Billed as the largest free Celtic festival in North America, the Celtic Classic has drawn nearly 300,000 people in past years. Now in its 34th year, the festival did not take place in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Celtic Cultural Alliance is adhering to all federal and state guidelines with respect to the pandemic this year. Festival hours are 4-10 p.m. EST on Sept 24, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 25, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 26.

Artists slated to perform include Barleyjuice, Blackwater, Celtic Aire (the U.S. Air Force’s Celtic band), Chambless & Muse, Chivalrous Crickets, Emish, Fig for a Kiss, House of Hamill, Seamus Kennedy, Kennedy’s Kitchen, Kilmaine Saints, Moxie Strings, Rogue Diplomats, RUNA, and Gerry Timlin.

Other musical attractions during the weekend include pipe band, fiddle and drum major competitions. Irish dancers from the O’Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance also will take part in the festivities.

North America’s largest highland games take place during the Celtic Classic for the 14th time. The U.S. National Highland Athletic Championships feature events that trace their origins back to medieval Scotland; these include the lifting of heavy stone, throwing 16 and 22-pound hammers, and sheaf and caber tossing. Border collie exhibitions, The Showing of the Tartan parade; a Haggis Bowl (in which whoever eats one pound of Scotland’s national dish wins); a Celtic Heritage Hollow featuring children’s activities, Celtic societies and clans tents, blacksmith demonstrations, and cultural competitions; and a Celtic marketplace featuring crafts, merchandise and collectibles also are on tap.

More information on one of the most popular events in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, including daily schedules, may be found at celticfest.org.

Through its online showcases, Folquebec – an active participant at APAP conferences for the past nine years — aims to offer conference attendees an introduction to Quebec’s traditional, folk and world music scene, according to Gilles Garand, president and artistic director of the nonprofit organization that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Quebecois traditional music, built around dancing, represents a melding of musical influences. It’s inspired by traditions brought to Quebec by early French settlers and later, by Celtic traditions brought to Anglo-Canada by Irish and, particularly, Scottish settlers.

By the early 20th century, a distinctly Quebecois version of traditional music had developed. It drew from such diverse influences as Scottish step dancing, Irish instrumental tunes, European dance forms, old French songs and 78 rpm records from the U.S. and Canada. The fiddle became Quebec’s primary instrument at the time, closely followed by the accordion. Other instruments have since been added to the mix as some contemporary artists have sought to reinterpret and keep Trad music alive.

As emcee of the Folquebec TradFest, Garand introduced five of the Canadian province’s premier folk and roots groups – Bon DeBarras, De Temps Antan, Grosse Isle, Les Grands Hurleurs, and Le Vent du Nord. Each group showcased its talents live from Montreal’s Cabaret du Lion d’Or for 25 minutes.

Bon Débarras, which in English translates to good riddance, is a trio of multi-instrumentalists (Dominic Desrochers, Jean-Francois Dumas and Veronique Plasse) whose original roots repertoire is steeped in in poetry and rhythmic sounds, and blends traditional French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish and English musical influences with those of contemporary, multicultural Montreal. Besides accordion, banjo, guitars, harmonica and vocals, Bon DeBarras’ music features the infectious beat of podorhythmie (foot percussion) –- a staple of Quebecois traditional music.

De Temps Antan is a high-energy trio that is helping to bring Quebecois traditional folk music into the 21st century while adding original music stylings, a contemporary flair and joie de vivre. Since banding together nearly 17 years ago, Andre Brunet (a champion fiddler, who has also performed with Celtic Fiddle Festival), Eric Beaudry (rhythm guitar, mandolin, bouzouki and clogging) and Pierre Luc-DuPuis (accordion) have brought their rousing performances of songs jigs and reels to stages worldwide.

All three members previously were members of La Bottine Souriante, the band most closely associated with the 1970s folk revival in Quebec. With its instrumentation, a vast repertoire of call-and-response songs, and the French-Canadian seated clogging or step-dancing that often accompanies these proto-typical songs, La Bottine Souriante (The Smiling Boot) became a seminal Quebecois folk band that set the standard for De Temps Antan and others to follow.

Grosse Isle is a trio featuring Irish uileann piper Fiochra O’Regan, Quebec fiddler-pianist and singer Sophie Lavoie and noted guitarist Andre Marchand, who blend traditional Irish and Quebecois traditional music with Lavoie’s own compositions. The trio takes its name from an island in the St. Lawrence River where many Irish immigrants to Canada lived,

Les Grands Hurleurs is a trio fronted by Nicolas Pellerin. While rooted in Quebecois traditional music, the trio also fuses elements of classical, gypsy, folk music and electronica and adds its own arrangements to the mix. Currently working on another album for release this year, Les Grands Hurleurs have won three Felix Awards, Francophone Canada’s Juno equivalent.

Le Vent du Nord is a lively, soulful and prolific group of talented singers and multi-instrumentalists that has been expanding the bounds of Quebecois traditional music for nearly 20 years. The globetrotting ensemble has been the well-deserved recipient of multiple Junos, Felix and Canadian Folk Music Awards. Its repertoire includes both traditional folk and original tunes that are performed on button accordion, fiddle guitar and hurdy-gurdy.

Noting that the formation of Folquebec stemmed from conversations at a Folk Alliance conference in 2000, Garand views conferences as “opportunities to share our knowledge and contribute to the concept of cultural reciprocity among artists.” Through its participation, Folquebec looks forward “to developing an ongoing partnership with leaders of North American cultural organizations to bring together our strengths, our resources, our complementarities in the advancement of the performing arts sector, and music in particular, of the broad cultural diversity of human expression through the arts,” he said.

“In this most unusual year of the COVID-19 pandemic, for music professionals, APAP was once again a inspiring meeting place and unique opportunity to meet people, to share and exchange together, discover new talent, new music and explore how to achieve in a virtual way our cultural objectives for the future.”

A Booking Agent and Traditional Music and Dance Aficionado Shares Her Thoughts

In addition to the Folquebec TradFest, two Quebec-based musical acts –- MAZ and Melisande (electrotrad] – were represented during the virtual conference in a pre-recorded showcase presented by the booking agency Canis Major Music. Both acts have previously showcased their talents at APAP under the banner of Folquebec.

Fusing trad, jazz and electric sounds, MAZ is a genre-bending band that is putting a modern spin on Quebec’s traditional music. The quartet, fronted by Marc Maziade, incorporates keyboards, electric guitar and electro beats, along with fiddle, banjo, double bass, vocals and Quebecois foot percussion.

The two bands were featured in a Future Folk and All That Jazz showcase, along with several non- Quebec-based clients of the booking agency that was launched about a year ago by Danielle Devlin, an aficionado of Celtic and French-rooted forms of traditional music and dance, who is also a competitive Scottish highland dancer and hosts house concerts and workshops.

“As a new agency, it was vitally important to me to stay ahead of the curve and double down on marketing, promotion, and bringing my artists to the fore in this unique time when the playing field was completely leveled,” Devlin told AcousticMusicScene.com. “What many saw as a crisis, I aimed to see as a beautiful opportunity, Very early on – before attending my first [of several] virtual conferences – I laid plans to host a themed series of virtual showcases for the artists on my roster, sort of a Canis Major Music festival of artists.” Noting that 18 of the 21 artists on her roster took part in one of four online showcase events for presenters last November that she produced, Devlin said: “Their work and commitment to make these happen made me feel so humbled, honored, and proud to be working with them.”

Future Folk and All That Jazz was among those virtual showcases which she called collectively Extraordinary Times and Artists and which she re-streamed on the APAP conference platform in January –- drawing what she called “a surprisingly good number of new views.” Each of the participating artists and acts also now has a promo reel that Devlin can continue to use in pitching virtual and in-person shows, while the showcases have resulted in real work being booked – both new virtual cultural programming and in-person performance offers, she said.

Devlin is also grateful to organizations like APAP that have recognized the importance of the performing arts in these challenging times and have adapted accordingly by pivoting to hold virtual conferences.

Noting that the platforms used for hosting these conferences have varied widely – in their ease of use as an exhibitor, as well as ease of interaction and access as an attendee,” Devlin said: “If you come with the right attitude, accepting that this is all a very new tech field and that there will be some difficulties, none of the small annoyances or hurdles are really that much of a challenge… Knowing that everyone is in the same boat, and most are not available to book new in-person work, the environment during these events has remained far more low-key and less of a hustle than would be if they were in-person.”

Apparently, however, virtual conferences are no less productive. Since the pandemic forced the closure of venues and cancellation of tours last March, Devlin said she has had “the amazing opportunity to be a part of producing and selling virtual programs” for about half of the artists on my roster – and in good number.” Among them have been concerts, interviews, workshops, and master classes in cooperation with festivals, performing arts centers, and presenting organizations across North America. “These are presenters who have also embraced the possibilities in this moment and who recognize the importance of continuing to support the arts during this crucial and difficult time for all,” she added.

Lisa Richards Toney, APAP’s new president and CEO, expressed similar sentiments during the virtual APAP Conference On its opening day, she noted that the virtual programming was designed to set the agenda for the year ahead and the recovery of the live performing arts. During the conference’s closing plenary session, she told attendees: “This time together has been invigorating, it has been igniting. This is not the end. We are not returning to business as usual… This is the beginning to engaging more equitably, to advancing the field as the richly diverse ecosystem that we are, to building forward with anti-racism as our lens, to addressing the climate crisis, to centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, and all people of color, to better visa and immigration policies, to outdoor programming, to resilience and mental health, to recovering in an altered touring landscape, to public health and re-opening, and to the art of going virtual.” Richards Toney continued: “We’ve got work to do. But we have imagination to uncover and promises to uphold. We are just getting started. We are stronger together, and we are worth it.”

About the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)

In addition to hundreds of performance showcases, APAP’s first all-online conference in its 64 years featured an array of professional development programming and networking events, a virtual exhibit hall, and pitch sessions.

The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust, performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it. APAP works to effect change through advocacy, professional development, resource sharing and civic engagement. More information may be found on its website, www.APAP365.org.

Editor’s Note: With the exception of Grosse Isle, who were new to me, I had seen all of the bands highlighted in this article showcase their talents at conferences and/or perform in concert/festival settings previously –- Le Vent du Nord and Melisande [Electrotrad] multiple times. It was also my pleasure to conduct an on-stage, pre-concert interview with De Temps Antan on Long Island in the summer of 2015. I have been attending and reporting on the APAP Conference annually since launching AcousticMusicScene.com in January 2007.

Local, national and international touring artists whose performances are slated to stream @ https://facebook.com/michiganirish over the extended weekend include (in alphabetical order) The Alt, An Dro, Blackthorn, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Bohola, Daimh, Doolin’, Ian Gould, Shane Hennessey, Seamus Kennedy, The Kreelers, One for the Foxes, Peat in the Creel, RUNA, Scythian, Sharon Shannon, Trout Steak Revival, and Uneven Ground. Singer-Songwriter Ashley Davis will host a songwriters circle featuring Dave Curley, Doolin’, Colin Farrell, and Shane Hennessey, while Shannon Lambert-Ryan, RUNA’s lead vocalist, will host a family-friendly presentation on “Baking with Babies.”

The schedule for the virtual festival appears below. Videos may also be posted on the festival’s Facebook page for replay later if you miss or want to see any of the acts again.

Thursday
5-7 pm Sounds Like Ireland Radio Program
8 pm Runa
9 pm Seamus Kennedy
10 pm An Dro

Friday
6 – 9 am Michael Patrick Shiels The Big Show radio show broadcast live from downtown Muskegon
5 pm Ruth and Max Bloomquist
6 pm Ian Gould
6:30 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Colin Farrell and Dave Curley)
7 pm Dave Curley
7:50 pm Five Farms
8 pm Best of Scythian on Dan’s Wedding Day!
9 pm Shane Hennessy
10 pm The Kreellers

Saturday
12 pm Conklin Ceili Band
1 pm Peat in the Creel
1:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith Storyteller – Seanín the Piper
2 pm Kennedy’s Kitchen
2:30 Bob Harke with Kennedy’s Kitchen
3 pm Baking with Babies
4 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Doolan’)
5 pm the Alt
5:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith – Questions about the Irish Wake
6 pm Friel Sisters
7 pm One for the Foxes
8 pm Daimh
9 pm Doolin’
10 pm CrossBow

Sunday
11 am Uneven Ground
11:30 am Deb O’Carroll’s Irish Magic Show
12 pm Runa featuring Eamonn and Cormac de Barra
1 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashely Davis (featuring Shane Hennessy)
2 pm Trout Steak Revival
3 pm Bohola
4 pm Best of Sharon Shannon
5 pm Blackthorn

RUNA, a Philadelphia, PA-based contemporary Celtic vocal and instrumental ensemble whose repertoire features traditional and more recently composed music from Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the Untied States and includes both high-energy and more graceful acoustic melodies, was named both Top Group and Top Traditional Group in a Pub, Festival or Concert. Keith Harkin, a singer-songwriter from County Derry, Northern Ireland, who also is a principal singer with the popular vocal group Celtic Thunder, won two awards for Top Solo Performer in Concert and Top Solo Performer in a Pub Venue.

“We are unbelievably excited and honored to be recognized with so many incredible artists,” said Shannon Lambert-Ryan, who fronts RUNA with her rich, vibrant vocals. “We are so grateful to all of our fans (our spectacular RUNAtics) for their unending support and for voting for us,” she continued, expressing thanks also to the Irish Music Association for its support of Irish music and culture. The five-member group, which previously won an award for Best Song in the World Traditional category in the 12th annual Independent Music Awards, is set to release its fourth album this spring.

Phil Coulter, a popular musician, songwriter and producer, who also hails from Derry, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award., while the Tommy Makem Award went to The Dubliners, an Irish folk band that played its final concerts last month, following a career that spanned more than 50 years.

A complete list of Irish Music Award recipients follows:
Top Solo Performer in Concert: Keith Harkin
Top Solo Performer in a Pub Venue: Keith Harkin
Top Duo in Pub, Festival, and Concert: Ryan Kelly & Neil Byrne
Top Group: RUNA
Best New Irish Music Artist(s): Gothard Sisters
Top Celtic Rock Band: The Fighting Jamesons
Best Irish Tenor (individual): Emmet Cahill
Best Female Vocalist (individual/traditional): Meav
Best Sean-nos Singer: Brid Ni Mhaoilchiaran
Top Traditional Performance Show: The Chieftains
Top Traditional Group – In Festival, Pub & Concert: RUNA
Tommy Makem Award: The Dubliners
Top Harpist: Moya Brennan
Top Uilleann Piper: Kieran O’Hare
Top Fiddle/Violin: Cora Smyth
Top Button Accordion: Danny O’Mahony
Lifetime Achievement Award: Phil Coulter

The Irish Music Association produces, promotes and perpetuates Irish music through sponsored events, festivals, concerts, pub shows, and an annual network production, according to its website.

Fay “had a serious face but would have the rest of us in stitches,” Maloney told Irish newspapers. The Belfast Telegraph quoted him as saying: “As a player, he was fantastic. For instance, the theme music for Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, the first fiddle you hear is Martin. That’s the kind of magical music he leaves behind.” It was The Chieftains’ work on the soundtrack to that 1975 film that helped catapult the group to international stardom. Fay stopped performing with The Chieftains just over a decade ago, having reduced his touring commitments in 2001 before retiring the following year.

On The Chieftains’ official website, his former bandmates posted the following message shortly after his death was announced: “Martin’s memory and music will be with The Chieftains always. He will be dearly missed.”

A self-taught banjo player, who reportedly mastered the instrument by age 12, McKenna joined Ronnie Drew, who had one of the most recognizable voices in Irish folk music, and other friends playing some famously raucous informal sessions on Friday nights at O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin’s Merrion Row in 1962 . These sessions, which customarily packed the small pub, marked both the start of the Irish ballad revival and the birth of The Dubliners.

Initially known as The Ronnie Drew Folk Group, The Dubliners’ original members also included Luke Kelly and Ciarin Bourke. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in February, the group, which toured internationally and released more than 30 albums, was, perhaps, best known for its bawdy 1967 Irish hit single “Seven Drunken Nights,” as well as renditions of such rousing folk songs as “Black Velvet Band,” “Finnegan’s Wake,” “McAlpine’s Fusiliers” and “The Wild Rover.” Based on Child Ballad #273, “Seven Drunken Nights” contained risqué lyrics that initially caused it to be banned from radio play in Ireland. The Dubliners’ latest release was a two CD set, The Dubliners – A Time to Remember, recorded live in Vienna in September 2009.

Although McKenna had diabetes, was blind in one eye, and had experienced some difficulty walking following a stroke, he continued to perform with the group.

Noted Irish musician Mick Moloney credits McKenna with being single-handedly responsible for making the GDAE-tuned tenor banjo the standard banjo in Irish music, while Michael D. Higgins, Ireland’s president, hailed McKenna for having “made a major contribution to music and song,” noting that “His influence on and generosity to other instrumentalists was immense.” He’s been immortalized in Andy Irvine’s song “O’Donoghue’s, which describes the Irish traditional scene of the 1960s that was centered there.

(Here’s a link to a video of Barney McKenna playing the banjo in concert, accompanied by Eammon Campbell on guitar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scawc6Q9heI)

Although the tenor banjo was his primary instrument – and he also can be heard playing it on recordings by Boys of the Lough, the Chieftains, Christy Moore, and The Pogues — McKenna also was adept on the mandolin and melodeon. He also sang comical songs, sea shanties and other crowd favorites on occasion and was noted for the tall tales and funny yarns – often illogical anecdotes that became known as “Barneyisms” – that he shared with audiences during The Dubliners’ concerts.

“The band, his family and friends would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support,” McKenna’s bandmates declared in a prepared statement posted on its website. “Words cannot describe how we all feel. He was one in a million. The greatest tenor banjo player of his generation. Barney spent his life traveling the world playing Irish music. He loved it. The world loved him. May he rest in peace.”

Now in its ninth year, the festival will feature more than 100 performers, a mix of established artists and new or emerging acts from the Boston area’s Celtic music community – including fiddlers, flutists, accordionists, guitarists, singers and other musicians, as well as dancers. Their styles and approach run the gamut from dyed-in-the-wool traditional to more contemporary sounds.

BCMFest kicks off with a customary Friday night “Roots and Branches” concert at Club Passim that will feature a diverse array of the area Celtic scene’s talented young musicians and singers. Fiddlers Hanneke Cassel, Kimberley Fraser and Emerald Rae, singer and multi-instrumentalist Grace Van’t Hof and Irish stepdancer Siobahn Butler will join the house band composed of Eden Forman (fiddle, vocals), Abbie MacQuarrie (fiddle, feet), Jefferson Hamer (guitar, vocals), Neil Pearlman (piano, mandolin) and Nic Gareiss (feet). Also slated for Friday night is the ever-popular Boston Urban Ceilidh – a Celtic dance party – at The Atrium, featuring a variety of dance music including New England contra (The Reiner Brothers), Breton (Triple Spiral) and Scottish (Neil Pearlman and Friends).

The festival continues on Saturday with a day-long series of performances at Club Passim and on three different stages at the nearby First Parish Church, where a grand finale concert also takes place.

Musicians Nic Gareiss and Bill Wiegant will lead a tribute to Nic Jones, one of the most influential artists to come out of the 1960s-70s British folk revival, whose albums like The Noah’s Ark Trap and Penguin Eggs showcased his distinctive guitar style and his idiosyncratic yet expressive singing as well as his penchant for reviving obscure or overlooked songs. Although not even born when Jones was in his heyday, Gareiss views his work as “crucial to understanding where the trans-Atlantic folk revival – and I would argue, revitalization – stands today.” He believes “Jones’ songs, particularly his harmonization, guitar parts, and innovative accompaniment approach, have influenced countless folk singers, perhaps the most notable of this generation being Kate Rusby. In turn, these younger folk artists have set the bar for the standard and aesthetic of traditional English, and by extension in these post-global times, Irish, Scottish and American folk.” Joining Gareiss, a stepdancer and foot percussionist, singer and musician, in paying tribute to Jones, aside from vocalist and guitarist Wiegant, will be Laura Cortese (fiddle, vocals), Jefferson Hamer (guitar, vocals), and Lissa Schneckenburger (fiddle, vocals).

Others set to perform during Saturday’s “Dayfest” include: Bob Bradshaw; Amanda Cavanaugh & Gareiss; Chasing Redbird; Dylan Courville, Wells Burrell & Bob Jennings; Corvus; the Deadstring Ensemble; Fellswater; Highland Soles; Adrienne Howard & Emily Peterson; Katie McNally & Eric McDonald; NOIR; Neil Pearlman’s Scottish Infusion; Ken Perlman & Jim Prendergast; Hannah Sanders & Liz Simmons; Triple Spiral; and The Whiskey Boys. In addition, The Boston Scottish Fiddle Club and the Stoneybatter Band will lead open music sessions, while the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society’s Boston branch will demonstrate dances and afford audience members opportunities to join in. Also on the schedule are a “Kitchen Ceilidh” of Cape Breton song and dance led by Kyte MacKillop; a “Bawdy Breakfast” presenting a more cheeky, risqué side of Celtic music; and “McThriller,” a Celtic send-up of the music of Michael Jackson.

“Our feeling is, yes, let’s have a serious side, where we explore these vital, enduring music traditions – but let’s not forget to have fun, either,” says Shannon Heaton, who co-founded BCMFest with Laura Cortese. Heaton’s husband, Matt, and fellow guitar, bouzouki and mandolin player Flynn Cohen have organized Saturday night’s finale concert which will feature collaborations by an array of artists who are generally more likely to be found at sessions in pubs than in concert settings. Among them are Tina Lech (fiddle), Ted Davis (flute), Katie McNally (fiddle), Sean Clohessy (fiddle), James Hamilton (flute), Joey Abarta (Uillean pipes), Kimberley Fraser (fiddle) and Maeve Gilchrist (harp, keyboards). Heaton also will perform with his wife, Shannon (Irish, flute, whistle, vocals), while Cohen joins his “alt-trad” band Annalivia. Heaton and Cohen also will perform as a duo and, along with some of their guest musicians, pay tribute to the Bothy Band, one of the seminal groups in the modern Irish folk music revival.

“We’re looking forward to sharing the stage with people we play music with regularly, but also some of the more underappreciated ‘tradition-bearers’ and ‘sessioneers,,” says Heaton. “There will be a good sampling of Irish, Scotttish, Cape Breton and other music that makes Boston such a wonderful place to be a Celtic musician.”

For more information on BCMFest 2012 – including a schedule and ticket prices – visit www.bcmfest.com.

Talk about musical pedigree. That’s Aoife Clancy. There have been musical notes surging throughout her entire being since birth due to her family’s outstanding legacy and contribution to Irish music and culture.

As journalist Scott Alarik relates: “Whether she’s delivering an ancient Irish ballad, an American folk classic, or an urgent contemporary song, Aoife sings with the same gorgeous naturalism as if she were experiencing the emotions in the songs for the first time.”

You’ve performed in many musical configurations during your career. Do you have any highlights when playing with your father, Bobby Clancy, and your uncles?

What was it like being part of Cherish the Ladies? How long were you part of that group?

I loved being a part of Cherish the Ladies. I learned a lot about performing growing up with my father but I really got my feet wet performing with Cherish the Ladies. We did some amazing gigs over the six years I performed with them. We got to play with the Boston Pops and recorded a Grammy-nominated CD with them! We also toured a lot and got to travel all over the world — my favorite place being Argentina — that was some experience. Loved it!

What was it like working with the Boston Pops?

Playing with the Boston Pops was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was nerve wracking, but I’ll never forget that wonderful feeling of watching the girls do a traditional number with the Pops as I watched on the TV monitor backstage. It gave me goose bumps! I got a chance to perform with the Pops as a soloist years later and that was also amazing. Would love to do it again sometime . . . if anyone from the Pops is reading this!!

If you were not a musician, do you have any inkling as to what you would be doing?

To be honest, I can’t imagine doing anything else! . . . I have studied acting and have also worked as an actress from time to time, but that’s my other love. I recently started teaching kids a music/movement program in Mattapoisett [Massachusetts], close to where I live and also down the Cape, and I’m enjoying that a lot. I love working with kids.

Do you have any big dreams or goals that you have not yet accomplished?

Do I have any dreams or goals that I haven’t accomplished? . . . Well, who hasn’t? I would love to seriously settle down and start writing more of my own material. I’ve made attempts in the past, but that is one thing I would love to accomplish. I have lots of melodies but [am] still working on the lyric thing. It’s coming. . . . I just have to be patient. I just started working with two other women in a band called The Jammin’ Divas, and they [Australian native Kath Buckell and Rhode Islander Becky Chace, accompanied by flutist Hadar Norberg] both write, so it’s kind of given me the push I need to get up off my butt and write some songs once and for all.

Find out more about Aoife Clancy’s fascinating life on her website, where you can also view a few performance videos.

Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music, books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts and serves as vice president of the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blog/txp/, as well as in the Features section of AcousticMusicScene.com.

The Celtic Classic also features North America’s largest highland games. The U.S. National Highland Athletic Championships will include the lifting of heavy stone, throwing a 22-pound hammer, and tossing of the caber. Border collie exhibitions, a “Showing of the Tartan” parade, a haggis eating contest, and a Celtic marketplace featuring crafts, merchandise and collectibles also are on tap.

All the activity takes place at the festival grounds along the banks of Monocracy Creek and adjacent to downtown Bethlehem’s Main Street shopping area. Hours for the Celtic Classic are 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. For more information on one of the most popular events in the northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, visit www.celticfest.org.

Editor’s Note: Burning Bridget Cleary certainly captured my attention when I heard them for the first time during a Celtic showcase that was a highlight of this summer’s Philadelphia Folk Festival. I was thoroughly impressed with the fine fiddling, singing, energy and spirit of Rose Baldino and Genna Gillespie. The two teenagers met five years ago at Irish music sessions in Bethlehem and both have been first-place winners in the Celtic Classic fiddle competitions. In Burning Bridget Cleary – named for the young woman remembered as the last witch burned in Ireland — they are joined by Rose’s father Lou, who ably backs them on guitar and vocals. Music also is in Genna’s genes; her parents are founding members of Blackwater, a five-piece band that also plays the Celtic Classic.