Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly in Medford, April 9, 2011

I've the tremendous good fortune to have fallen into the George and Emily Keith house-concert scene, these concerts offering as fine a combination of music and friends as can be found in the Boston area, I'd dare say, and last weekend's performance by Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly - music from the Sliabh Luachra tradition - was no exception.

The Sliabh Luachra tradition has its origins in east County Kerry and northwest County Cork - to quote from the liner notes of Cranitch and Daly's new CD, The Living Stream, "...[The music of this region] became a byword for sweetness, subtlety, and beguiling rhythm..." (Living Stream is available at CD Baby, also at Ossian)

I also attended the fiddle workshop with Mr. Cranitch prior to the concert. It was a delight and an honor to have had instruction from and to have been in such close proximity to a fiddler as fine as he.




























Adding Tina Lech and George Keith.














A slow air:

Kevin Crawford, Cillian Vallely, and Ted Davis

Great house concert the other night at George and Emily Keith's in Medford, featuring flutist Kevin Crawford and uilleann piper Cillian Vallely of Lunasa, with Medford's own Ted Davis backing them on guitar. This was my second concert at the Keith's - the first one was last year, with Randall Bays - and was a total pleasure. The trio's music was a delight (and if Mr. Crawford ever decides to give up music, there's a career in stand-up comedy waiting for him - he's a very funny man), the concert was well attended, and the larger than usual preponderance of my own homeys made for a very fun evening. And a big thank you goes out to George and Emily for opening their home for these events.

Shot with a combination of the 40D and G12 (for the wider shots, since I forgot my 20mm lens).