Take A Trip to Canton for a Little Bit of Irish Culture
Canton MA is the venue for what is shaping up to be the best lineup of Irish talent anywhere in America this year. From June 11th to 13th the who's who list of Irish music will be playing their hearts out and bringing some real Irish music to the greater Boston area.

This is the 14th annual celebration and the festival is growing every year. There are over 200 singers, dancers and musicians who will perform over the three day event, many of whom are household names at home in Ireland. The festival now attracts more than 15,000 people who lap up the atmosphere that the organizers more than ably lay on every year.

Some of those performing at this year's event are; Sharon Shannon, herself one of the greats of Irish music and whose new band features Pauline Scanlon on vocals. Our old pal John Doyle will be teaming up with Cherish the Ladies' Heidi Talbot for some great music. Also in the lineup from back home are Frances Black and Sean Keane, both now at the top of the Irish music scene for many years. Another of my personal favorites Irish/American superband Solas will also be blasting out some great tunes and songs.

One of the most interesting features this year is the Compass Records stage. Compass records are one of the few companies who not only recognize but nurture the great link between Irish, Scottish and American traditional music and have brought many of our Irish bands to the attention of American audiences including Lunasa. They also bring some of the more imaginative projects to the attention of an occasionally bemused audience with bands like the weird and wonderful Salsa Celtica.

Sadly Salsa Celtica aren't appearing at this years Irish Connections but one of their finest players Eamonn Coyne is. Eamonn has his own solo album out on Compass which we reviewed some months back. He will be joining many of the great musicians over the weekend for sessions and workshops including John Doyle, Seamus Egan and Alison Brown.

One of the sets you shouldn't miss though is Alison Brown, Andrea Zonn and Gary West with John Doyle in the mix for that added power. I saw this lineup recently at Merlefest and if you want to broaden your musical horizons then this is a mixture of musical styles and great talent you cant afford to miss.

There are many more stages though and there is something for everyone and to suit most musical tastes at this festival. There's plenty of dancing and even lots of kids events. This is certainly one of the best run and undoubtedly the more authentic celebrations of Irish music I have seen on the North American calendar in many years.

So for more details and a full schedule of events check out

http://www.irishculture.org/festival/index.html

and for more on the talented Eamonn Coyne, Alison Brown and Andrea Zonn head over the Compass Records website at

http://www.compassrecords.com

and don't forget you can get a great collection of Compass Records best Celtic Artists by becoming a JigTime Patron. Details