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www.celtic-connection.com
NOVEMBER 2004
CELTIC & MARITIME MUSIC
Friday, November 12th - 6:30p.m.
TIM READMAN
and fiddler J SHONA LE MOTTEE
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Superb Will Millar Show Thrilled Audience
By CATHOLINE B UTLER
NEW WESTMINSTER - Some of the comments heard from audience members after the show Will Millars Ireland: Where the Song and Dance Began, at the Massey Theatre on October 28, were, "It's good to see Will back where he belongs...on the stage," "Will's a natural on the stage. " One elderly lady had taken two buses, the Skytrain and a taxi to see the show and she said, "I wouldn't have missed this night for anything, I got Will Millar's autograph and I can go home happy."
Yes, it was a great show and Will Millar didn 't disappoint the faithful. Like the slogan for The Hudson Bay store says..."more than you came for, " and that's what the audience got. Philip Brady, former Lord of the Dance Irish dancer with his world-class dancers were superb and thrilled the audience with their performances.
From Martin Nolan, who is one of Ireland's foremost, uilleann pipers, who hushed the audience with his solo piping as he depicted the sorrow, sadness and despair of the Famine times in Ireland, to the full rich
singing of Ian Millar, to Irish harpist and Gaelic singer Sheila Ryan, to keyboard player Davey Walker, and to the beautiful and multi- talented Kathleen Keane who can make a fiddle sing, it was a well-balanced show.
Throughout the show, there are slides of Irish scenes, rebellions and one of the great Irish orators and leaders, Michael Collins. There are slides of poteen-making and the equipment used to make it, there are pictures of the terrible ravages of the Famine, of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Dubliners and the Irish Rovers, and of beautiful whitewashed thatched cottages.
These absolutely priceless slides deepened and set the scene for the song and dance. Will Millar has been gathering these images for the past 10 years and has enough pictures to launch his own Celtic art exhibition.
Limerick-born Sheila Ryan told The Celtic Connection that there is great craic on the mini-bus carrying the performers from venue to venue on this tour. Her husband Frank, along
with his several other duties, is the bus driver.
When asked about driving conditions while travelling the Canadian Prairies in the cold and snow, he laughed and said, "I brought along my long underwear, and as far as the driving is concerned, we're like the old farmers in Ireland long ago who drove the Morris Minor cars at 15 miles an hour down the center of the road... 'never had an accident, but caused lots of them'." [Advice: If you see the Will Millar travelling bus on the road...wave and give them plenty of room.]
Finally, the seanachie himself...Will Millar is to be truly congratulated on the relating and superb presentation of the history of Ireland in song and dance ...and long may the dance go on.
Will Millar's Ireland tour started in Duncan, British Columbia on October 16 and continues throughout British Columbia and across the prairies, finishing up in Prince George, British Columbia on November 21. To find out when the show is in your area, visit: www. irelandtheshow. com.
Loads of Great Information on Irish-Made Products
BUY THE BEST OF IRELAND: A Shopping and Learning Guide to Irish Goods and Crafts By Mary Jean Jecklin, Kelley V. Rea Roberts Rinehart Publishers ISBN: 1-57098-436-0
Seeking a genuine, quality, Irish-made gift - tweed, sweaters, china, crystal, whiskey - for someone special? Before putting down your dollars or euros, pick up Buy The Best of Ireland: A Shopping and Learning Guide to Irish Goods and Crafts by Mary Jean Jecklin and Kelley V. Rea.
If you are going to Ireland, Jecklin andRea's book will help you identify and locate some 450 Irish people and sites making authentic, high-quality, traditional and contemporary goods and crafts.
In an easy-to-read style, it also offers information on factory tours, hours of operation, history, and favorite product lines. More general information covers value added tax, currency, terminology and slang, customs issues, and what's involved in shipping purchases home.
For those unable to travel to Ireland, an appendix lists 250 shops and clubs in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to selling and collecting products from Ireland.
The authors gathered their information during several trips to the Republic of Ireland and to Northern Ireland, by attending trade shows, and talking with knowledgeable people like staff at the Crafts Council of Ireland in Kilkenny.
They visited nearly all of the people and sites in their book - everything from one-person crofters to large factories, to tiny shops to well-known stores, to art galleries and studios. As they roamed all over Ireland they encountered makers of well-known
• -+ Mil** • *4
products like woolens, tweed, sweaters, crystal, china, linen, lace, beer, and whiskey. They delighted in finding makers of lesser-known crafts like baskets, dolls, musical instruments (bodhrans, uilleann pipes, harps), heraldry, andmore.
Jecklin and Rea also admire the Irish dedication to passing on their craft-making heritage to future generations. The book's cover, picturing Mary Lincoln and her niece, Lucy, in herArdmore Pottery
and Craft Gallery in west County Waterford, refects this commitment to continuing Ireland's crafts heritage.
A unique feature of the book is its "purchase incentives. " More than ■35 stores and individuals in Ireland offer discounts or free gifts to people who present the book before paying for their purchases.
The authors also worked with the North American Celtic Buyers Association, some 250Irish-themed stores, to offer $10 off any purchase of $50 or more when the book is presented in America and Canada. "We received no compensation in any form for the 'purchase incentives,' but think the idea is a great way to encourage visitors to shop for Irish goods in Ireland and North America, " said Rea, a retired attorney.
Even if an Irish-enthusiast never makes it to the Emerald Isle, Buy theBestoflrelandis useful in North America because it provides loads of information on Irish-made products, histories of well and lesser known products, helpful tips on Ireland, and more.
An Impressive Listing of Celtic Books and Music
VANCOUVER - Meluki Book Marketing recently released their new Fall 2004 Celtic Catalogue, filled with Celtic and Scottish books and CDs. They offer many unique titles and are especially proud to carry Highland Dancing, the textbook of the Scottish Official Board ofHighland Dancing. Until Christmas, Meluki is offering this must-have for Highland dancers at the introductory rate of only $19.95.
The list of children's titles they carry is also impressive with over 50 books for children and young adults. Meluki Book Marketing also offers an outstanding range of Celtic, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh CDs through their partner Pacific Music Marketing.
The catalogue covers books in the categories of food and drink, humour, music, dance, dress, fiction, folklore, language, history, politics, clans, and nature: all with that unique Scottish or Celtic tilt. For more information, call Meluki Book Marketing at (604) 925-4415, or visit their website at: www. meluki. ca.