AuburnHouseConcerts.org

After a very busy and entertaining July (Notorious and Legacy) Sharon and I decided to jump all the way into to house concert pool and build a website.

www.AuburnHouseConcerts.org

I've moved all the pages from www.ElbowMagic.com to the new site and left jump pages behind to teleport people to the new domain.

Please bookmark the site and tell your friends about it. Performers: room and board are part of the venue's offerings.

Note that we have a .org domain name because this whole operation is a charitable endeavor to promote music in our community.

Paddy Keenan and Tommy O'Sullivan, Aug 28

Coming to Auburn House Concerts in August are Paddy Keenan and Tommy O'Sullivan. We expect the show to sell out so make your reservations ASAP.

A founding member of The Bothy Band, Paddy Keenan is generally acknowledged as the most accomplished uilleann piper performing today. Paddy and Tommy O'Sullivan have been touring regularly since 1997. Paddy's solo album Na Keen Affair features Tommy, and their much acclaimed album The Long Grazing Acre was released in 2003. The pair tour and appear at festivals worldwide.

Auburn's own Pete Grant will be joining Paddy and Tommy on dobro and pedal steel guitar.

Legacy Concert

The Auburn House Concert staring Legacy was smokin'. (Remember, that is when we couldn't go outside because of the fires.) Once again the largest attendance to date. Many people had never heard of Legacy before and were delighted they took a chance. We overheard someone say that they knew Legacy from their recordings and were very impressed how great and tight they sounded at the concert.

We have posted two videos from the concert; Old Hag You’ve Killed Me / The Killavil Jig / The Killarney Boys of Pleasure / The Curlew and a song sung by Justin, Mary and the Solder.

Pictures of the concert are in the Auburn House Concerts Legacy Photo Album.

Notorious Concert

The Auburn House Concert staring Notorious was fantastic. The largest attendance to date and everyone loved it.

We have posted two videos from the concert; Bei Mir Bist Du Schön and We'll to the Woods No More.

Pictures of the concert are in the Auburn House Concerts Notorious Photo Album.

Melanie O'Reilly Concert

The Melanie O'Reilly Concert on Saturday evening was magical.

Melanie was joined by Sean O'Nuallain (guitar) and Richard Tibbitts (flute, whistle, percussion).

Since Richard lives in the San Diego area they haven't had much time to rehearse. That afternoon they practiced in our living room. Sharon had things to do but I had taken the day off and was able to just sit their and listen, my own private concert. A pleasure to observe good musicians listening and adapting to each other's performance.

We recorded the concert with our MP3 recorder. The audio quality was ok and I will be able to create a private CD of the performance for the musicians using GarageBand (the Mac rocks). I regret that we forgot to preserve Stevie Coyle's concert but we'll make a point of recording all the house concerts from now on.

Melanie and Sean were able to stay overnight and we all enjoyed a very nice leisurely breakfast on Sunday.

Melanie O'Reilly, Nov. 17

Coming to Auburn in November!


Melanie O'Reilly

Melanie O'Reilly concert, Saturday evening, November 17th
7:30 PM


One of the most sensational musical pioneers to explode on the Irish scene, Melanie O'Reilly is now firmly established in the pantheon of creative Irish artists. As a performer/singer-songwriter, her exhilarating and unique blend of Irish traditional music and jazz creates a powerful and haunting soundscape, exploring untouched frontiers, and which captivates audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Born in Dublin, Melanie comes from a family of musicians and actors, and she spent most of her youth treading the boards as an actress and singer, while at the same time was a multiple award-winning singer in Dublin’s Feis Ceol competitions.

Her passion for jazz began when her sister Clodagh introduced her the sound of jazz singers at the age of 11. Intrigued by the rhythms and scat improvisations of Ella Fitzgerald, she decided then that she would become a jazz singer, and she immersed herself in the music of other jazz giants such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. She also absorbed much by listening to Irish groups such as Horslips, Louis Stewart’s Trio and the Sean-nós (unaccompanied traditional) singing of Sean O Riada.

"Spellbinding... uplifting music from a true innovator" -- Rough Guide to Irish Music

...A wondrous mix of what this fine singer is all about - a deep passion for Irish Traditional music and Jazz...with O'Reilly's voice weaving a spell..." --Matt Nugent, Evening Herald

"Breathtaking amazing emotional intensity...sheer virtuosity..." -- The Irish Times

“Undoubtedly one of the major talents to emerge in recent times, Melanie O'Reilly possesses a voice which is rich and resonant, and a song-writing talent which is going to ensure that we hear a lot more of her in the future."—In Dublin

"Melanie O'Reilly has studiously carved herself a considerable reputation as a jazz singer with a keen ear for the cross-currents that link jazz's lateral thinking with Irish folk and traditional music" —The Irish Times

"A work of special importance in the development of the sung Irish language...an uplifting celebration of Irish culture that is finding new feet upon which to confidently stride into the future."—Dublin Event Guide

[of her live performances] "...her pitch was impeccable, her timing totally secure, her phrasing ineffably right. More than this, however, was perhaps the most essential gift of all—her ability to read a lyric with an innate sense of its dramatic demands and to serve these accordingly." —The Irish Times

"O'Reilly's sensuous voice is the perfect vehicle for entwining jazz styles with Irish Celtic influences..." —The Scotsman

Stevie Coyle Concert

The Stevie Coyle house concert was that first in what we hope will be a frackin' amazing venue for artists in and around the Celtic traditional music world.

We submitted the concert announcement to the community calendar on KVMR radio. In spite of the fact that the announcement didn't get aired until the morning of the concert, a few people called to make reservations. The KVMR listeners all knew Stevie's music from The Waybacks.

I knew we were experiencing something very special when Stevie sang a Waybacks song that had backup vocals and the audience spontaneously sang backup.

We were so excited about having Stevie play in our house we made a whole bunch of food for the potluck. We ate during the intermission which seemed more like a party then anything else. After a half hour or so we went back into the living room and listened to more great fingerpicked guitar and entertaining songs.