By Natalie Herman

• Congratulations are in order to Glen Hansard and Mark Geary, who raised €6,526.05 with their “Talent for Haiti” house concert auction. The lucky and generous Fabio will host the pair for an unforgettable night this Friday, 29 January. Thank you to everyone who placed bids but did not win - check out Mark’s Twitter for a surprise!

 

• Dominic Cromie of Raglan Road, The Temp, and Clear the Battlefield has posted that $5 of every T-shirt sold from now until March 17th will be donated to a Haiti Charity.

  Dominic, who is the host of the Irish interview series, “Gossip in the Garden” designed this sleek shirt which reflects his views on a unified Ireland.

  Additionally, $1 of every Raglan Road Live full album download will be donated and 10 cents of every song download from Dominic Cromie, The Temp, and Raglan Road Live goes to Haiti. Order here - please write Hope for Haiti on your order. You can also make a cash donation. FOR MORE INFO EMAIL IRISHREPORT@YAHOO.COM

  You can see CLEAR THE BATTLE FIELD perform at Rockaway NY, March 6th at HARBOR LIGHT [Info Call (718) 474-8119]

 

• The “Songs for Haiti” Fundraiser has added Brendan O’Shea and Anthony Gibney to the previous lineup of Michael Brunnock, Roesy, Niall Connolly, and Joe Whyte. The event, to take place at The Diving Bell in Sunnyside, Queens, NY on Thursday, January 28, 2010, at 8pm , is suggesting a $10 donation at the door, and a generous 50% of the drink receipts will go to GOAL Ireland, an organization that had a presence in Haiti even before the earthquake.

  FairplayCollective’s channel will have a live web stream for those who are physically unable to attend to show. There is no charge for the stream, but donations to GOAL Ireland are strongly suggested.

 

• Mundy (who is up for a Meteor Award for Best Irish Male) posted a review of Sunday’s Whelan’s Fundraiser complete with loads of pictures. Check out the video which, in addition to Mundy, features Glen Hansard, Paddy Casey, Paul Brady, Damien Rice, and Natalie Merchant singing the traditional tune, “The Auld Triangle”. Great craic!

 

• ‘MEATH SUPPORTS HAITI’ on 5th Feb in Boyles, Slane, IE has announced that Fiach and The Dirty 9s will be two of the bands performing. Andrew Cassidy in Boyles has reportedly offered €300 to get started, and they hope to raise €1000 through raffles and donations. “If anyone wants to donate CDs, drinks, kidneys, t-shirts, whatever get in touch (with Peter at 2UIBestow) at mixtape4melfi[at]gmail[dot]com”
• CD Baby is doing their part by donating $1 per CD sale to Haiti Relief.
  

  “Starting on Monday, January 25th and continuing for two weeks, we will donate $1 from every CD sale through our website, and $1 from every download sale over $8.99 on our site, to the American Red Cross and to Mercy Corps, a Portland-based relief organization with a large presence in Haiti. With your help, we hope to raise tens of thousands of dollars.”

  Now is the time to pick up CDs from great Irish acts like: Michael Brunnock, Little Palace, Brendan O’Shea (and almost-Irish Jenna Nicholls and Joe Whyte!), David Hopkins, Andrew Handrick, Sheltered in Sound, Junah, Gentry Morris, I Am Not Lefthanded, Colin Smith, Fionn O Lochlainn, The Guggenheim Grotto, Mark Geary, Roesy, Driving By Night, Tadhg Cooke, Bill Coleman, Julie Feeney, Elder Roche, Caruso, Dead Can Dance’s Peter Ulrich, The Prodigals, Marty Logue, Dervish, and Q (Aka Colm Quearney) among scores of others.

Again, I want to personally thank every artist and supporter getting involved in this desperate time. You’re all heroes.

Natalie Herman provides content for Paddy-Whacked Radio™ News

Copyright © 2010 Natalie Herman and Paddy-Whacked Radio™

By Natalie Herman

• Elavator will have thier E.P launch on 26th of June at the Twisted Pepper, Dublin, Doors at 8pm. GYPSIES ON THE AUTOBAHN and THE TONICS are support. Tickets on sale now via Myspace. €8 - FREE CD with ticket purchase.
• pocket promise is playing the Nerve Centre, Derrry on Friday 19th June and Charlie’s Coffee Shop, Belfast, 24th June. Stay tuned for tour dates for the first week of August and check out their new tracks on iTunes!
• Congratulations are in order to Junah! Their debut single, “Lo La Day” has been named Jackie Hayden’s “Pick of the fortnight” in his first cuts column in Hotpress Magazine.
  Text “music 3108″ to 57501 to download “Low La Day!” (may not work in The States)
• Padraig Rushe is busy with the following:
  

  TOMORROW - LMFM@ 8 am (GMT) - Fri 19th
  Catch Padraig on the iBreakfast show tomorrow morning, live from Athlone! TEXT 085 1000 958

  MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS - Sat 20th
  This Saturday Padraig will perform @ the 1st Annual Irish Music Video Awards show at The Bray Music Video Festival. Rushe will perform at the award show @ 8, following a screening of his own Music Video @ 6, in the Mermaid Arts Centre. See www.Braymvf.com

  ***PAT KENNY - RADIO ONE*** - Wed 24th
  Catch Padraig & the guys on RTE Radio 1 this WEDNESDAY @ 10am Make sure to text/ email in on the day!! E Mail: todaypk@rte.ie Text: Text the word TODAY followed by the comment to 51551

  MAN O WAR - MEATH - Sat 4th
  Padraig has just been announced to support DIRECTOR on July 4th at the Man O War festival.

• Balcony TV has been going through some changes, growing to a popularity of over SIX MILLION VIDEO VIEWS, with three shows daily from balconies in London and Hamburg, as well as the original Dublin Balcony overlooking Dame Street. The original show, which began humbly as a venture between flatmates Stephen O’Regan, Pauline Freeman, and Tom Millett on June 7, 2006, has expanded to include a blog, reviews, an impressive archive, a 2008 Webby Award Nomination, and an annual Music Video Awards ceremony / celebration at Sugar Club in Dublin. See the 3rd Annual nominees here.
  

  The BalconyTV Music Video Awards 2009 will take place in the Morrison Hotel on July 3rd. We’ve really got ahead of ourselves with the party this year…and we will have a truckload of bands playing at the aftershow extravaganza…IAMONE, READERS WIVES (the ‘Band Downstairs’), NEON CHOIR, THE BEAT POETS, BAND ON A ISLAND, JOHN SHELLY AND THE CREATURES, CAMOGIE LOVERS, THE PHONIC ATHLETIC, FUNZO, RED KID, BIPOLAR EMPIRE, THE HOT SPROCKETS…and we’re sure a few more will join the line up.

  The after show party will take place in The Morrison Hotel in Dublin from 10PM…and all are welcome. We hope to see you there!

  So far on board to support the night are Captive Advertising, The Sunday World, Design Yard and the Morrison Hotel.

  BalconyTV is still looking for sponsors, so if you think an audience of six million viewers is your demographic, drop a line to Stephen O’Regan: stephen@balconytv.com.

  If you missed any of the past Awards, you can watch them in full here. Eleanor McEvoy’s performance on the 1st Annual is NOT to be missed!

Natalie Herman provides content for Paddy-Whacked Radio™ News

Copyright © 2009 Natalie Herman and Paddy-Whacked Radio™

By Natalie Herman

Congratulations to Damien Dempsey, Lisa Hannigan, Gemma Hayes, Snow Patrol, and The Swell Season for their nominations for 2009 Meteor Music Awards!

Thanks to indielimerick.blogspot.com for the information leak!

In other The Swell Season news, they will be joined by FairplayCollective’s own Mark Dignam on February 5 at Vicar Street Dublin. Anyone who remembers the “good old days” of Mark and Glen busking on Grafton will not want to miss this wonderful reunion! Mark will also headline at Whelans on February 8.

“The Swell Season and Friends” at Vicar Street is “a benefit for people with intellectual disabilities and is likely to feature some memorable one-off collaborations.” In addition to Mark Dignam, expect to see Bell X1’s Paul Noonan, Liam Ó Maonlaí, and Carly Sings. Tickets to this promising event are €34 and can be purchased here.

In other charitable endeavors, Glen will join an eclectic group of accomplished musicians at Carnegie Hall on March 11 to pay tribute to musical great, R.E.M.. The event was organized by Knitting Factory founder Michael Dorf, and each artist will perform one of R.E.M.’s songs. 100% of the night’s proceeds will benefit musical education programs for underprivileged children. To buy your tickets to the event or to learn more about the packages, including a special VIP package, go to remtribute.com.

Also, anyone struck by the beautiful music in the film Once can now attempt to play it, complete with sheet music, available for guitar or piano. Also available to download or order for piano/guitar from musicnotes.com.

Additionally, check out The Swell Season’s amazing violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire in a solo performance on RTÉ’s Other Voices along with other performances.

Natalie Herman provides content for Paddy-Whacked Radio™ News

Copyright © 2009 Natalie Herman and Paddy-Whacked Radio™

By Natalie Herman

One thing that the Irish are well known for is the spirit of hospitality and helpfulness. Irish tradition has always placed great emphasis in lending a hand to those in need, and as a result of this long-standing tradition, Irish involvement in charity projects and works never comes as a surprise, but always comes as a blessing. Snow Patrol, Brian Kennedy, Liam Ó Maonlaí (of Hothouse Flowers), Eleanor McEvoy, Foy Vance, and Kila are among the few who answered this call.

Irish musicians have always been willing to lend a hand - or a voice - for a good cause. (Just look at Even Better Than The Real Thing, Volumes 1-3 and the yearly Ceol compilation CDs in addition to The Cake Sale, for starters) Released on March 7, 2008, Tuesday’s Child is the latest in a string of wonderful compliation CDs designed to give those in need a leg up.

Tuesday’s Child - an organization “born in Medugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a little bit of heaven in a country emerging from one of the most violent wars in recent time” developed as a means to help the world’s “most vulnerable children”: children under the age of five living in extreme poverty. Tuesday’s Child doesn’t concentrate on one nationality, religion, or location; its aid goes to any child who lives in locales where their human or civil rights are being threatened.

Huge names in Irish music - the CD features music by such greats as those listed above and many, many more - lent their talents to create this 31-track double CD, whose cover art features pictures of your favorites as children themselves. Eight of the songs were produced exclusively for the charity, including the title track by Gerry Creen, who appears today - a Tuesday - on BalconyTV to help bring awareness to this worthy cause.

The album, whose proceeds go to providing children in extreme poverty with everything from clean water and nutrional food to clothing to books and education, is available in “all good record stores in the Republic of Ireland” and in Northern Ireland. It can also be ordered online from the website or as a digital download.

You can find the entire tracklisting on the official Tuesday’s Child charity website as well as more information about the album, about the charity, and about other ways that Tuesday’s Child helps and that you can help. Also available is a downloadable copy of the sleeve notes and a downloadable poster to “help spread the word about Tuesday’s Child by downloading the Official Tuesday’s Child poster, printing it out and posting it on your school noticeboard, office canteen or in other places people will see it,” because as the Irish continue to demonstrate, charity begins at home.

Natalie Herman provides content for Paddy-Whacked Radioâ„¢ News

Copyright © 2007 Natalie Herman and 2008 Paddy-Whacked Radio™