Events: July 2008 Archives

There are a lot of Irish folk in Southie, but you wouldn't guess that out here in apple country. Aside from Sunday night's at JP O'Hanlon's in downtown Ayer, there really isn't a place to go to for traditional irish session music. Say hello to Mary, Phil, Marilyn, and Tom from Rhode Island and their "Celebrating Ireland" program which made its way to Marlborough and Hudson today. Marlborough is hosting their Saturday Morning Discovery Series at the Union Common and Hudson is hosting Saturdays at South Street at Cellucci Park.

Interspersed between the fiddle, harp, tin whistle, button accordion, and bodhran music, Marilyn told some rather interesting stories, one poking fun at marriage and another that may have my kids scared tonight at bedtime. They came prepared with lots of percussion instruments for the little ones (and not so little ones). It was a great time. And I look forward to them coming back next year.

If you like Irish/Celtic music, you may love the all female group Cherish the Ladies. We caught their concert at Regis College this past April and their tour schedule has them playing May 5, 2009 at The Somerville Theater. At their concert in April they did a song that the group today did called "Welcome Poor Paddy Home." Of course Joanie Madden and crew did it much better, but the song is awesome. The chorus goes:

It's almost a good a song as "Fields of Athenry" about the Irish famine which was the closing song at every bar in Ireland when we were there in 1997. But you don't here it much over here. There are, however, 150 recordings of that song on iTunes and the Boston band Dropkick Murphy's recorded it for their 2003 Blackout album. Which brings me to this major announcement: I'm back playing piano and recording. I'm going to be recording some of these traditional folk tunes on solo piano in the coming months and putting them up on a free MP3 section of this site. So check back or enter your email in "Join Our Mailing List" for major site announcements.

External Links: Harpist Mary King | Cherish the Ladies

When you think of July 4th in America, you think of sun, fireworks, bands, parades, and barbeque. Well this year we didn't get all of those things. On July 3rd we went to Devens for their annual festivities of fireworks and the Metropolitan Wind Symphony playing all sorts of patriotic and toe tapping music. Unfortunately, we had been having a week of late day thunderstorms and one big one rolled in before the show began and they basically told us to leave. So we did. But friends of ours came later and the show and fireworks eventually went off. This is usually a fantastic event because members of the Massachusetts State Police and Army and Marine Reserves display equipment and talk to kids. It is a great opportunity for children to meet those who protect us, and it is so fitting they are there for a July 4th celebration.

Next up was July 4th and we had several local festivities from which to choose. There were festivities in Harvard, Bolton, and Acton. We decided on the Lincoln parade, but that was kind of drizzly and we skipped it. Fortunately, the sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon and the Sudbury parade went off without a hitch. There were no photographers where I was (towards the end of the route), but there were plenty of photo opportunities. We met several interesting people, saw a wonderful parade complete with floats, bands, and the famous Klein Unicycle Family, and went home for hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.

Of course Independence Day is much more than going to parades, although that is a big part of it. It's part celebration. But also it's part reflection, or at least it should be. In Lincoln, they read the Declaration of Independence before their parade and I think that's a fine tradition. In Sudbury, former servicemen marched as well as Minutemen who all reminded us what many have sacrificed for our freedom.

In case you are wondering, the Declaration of Independence is indeed dated July 4, 1776. You can find all sorts of information at this link. I admit I cannot remember having fully read it until today. While reading this document, I was struck by a conflict. On the one hand I felt proud that our states have rights and we have freedom. On the other, I felt unsettled that the minimalist government envisioned by our forefathers has become an utter monstrosity. Of course the other conflict is that women and blacks were not counted as being "equal". Another is that all the signers from Massachusetts (John Adams, Sam Adams, John Hancock, Elbridge Gerry, and Robert Treat Paine) graduated from Harvard which is a bastion of liberalism.