Best Shannon Heaton Podcasts (2024)

1
Episode 77-The Bunch of Keys 34:51

2M ago34:51

34:51

Irish musicians, and writers, and home makers can all benefit by learning some rules and technical skills—and by allowing a little spontaneity and flexibility. But how much great technique do you need? Does that get in the way of the magic? In this episode, Nathan Gourley, Brendan Mulholland, and Sharon Murphy reflect on the alchemy of order and sp…

1
Episode 76-The Power of the Local Pub 11:51

7M ago11:51

11:51

Boston producer Brian O’Donovan made a lot of space for Irish music and culture. He was dedicated to sharing it widely. And though he presented music on formal stages and through his WGBH broadcast “A Celtic Sojourn,” casual, public Irish music sessions were ever important and enduring for him. This beloved leader lifted up traditional music. And h…

1
Episode 75-Betting on the Punters 7:01

7M ago7:01

7:01

Could traditional music sessions exist without listeners? Are the non-playing listeners in public spaces important for tune players? Here’s a brief podcast adaptation of a video response to this intriguing little question! _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head…

1
Episode 74-Leaning in and Branching Out 59:51

8M ago59:51

59:51

Communities. Forests. Families. All of these different ecosystems contain a lot of different components that weave and work together. And as people, plants, and pests carry on and creep around, rich and sometimes unlikely collaborations emerge. In this episode, with the help of Karine Polwart, Colin Farrell, and Steve Nardone, I’ll explore how frie…

1
Episode 73-Fruitful Fells Part Two 59:52

10M ago59:52

59:52

In part one of the Fruitful Fells, we met modern and 19th century activists dedicated to making beauty available to current and future humans. In this episode, we learn how our heroes saved acres of woods and bushels of old ballads, and we follow enduring struggles in the crusade for preservation. As always, there’s plenty of beautiful music woven …

1
Episode 72-Fruitful Fells Part One 43:52

11M ago43:52

43:52

There are little creatures, trees, ponds, and pedestrians all over the earth. And there are bushels of ballads about the charms of nature. And while there are ecological activists like Mike Ryan and 19th century Elizur Wright, and song collectors like Francis Child and Olive Dame Campbell who are out to enjoy and save the critters and the old songs…

1
Episode 71-Missed Manners 1:05:52

1y ago1:05:52

1:05:52

The weekly Irish music session is a specific niche affair, with a particular code of conduct. Gift giving also has its own rules, at least it has in the past. As older customs like traditional Irish music and wedding anniversary gifts have moved to the new world, have things adjusted? Does modern session behavior reflect wider social trends? Etique…

1
Episode 70-Navigating Tech and Writing Tunes 42:52

1y ago42:52

42:52

New inventions and technology can make life—and Irish music—more convenient, more accessible, and sweeter…. and more complicated. This episode examines a few innovations like the washing machine, the personal computer, and to the electric bicycle—though you’ll have to go to Episode 18-Wax Cylinders to the World Wide Web for extensive chat about rec…

1
Episode 69-Tea, Turf, and Wooden Spoons 30:52

1y ago30:52

30:52

Lunch routines, laundry, kid art supplies, spoons, and teacups are details of domestic life that don’t usually make it into the photo albums, or the tune titles. But they shape lives. And in the midst of the thousands of jigs and reels out there, the simple (and profound) cup of tea.. and the basket of turf are represented. Here’s a meditation on t…

1
Episode 68-20 Years of BCMFest 27:52

1+ y ago27:52

27:52

Presenting concerts can be about a lot more than throwing someone onstage. Matt Smith manages Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has been the central venue and fountain of support for 20 years—and is now the official presenter—for Boston’s Celtic Music Festival. For Matt, it’s all about creating opportunities for something special and u…

1
Episode 67-Hunting for Wren Tunes and Tales 28:51

1+ y ago28:51

28:51

Why did kids carry dead birds on sticks all over Ireland on the 26th of December? And what did this all have to do with first century Christian martyr St. Stephen? Just like traditional tunes, which can vary from player to player, the whole history of Wren Day depends on the storyteller. Learn more about the role a melody, a good story (or three), …

1
Episode 66-Up in Smoke 59:51

1+ y ago59:51

59:51

Loss can spark achingly beautiful music. It can also spark new forms of creativity for musicians. This episode is a meditation on the stubborn insistence and the transformative power of creativity, featuring beautiful conversations with Emmanuelle Le Blanc, Daniel Neely, Joe DeZarn, Tina Eck, and a poem from Brian O’Donovan. Here’s to sowing beauty…

1
Episode 65-Cutting Routes and Tracing Roots 22:51

1+ y ago22:51

22:51

As tunes travel they change. And to turn an old Irish reel into an old time tune can involve adjusting notes to suit different instruments, using different techniques… and also digging into the non-musical stories. In this episode I tuck into some early railway stories while Agi Kovacs and Jesse Winch help me follow Paddy on the Turnpike, from Nort…

1
Episode 64-O’Farrell’s Trip to Texas 45:51

1+ y ago45:51

45:51

Beauty is in the eye of the (informed) beholder. Where many of us might overlook a grubby little copy book or an awkwardly named interlibrary loan, others can help us understand them as treasures that shine new understanding on Irish history. Learn how Laura Flanagan in Texas and Dáibhí Ó Cróinín made unexpected finds; learn more about special libr…

1
Episode 63- Juice Box Sessions 1:03:51

1+ y ago1:03:51

1:03:51

It’s really exciting and important to have kids playing Irish music. And it takes organization, skill, and willing adults to create learning opportunities for them. In this episode Annmarie Acosta, Lexie Boatright, Clare Cason, Oisín Mac Diarmada, Maisie Lynch, Eileen Estes, Agi Kovacs, Ken Fleming, and Aidan Flanagan—and very special guest student…

1
Episode 62-Daughters, Maids, and Boys 26:52

2y ago26:52

26:52

Most Irish traditional tunes have names. Some go by many different names. So what’s in a name? Do names help us associate tunes with people, or remember vast numbers of melodies… or is there another agenda afoot? In this episode, Colm Gannon, Nic Gareiss, Mick Moloney—and renowned 20th century literary figures Dick and Jane—explore the meaning behi…

1
Episode 61: Rounding up the the Tunes 50:51

2y ago50:51

50:51

When flute player and police captain Francis O’Neill published his first and most extensive collection of Irish tunes in 1903, he included a LOT of tunes. Nicholas Carolan called it “the largest snapshot of this music ever taken in its 9,000 year history.” 120 years later, I revisit O’Neill’s two biggest books, to explore what’s in there, and what …

1
Episode 60-Selma and Rose 19:51

2y ago19:51

19:51

Most of the Irish traditional jigs and reels I play have associations, information, history, and sentiments bundled into them. Even these dance tunes that have no words carry so much. And everybody who plays these tunes bears and shares more than just a few notes and rhythms. In this episode, flute player and piper Emer Mayock, harp player Andrea K…

1
Episode 59-Shortcut to the Heart 26:51

2y ago26:51

26:51

Irish Music Stories is the show about traditional music and the bigger stories behind it, like how important, ancient songs and little short folk ditties lodge in the heart, not the ears… or the eyes. In this episode, fiddle player Séamus Connolly shares early experiences of playing and collecting Irish music, and also recent challenges and insight…

1
Episode 58-The Astonishing Adventures of Shannon Heaton 30:51

2+ y ago30:51

30:51

Learn how and why Shannon Heaton creates the Irish Music Stories podcast, as Matt Heaton turns the mic around in the sunroom studio. Tune into this Old-Time radio (half) hour celebration of community, DIY ingenuity, and weighted blankets. And learn about the future of IMS! For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contri…

1
Episode 57-Best Laid Plans 7:51

2+ y ago7:51

7:51

Setbacks and surprises are inevitable. Weather and illness—and all sorts of other plan disrupters—are not always foreseeable or controllable. But when disappointment and disruption descends, we can regulate our reactions. Here’s a short follow up to last month’s episode about wellness and balance, including a spoiler about the big marathon (so if y…

1
Episode 56-Born for Sport 46:51

2+ y ago46:51

46:51

For many Irish musicians, it can be a tricky and essential game to stay active and find balance between artistic, intellectual, social, and physical pursuits. In this episode, Aubrey Atwater, Evangelos Stowell, and Pa Sheehan share tales from the trails, the barn, the pitch, and the gym to help “work out” some of the Irish music insights that can c…

1
Episode 55-Written in Mortar 58:51

2+ y ago58:51

58:51

Flute player John McKenna left troves of treasures when he recorded 78 RPMS in the 1920s; Na Píobairí Uilleann in Dublin helped preserve Irish piping; and Dr. Charles Heaton inspired his grandson to play piano with just eight bars of music. Legacy can nestle between bricks, on birch trees, and on manuscript paper… and it can bloom in surprising way…

1
Episode 54-Banquet of Collective Wisdom 26:52

2+ y ago26:52

26:52

Irish Music Stories is the show about traditional music, and the bigger stories behind it. Episodes are often 40-50 minutes long (and 51 seconds). Here’s a shorter installment. With help from Ellery Klein I delve into collective wisdom; and I revisit a poem that I aired back in Season One. This episode is 26 minutes… and 51 seconds long. __________…

1
Episode 53-Songs of Cattle and Copper 59:51

3y ago59:51

59:51

For centuries, traditional music in Wales have endured empire, organized religion, and connections with port towns in Ireland, like Wexford and Cork. In this special IMS spotlight on Cymru, Rhodri McDonagh, Ceri Rhys Matthews, Angharad Jenkins, and Patrick Rimes explore how the Welsh language, the rhythms of industry, and the lyricism of the rural …

1
Episode 52-Garden of Ballads 55:51

3y ago55:51

55:51

Plants can be carefully cultivated or can spread naturally. Songs, too, can spread deliberately or accidentally. Here’s a small sampling of just a few of the song collectors who helped preserve gardens of old English, Scottish, and Irish ballads that travelled to North America. Alex Cumming and Catherine Crowe help untangle a few strands of the bou…

1
Episode 51-Depot of Expected Needs 16:51

3y ago16:51

16:51

If you want to share music with folks outside of your home, you gotta carry your instruments and gear (unless you’re live-streaming). And if you want to share podcast episodes along with show notes and other extras, you gotta build a site to share everything. Hear a bit about how guitarist Matt Heaton, fiddle player Laura Cortese, and flute player …

1
Episode 50-Framing the Stories 5:51

3y ago5:51

5:51

How much power does a backdrop have? As the Irish Music Stories production team works to assemble episodes and bonus materials, Shannon explores the wooded hills of Medford, Massachusetts to find visual and organizational surrounds that look and feel like time-worn jigs, and ballads, and nights of music and dance. * * * * * * * Thank you to everybo…

1
Episode 49-The Naming of Birds 6:51

3+ y ago6:51

6:51

After a horrific week of social unrest in the U.S., and as Irish Music Stories begins a major overhaul, host Shannon Heaton offers a meditation on how cataloging and organizing can soothe the soul. There’s also plenty of music in this episode. Full playlist below. And for Japanese speakers who want to get started with Irish Music Stories, the first…

1
Episode 48 Trailer 2:05

3+ y ago2:05

2:05

Trailer for the December 2020 episode of Irish Music Stories.

1
Episode 48-Between the Tunes 42:51

3+ y ago42:51

42:51

What’s up with stage banter? And why all the joking around between tunes in a session? Explore the on- and offstage chat that surrounds traditional music with Máirtín de Cógáin, Paddy League, Joanie Madden, Rus Bradburd, Liz Carroll, and Jean-Michel Veillon. There’s also plenty of music in this episode. Full playlist below. And for Japanese speaker…

1
Episode 47-The Myth of Tragedy 53:52

3+ y ago53:52

53:52

How do new traditional Irish and Scottish tunes come together? How do composers conjure melodies? Composers Liz Carroll, Dáithí Sproule, and Katie McNally share thoughts on creativity, the tune writing process, and the myths behind the music. There’s also plenty of music in this episode. Full playlist below. And for Japanese speakers who want to ge…

1
Episode 46-Ancient Tongues, Modern Times 59:51

3+ y ago59:51

59:51

Learning just a few words in Gaelic is mannerly when visiting Ireland and Scotland. And it can be a way IN to cultural values and humor. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Séamus Ó Flatharta, Ciarán Bolger, Michael Coult, Julie Fowlis, Mary Jane Lamond, and Brian Ó hAirt help me understand connections between language and music. And how songs in Irish and Scott…

1
Episode 45-Trad in the Classroom 52:52

3+ y ago52:52

52:52

There’s no definitive Irish or Scottish music method book. A lot of seasoned practitioners learned their music in kitchens and pubs. So how do they bring that immersive, social learning approach into the classroom? In this episode, June McCormack, Michael Rooney, Alasdair White, Caroline Keane, and Tom Delany share ideas about teaching and learning…

1
Episode 44-Not Easy Playing Green 44:52

3+ y ago44:52

44:52

The topic of sustainable travel for touring musicians has been reframed, as Covid-19 has cancelled most music live music events for an unforeseeable amount of time. But as activity kicks up again, conversations about responsible, viable, grateful travel—and conservation—remain vital. In this episode, I’ll revisit earlier chats with Liz about her en…

1
Episode 43-From the Fringe to the Fore 51:51

4y ago51:51

51:51

The role of instruments in Celtic traditions can be fickle: newer voices (like the tenor banjo) are increasingly popular on festival stages; while ancient ones (like the harp) still hang on the outskirts when it comes to modern group projects. Find out how the banjo came into common acceptance in Irish circles from Daniel Neely, Enda Scahill, and M…

1
Episode 42 Trailer 1:43

4y ago1:43

1:43

Trailer for the June 2020 episode of Irish Music Stories

1
Episode 42-The Long Arm of the Irish Tradition 57:51

4y ago57:51

57:51

Persistent infections like Covid-19 … and social injustice.. and racism… loom large. And still, these little Irish jigs and reels are forming bridges across oceans. What happens when people fall in love with a foreign music culture and pull themselves out of their comfort zones to travel and learn to play? Learn about the perspective Irish music ha…

1
Episode 41- Transplanting Tradition in the Land of the Trees 50:51

4y ago50:51

50:51

What do rampant evictions, military ship collisions, and Christmas trees have to do with jigs and reels? Learn how Gaelic culture resonated in Canada’s “New Scotland,” and down in the Boston States, from singer Mary Jane Lamond and fiddle players Troy MacGillivray, Andrea Beaton, Alasdair Fraser, Katie McNally, and Lee Cremo. Plenty of music here, …

1
Episode 40-Irish Tunes in the Key of C-19 54:51

4y ago54:51

54:51

How are traditional musicians and dancers continuing creative careers and group music events during the Covid-19 pandemic? How is social distancing affecting the jigs and reels? In this unexpected open of Season Four of Irish Music Stories, musicians from Ireland, England, Belgium, Sweden, and the U.S. address on and offline strategies… from a safe…

1
Episode 39-Tune Tale with Eileen Ivers 5:52

4y ago5:52

5:52

What’s a soccer ball, a school uniform, and a wedding dress have in common? New York-based fiddle player Eileen Ivers helps jar memories and connections, with a jig she wrote for her granny, in this month’s off season installment. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below. * * * * * * * Thanks to everybody for listening. And a special thank yo…

1
Episode 38-Tune Tale with Jimmy Keane 7:51

4y ago7:51

7:51

Are all traditional tunes created equally? And if they aren’t, what happens to the, um, lesser tunes? Do they end up like lost dryer socks? Chicago-based accordion player Jimmy Keane reflects on the room of bad tunes, and shares one of his loveliest compositions in this month’s off season installment. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below.…

1
Episode 37-Tune Tale with Helen Kisiel 5:52

4+ y ago5:52

5:52

What do you do when language just can’t capture how hilarious—and important—an encounter in Ennis, County Clare was? Write a tune about it. That’s what Brendan Tonra did. Pianist Helen Kisiel recounted one of those tune memories in this month’s off season installment. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below. * * * * * * * Thanks to everybody…

1
Episode 36-Tune Tale with Billy McComiskey 5:51

4+ y ago5:51

5:51

Where do the tunes come from? When does inspiration hit? Shannon learns that it's all about timing, in this short story about a jig by accordion player Billy McComiskey. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below. * * * * * * * Thanks to everybody for listening. And a special thank you to Chris Murphy, Naka Ishii, David Vaughan, Brian Benscoter…

1
Episode 35- Last Night’s Food 33:51

4+ y ago33:51

33:51

What’s up with the endless cups of Irish tea? Is there something genuinely nourishing about a pile of french fries and melted cheese? Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Matthew Olwell, Jamie McClennan, and Matt Heaton help me digest the meaning behind the menu. And I’ve also got tasty tales from Kevin Doyle, Liz Carroll, John Williams, and Kathleen Conneely. Pl…

1
Episode 34-Fairy Forts and Changelings 52:51

4+ y ago52:51

52:51

Are Irish fairies REAL? And if so, could there be Sí folk living in New England?? Fiddle player Martin Hayes, singer Emily Smith, and storyteller Máirtín de Cógáin help me and this month’s co-producer Nigel Heaton investigate songs, stories, and possible gateways to the Otherworld. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below. * * * * * * * Thank…

1
Episode 33-The Irish Woodshed 45:52

4+ y ago45:52

45:52

What do the Irish music and dance worlds think about practicing? Fiddle players Fergal Scahill, Finn Magill, and Rose Flanagan; banjo player Martin Howley; cellist Natalie Haas; flute player Nicole Rabata; and dancer Kieran Jordan share thoughts about woodshedding in the trad world. Plenty of music here, too. Full playlist below. * * * * * * * Than…

1
Episode 32-Cuppa Tea with Len Graham 38:52

4+ y ago38:52

38:52

Why learn old songs from your neighbors, when the airwaves are brimming with NEW music? And how can a rooster’s crow affect singing technique? Hear stories behind Len Graham’s life of song in this month’s Cuppa Tea chat. No matter the aperture, apertoire, or repertoire, Len’s got a story (and a song) to suit the situation. * * * * * * * Thanks to e…

1
Episode 31-The Scottish Connection 48:52

5y ago48:52

48:52

How do Scottish and Irish music intersect? How are they distinct? And why do so many trendy tunes come from Scotland? Host Shannon Heaton talks with Aaron Jones, Ed Pearlman, Natalie Haas and Hanneke Cassel to learn what it means to be a traditional Scottish musician today—in Scotland, and in the States. Warning: this episode contains very few ment…

1
Episode 30-GMT Plus Nine 46:52

5y ago46:52

46:52

Is there something strange about speaking Japanese, and removing your shoes BEFORE tucking into a set of Irish reels? Host Shannon Heaton travels around Japan with Tokyo-based trad band tricolor to learn more about the Irish and Celtic music scenes in the Land of the Rising Sun… and discovers heaps of common ground, social culture, and cake. Plenty…

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