Robbie O'Connell

2009-12-16T14:38:00.010-05:00

On December 4th, 2009, Liam Clancy passed away. It was the end of an era. He was the youngest of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem group and for the past couple of years was, as he said himself, "the last man standing." I knew that he had been seriously ill but his death still came as an awful shock. I still can't believe that someone so much larger than life is no longer with us. Liam was my

2009-09-19T22:45:00.024-04:00

The itinerary for next year's Celtica Heart of Ireland Tour, The Best of the West is now up online and available for booking. I have never seen the bookings come in so quickly. There seems to be a pent up demand from those who were wary of going earlier this year because of economic uncertainties. We also have several repeat passengers, which is wonderful. The 2010 tour

2009-04-20T12:13:00.012-04:00

The re-issue of my Never Learned to Dance CD, with a new cover photo, is now available at the Celtica Music Shop. With the demise of Green Linnet records, this CD has been in Limbo for the past decade but now, I'm happy to say, it is back in circulation. It's on sale for the month of April at a special price of only $15.00 including shipping and handling.The cover photo is one I first saw, in

Do Look Back

2009-03-16T11:16:00.026-04:00

Last week I watched Don't Look Back, a documentary of Bob Dylan's 1965 English tour. I had been aware of the film for years but had never managed to see it. A day later, I happened upon a PBS special of Murray Lerner's wonderful footage of Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, 1964 and in 1965 when he famously angered many in the crowd by having an electric back up band.Also last week,

Thursday, February 12, 2009

2009-02-12T23:36:00.010-05:00

I have just added a bunch of new shows to the Concert Calendar. Most of them are Clancy Legacy concerts as Aoife, Donal and I are trying to do as many shows as we can together. We are in the process of recording a new CD and you can listen to a few of the rough mixes at The Clancy Legacy on My Space.It should be a great session this Sunday afternoon at the Oakhurst mansion in Whitinsville, MA.

2008-12-01T22:45:00.016-05:00

Amid all the doom and gloom in the air in recent months, I took great joy in witnessing the historic election of Barack Obama. and in seeing him introduce his cabinet on TV today. As someone who had chosen American citizenship, rather than being born into it, I had many misgivings about that decision during the past eight years. Now those doubts are put to rest.I do not expect him to perform

2008-02-17T18:05:00.008-05:00

This year's Irish Music Cruise was a great success. I really enjoyed playing with Aoife, George, Matt & Shannon. Since we were setting out from Los Angeles, Willie Quinn organized a great concert for us in Santa Barbara beforehand. We had a great time but were surprised to find the weather was cold and wet. It was weird to see snow on the mountains around Los Angeles and it didn't really feel

2007-12-06T13:13:00.001-05:00

Some of you may remember that this time last year I was one of the performers in the Christmas Celtic Sojourn at the Emerson Majestic Theatre in Boston. That concert is now out on DVD and CD. Either one of them would be a great present for any fan of Irish music.Another great gift idea is the book I co-wrote with four other performers: "Clean Cabbage in the Bucket and Other Tales from the Irish

Fall Update

2007-10-05T10:26:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to updating the concert calendar on my website. I feel a bit like the Energizer Bunny. I've been going non-stop all summer and I just got back from Ireland where I spent a great few weeks. One of the problems with being away so much is that you are constantly playing catch-up. But, at least, I now have the concert calendar up to date for a while. Robbie's Concert CalendarIn

Summer Update

2007-06-23T16:34:00.000-04:00

I hope you are all enjoying the start of summer. I just updated the concert calendar on my website with a bunch of new shows so I hope you will check it out. Robbie's Concert Calendar I will be teaching a class on Songs, Singing and Performance at both the New York Irish Arts Week and Irish Week at the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop in Elkins, WVClass DescriptionThe Celtica Heart of Ireland Tour

St. Patrick's Day Rant

2007-03-21T00:36:00.000-04:00

I warned my readers in the beginning that this blog might contain occasional rants. So far I have kept the lid on but no longer. When I see our great rite of spring referred to as "St. Patty's Day," I am ready to blow a gasket. Where did this abomination come from? St. Patrick's Day is fine if a little formal. "St Paddy's Day" is comfortable and unpretentious especially for those of us with a

2007-02-19T16:03:00.001-05:00

Maybe it was spending a couple of weeks in Hawaii but I've had enough of winter already. As winters go around here, it was not a bad one but the high winds and low temps this past week are keeping me inside and I'm getting cabin fever. I love living near the ocean but the constant winds at this time of year are the price that must be paid.Hawaii was beautiful and exceeded my expectations. I

2006-12-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

Ten days ago, we finished the last of six Christmas Celtic Sojourn concerts at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston to sold-out crowds. Congratulations to Brian on establishing this as an annual Boston Christmas tradition in just three years. I participated in the first one at the Somerville Theatre in 2003. It was just one show and I never imagined that it could grow so quickly.It was

The Great Procastinator

2006-12-09T10:34:00.000-05:00

Being Irish, I have the procrastination gene in abundance but, on Thursday, I actually took the wicker chairs off the porch and put them in the cellar. I had been thinking about doing that since October and it felt so good to get it done that I even put up Christmas lights. Not only that but I stacked firewood and burned the remaining gas in the lawnmower and cleaned and covered the gas grill.

WGBH to film Christmas Celtic Sojourn

2006-12-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

I got an email a few days ago from Brian O'Donovan, who is organizing and hosting the Christmas Celtic Sojourn at the Emerson Majestic Theatre in Boston next week. The five shows are almost sold out and they have added an addition show on Monday 18 December. We were going to be there anyway on Monday as WGBH television is filming the concert for future broadcast but now due to demand it has been

The Clancy Legacy

2006-12-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, Aoife Clancy, Donal Clancy, George Keith and I did a concert in Fairfield, CT as The Clancy Legacy. Last summer at the Irish Arts Week in the Catskills we did a workshop together under that title and it looks like the name has stuck. Gregg Burnett of the Shamrock Traditional Music Society was one of the people at that workshop and he asked us to do the concert in Fairfield. We

The Songman, Tommy Sands

2006-12-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Tommy Sands' book, The Songman: A Journey in Irish Music. I enjoyed it immensely. Tommy has been a friend for thirty years now but there is much in the book that I never knew about him. He is a fascinating man and he has had an amazing life. He is a gentle and positive presence wherever he goes and no one who meets him is ever the same afterwards. He has a way of looking

The first posting

2006-11-20T20:05:00.000-05:00

For the past few months I have been spending a lot of time in the recording studio. I just finished producing Marie Duprey’s new CD. Marie has a beautiful voice and the album is a wonderful collection of traditional and contemporary songs, including several fine songs written by Marie and her fiancé Michael Ross. It should be available early next year. I have also started work on my own new CD