true of all of O’Connell’s posts: each one is a small gem. Among the ones I’ve especially enjoyed so far are “The Man From Connemara” (about “The Horse” Keane, Jimmy Keane’s father), “The Keeper of the Songs” (a tribute to Frank Harte), “The Winning Side” (about Joe Doherty, an Irish nationalist wrongly incarcerated in the US), “Keg of Brandy” (a song you’ve almost certainly heard sung by others), and “The Land of Liberty” (a thoughtful take on the paradox of immigration).
You do need to subscribe to access O’Connell’s songbook, but the subscription is free and his site completely ad-free. When I asked him why he chose that model, he said it’s because he feels there’s already too much we’re all asked to pay for these days, which is a refreshing stance. If you love O’Connell’s music, or if you just simply love good songs, I highly encourage you to sign up for his songbook updates through his website here -- they’re absolutely delightful.
In other news, some readers may recall that back in July I wrote glowingly about “Across the Atlantic,” the newly released album from Andrew Caden and Conor McDonagh. There, I highlighted Caden’s scholarly background, including the research fellowship in Boston College’s Irish Studies department he held during his undergraduate years and his current internship at the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin.
Recently, a bit of Caden’s historical work was featured on ITMA’s front page in a post called “Lesser-known Musicians of the 78 rpm Era.” In it, he talks about the lives and music of some fascinating musicians, including uilleann piper Martin Beirne, the fiddle players Tommy Cawley, James Claffey, John Joe Gardiner and Kathleen Harrington, flute player Patrick Doran, flute player and singer John Griffin (aka the “5th Avenue Busman”) and accordion player William McElligott. The post also includes a 14-track playlist of rare, old recording masterfully restored in ITMA’s state of the art facilities.
Although the musicians Caden writes about had only limited time in the studio (as compared to Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, John McKenna, Peter Conlon, John J. Kimmel, Frank Quinn and the Flanagan Brothers, all of whom were extremely prolific) the fruit of their labor is delightful to hear and well presented. I highly encourage anyone with an interest in Irish music’s history to check it out at https://www.itma.ie/.
Incidentally, Caden will be on a U.S. tour in January alongside the brilliant accordionist Diarmuid Ó Meachair . They’ll appear at the New York Irish Center in Long Island City on the 9th as part of Don Meade’s Blarney Star Concert Series; Christ Church Accokeek in Accokeek, Md., on the 10th; the Lyceum in Alexandria, Va., on the 11th; the Druid in Boston on the 16th for its “Live at the Druid” series; the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany on the 20th; and Holy Cross in Worcester on the 21st. Catch them if you can!
