WCUW Celtic Music

11/07/2025

This is the official Robbie O'Connell YouTube channel. For over 50 years, Robbie has been writing songs that define “… the Irish condition, both for natives and American-born, in intriguing and enthralling ways.” In this Songbook collection, you will find all of his published original songs as...

09/06/2025

Don’t forget to tune in to The Four Green Fields tomorrow morning. Peter Maguire (pictured below) will be my guest and we’ll be talking about Irish traditional music in general and from Boston in particular back in the early 1900s as well as his research into some of the major players. From Belfast and now living in the Boston area, Peter is a great ambassador of Irish music with a great knowledge of the tunes and the players. Program starts at 9:00 am tomorrow and can be heard at 91.3 FM or wcuw.org.

09/01/2025

Pictured below is Peter Maguire. Peter is originally from the north of Ireland and has been living in Massachusetts for a number of years. A stonemason by trade (and a good one), he is also a terrific musician and has played Irish traditional music with many of the legends of the music on both sides of the Atlantic. When he is not creating chimneys, hearths or visiting places like Tierra Del Fuego and Japan, he spends a lot of time exploring cemeteries in the Boston area seeking out the burial places of Irish and Irish American musicians and notables. Oh! And Peter also has an incredible collection of Irish music recordings from America from last century and an expansive knowledge of the musicians.

He will be my guest this coming Saturday on The Four Green Fields on WCUW 91.3. The show airs from 9:00 am until noon and if you are outside of our signal range you can tune in at wcuw.org. Please join us for music and banter on what promises to be an interesting, informative show.

08/16/2025

It's that time of year for the 2025 World Pipe Band Championships from Glagow Green. On the Sounds of Scotia, noon-2pm, we'll focus on the Grade 1 competition with performances and news of the day.

07/28/2025

Ahhh. The pipes. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CauFdhAE4/

04/26/2025

04/12/2025

ve been somewhat familiar with the pictured band, Le Vent du Nord, for a number of years, having first heard them on Marcel Raymond’s (RIP) wonderful show L’Heure Francais on WCUW. Last night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing these incredible musicians from Quebec in person at an incredible venue in Greensboro, Vermont ( pop. 811) The Highland Center for the Arts. It was incredible!My advice to music lovers is that if this band is in your area make a point of seeing them.As I mentioned to them while buying a couple of CDs, for the last 20 years I have organized gigs exclusively for Irish music. I would make an exception for Le Vent du Nord.

04/01/2025

James Cullinan passed away recently. He was an outstanding fiddle player from Co. Clare who, within the last 6 or so months, released his highly anticipated debut solo album. It did not disappoint by any stretch. Dozens of friends, family and fans showed up to cheer him on in November at his CD launch at The Olde Ground. It was the most well attended launch I have been to over the years I have attended the Ennis Trad Festival. Undoubtedly a genuine indication of how highly he was regarded as a person and musician. The accompanying clip was taken by me at Kelly’s on Carmody Street in Ennis in 2021. James is on the fiddle, his wife Carol on the keyboards. I’m afraid that I don’t know who the banjo player is but the box player to his left is the Clare legend, Andrew MacNamara. The couple dancing on the left is Dan Brouder and Angelina Carberry, two great musicians also who had been playing but got up to do some dancing. RIP James. Hup!!

03/30/2025

Which Irish or Scottish band would you like to see perform locally?