Happy New Year, everybody! Hope everyone reading this had a joyful and safe one out there! Part of mine included hanging Michael Steen’s new and exceedingly well done “Irish Song Calendar” in my kitchen! The version I reviewed back in October was a digital one (because who wants to pay those substantial new duty/customs charges?), but it looked so cool I went ahead and bought a physical copy anyway. It was well worth it and I now understand why they’re so popular in Ireland – the actual calendar is way, way cooler in person.
I’m being sincere when I say that no trad fan’s home or office is complete without one of these. And the good news? Now, they’re available from Ossian USA, a U.S.-based outfit that many will know as the premier one-stop shop for Irish traditional CDs, books, vinyl, DVDs and sheet music. (Think Custy’s, but shipping from Maine.) So, keep your 2026 in order by heading over to ossianusa.com and picking up the coolest calendar you’ll want to see all year. And while you’re there, check out the other things they carry that might be interest you – I think you’ll be well pleased by the selection.
In other news, a great follow-up album. About 15 years ago, I was at Comhaltas’s North American Convention when someone handed me a copy of “Music at the House” by the Chicago-based trio Brendan Bulger (fiddle), Marty Fahey (button accordion), and Kathleen Gavin (piano). The album had come out six or seven years earlier but it was entirely new to me and the person who gave it to me said it was “amazing,” so I had high hopes. Sure enough they were right, the music was gorgeous, the tune selection impeccable, and the whole thing a genuinely thrilling listen. It’s an album I’ve come back to several times over the years.
This early work is why I was so happy to hear that the trio of Bulger, Fahey and Gavin had released “Music at the House – One More Time….” A delightful album, it retains the sound and spirit of the first, making it one that traditional music lovers will thoroughly enjoy.
Bulger, Fahey and Gavin are all marvelous musicians. Bulger, a student of Seamus Connolly and Larry Reynolds, is a top-shelf fiddle player who was U18 All-Ireland Champion in 1991 and elected to the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann’s Northeast Regional Hall of Fame in 2011. Fahey grew up in Chicago in a cohort that included Liz Carroll, Jimmy Keane, and Michael Flatley (the Blackbird himself!). He was behind the gorgeous 2015 Art Institute of Chicago catalog “Ireland: Crossroads of Art and Design, 1690-1840” and in 2021 put out a fabulous book of his own compositions called “The Dreamer,” available through martinfahey.com. Then there’s Gavin, who comes from an important musical family from Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. Her father and brother are all noted musicians and she an in-demand player in her own right, having appeared in notable fashion on Josephine Keegan's 2006 album "The Fairy Bridges.”
If my enthusiasm hasn’t yet made it clear, I think the music here is superb throughout. The three of them play with a great understanding of each other’s music, which comes through in the recording. In many ways, the album is a showcase of Fahey’s compositional skill – the album includes 14 of his own tunes. The album starts with “The Dark Horse / Steps in Time,” a pair of bracing slip jigs Fahey wrote that puts listeners straight into the album’s flow. “Tunes for the Masters #3 and #4” – a pair of jigs in honor of button accordion players Billy McComiskey and John Bowe is another fine track featuring two intriguing compositions and are in nice contrast to each other. “The Leave Taking” (which Fahey performs alone, on the piano) is a particularly poignant piece of music that gives the album added emotional depth. One tune that stands out to me in particular is “The Proud Tenant,” a march inspired by a painting done by the Scottish artist Erskine Nicol. Not a lot of people seem to be composing marches these days, but this one’s a real treat and of course impeccably interpreted.
I should note that there are many tracks on this album that Fahey didn’t compose, but they do comprise some equally fine tracks. The jig set “Eleanor Kane Neary's / …” and the hornpipes "The Queen of May / …” are two examples that appeal to me in particular.
“Music at the House – One More Time…” is an absolutely lovely album. If you’re a fan of the fiddle-accordion-piano sound (and I think specifically of Andy McGann, Joe Burke & Felix Dolan’s work together, “Gléas” by the Boruma Trio, “From Camden To Tulla” by Peter Quinn, Karen Ryan & Andrew McNamara, and “Lane to the Glen” by Oisín Mac Diarmada, Daithí Gormley & Samantha Harvey), then you’re really going to enjoy this one. The tunes are great and the music is lively & full of lift, giving listeners the whole package. Highly recommended and a great first purchase in 2026! To learn more and to order, visit here.
Finally, huge congrats to Aoife Griffin, who the Echo has named one of this year’s “40 Under 40!” From County Roscommon but now living in Boston, Griffin is a fiddle player, the director of the Boston Comhaltas Irish Music School, and is richly deserving of the honor. Congrats again, Aiofe – great stuff! Learn more about Aiofe by clicking here.
