The Burns Sisters Band (USA) in Ireland, 27 Sept.-10 Oct. 2015: UPDATE

Thanks to Wendy Connolly and 'Bluegrass in Ireland' for the news that the Burns Sisters Band (also on Facebook) will be making their 'Songbirds Wild Atlantic' tour in Ireland in the very near future. Wendy relays this message from them:

Ireland here we come!!! We hope you can come out to our shows. We will feature Stephan Flaherty on guitar and one of the best dobro players in the USA, Kevin Maul.

Thanks also to John Nyhan, who sends the press release shown below and adds a further date (10 Oct.) to those shown when this post was first published. The gigs so far confirmed are consequently:

Fri. 2nd Oct.: The Hotspot, Greystones, Co. Wicklow; tel. Ailbhe Skay, 087 2917519
Sat. 3rd: Conary Community Hall, Avoca, Co. Wicklow; tel. Pat Nolan, 087 2334714
Sun. 4th: The Rowan Tree Cafe, Ennis, Co. Clare; tel. Siobhan Peoples, 087 9686050
Mon. 5th: Schoolyard Theatre, Charleville, Co. Cork; tel. John Nyhan, 087 7921771
Tues. 6th: Clonmel Folk Club, The Main Guard, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary; tel. Eelco Beckers, 085 8502289
Sat. 10th: Teach Cheoil, Kilrush, Co. Clare; tel. 065 9083022

Press release for Burns Sisters Irish tour Oct. 2015

Siblings Annie and Marie Burns are due to embark on an Irish tour. Based in Itchaca, New York, the Burns Sisters are promoting their latest release, Looking back: our American Irish souls, an examination of their own family history and the true Irish history of the famine and the great migration. Their paternal ancestors originated in Kildare while their mother’s people, the McMahons, came from Co. Clare. They describe the record as a 'Celtic-infused Americana project'.

Veterans of the American folk music scene, the Burns’ have toured on numerous occasions with Arlo Guthrie as backing singers in his band and as an opening act for his concerts. For the past fifteen years the Burns Sisters have performed at the annual Woody Guthrie Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, that pays tribute to the legacy of the father of American folk music. They have also shared stages with music legends like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Willie Nelson, and Odetta. The sisters have even performed with the Boston Pops.

I think it a truly magnificent, quite superb piece of work. Your beautiful voices blend so perfectly, the vocal performances and the playing throughout is perfect too... and so moving... you have injected new life on to some old classics ('From Clare to here', 'Ned of the Hill', 'Free-born man', and 'Too ra loo' are just excellent versions... and even the sometimes-abused 'Danny boy' is treated with grace and feeling, giving it the dignity it deserves), and your take on 'Kilkelly' is by far the best version I’ve yet heard. And, I believe 'Workhouse' - given the theme - should be heard by EVERYBODY on this island NOW... The engineering/ production is as good as it gets. (P.J. Curtis, record producer, writer, musicologist, and film producer)

Annie Burns (vocals), Marie Burns (vocals, mandolin) will be joined by Steve Flaherty (acoustic and electric guitars) and Kevin Maul (dobro and lap steel).