Alignment is Good: Eileen Ivers and "Linin' Track"

Linin' Track, our random tune for today, is performed by Eileen Ivers, an American fiddler who grew up in the Bronx. Exposed to music, the violin, and to Ireland at an early age, she was slated to have a career in mathematics but increasingly found her interest lay in her violin, and she left her post-graduate work to pursue a career in music. She is a founding member of the iconic Celtic folk group Cherish the Ladies and performed on the Riverdance tour. Her solo work has been termed eclectic, focusing on American folk but also incorporating salsa, funk, jazz and Irish traditional music. Linin' Track is from her 2016 album Beyond the Bog Road, which has a theme of Irish immigration and assimilation into the pool of other immigrants and their traditions in the United States. Linin' Track is a traditional tune previously sung by musicians such as Lead Belly. This version features Deirdre Brennan (sister of Moya Brennan and Enya) and Tommy McDonnell on vocals, and highlights the fact that many Irish immigrants found work keeping railroad tracks aligned where they were often working side by side with African-Americans, so the song juxtaposes both Irish traditional and American blues in the music.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Ivers; http://georgegraham.com/reviews/ivers2016.html

Getting Hitched: Eileen Ivers and "Kitty's Wedding"

Today's tune is by Eileen Ivers, an American fiddler whose parents were Irish born. She was raised in The Bronx and took up fiddle at nine years old, studying under Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. Eileen Ivers first toured with the band The Green Fields of America. She later was a founding member of Cherish the Ladies and performed with them for several years. She joined the smash show Riverdance in 1985, replacing their original fiddler. She has also recorded an air that was used in the movie Gangs of New York, and she appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Some Mother's Son. She has released eight solo albums. This song, Kitty's Wedding, is from her 2016 crossover album Beyond the Bog Road, which features traditional Irish music along with American folk, blues and bluegrass.

More Celtic? Eileen Ivers and "The Rights of Man"

I was bogged down in meetings today and don't have time to write a post. But, here's your random tune for today. The Global Music randomizer seems to want Celtic again, so you've got it!

Eileen Ivers is an American fiddler whose parents were Irish born. She was raised in The Bronx and took up fiddle at nine years old, studying under Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. She first toured with the band The Green Fields of America. She later was a founding member of Cherish the Ladies and performed with them for several years. She joined the smash show Riverdance in 1985, replacing their original fiddler. She recorded an air used in the movie Gangs of New York, and she also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Some Mothers' Son. She has released seven solo albums. This song, The Rights of Man, is from her 1996 album Wild Blue, and can be found on Putumayo's Women of the World: Celtic II.