Milwaukee Irish Fest 2023 Music Preview

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Traditional Celtic music blends well with other styles. It just does. Whether you're taking the actual jigs, reels and ballads and injecting them with the music of another place or time, or entirely creating your own sound based on the Celtic vibe, there's a seemingly endless continuum of variations you can do with it.

This year's Milwaukee Irish Fest has quite a few of what I call Celtic fusion artists, or contemporary trad, who are taking Irish music—and other styles—to cool new places. Here's a few picks—there's no way to cover all the artists playing, and good luck trying to see all of them over the weekend—plus a few others to check out this weekend.

Mega-Trad

Here's my pick for the don't-miss Irish trad band for this year—three guys from Clare who got together at the University of Limerick and whose sound is really big for just acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin, enhanced with effects and loops. Their energy, talented playing and rich arrangements really take Celtic traditional music to a new level, and I dare you to sit still when they're playing. They don't seem to have recorded much yet and their website isn't even up, but they've been around a few years and are well known in Ireland, so let's hope their appearances at Milwaukee Irish Fest put them on the trad map.

Update: Due to visa complications, Mega-Trad were unable to make it to Milwaukee Irish Fest this year. 

Grosse Isle

A fusion of Irish and Quebecois music and musicians on guitar/vocals, uilleann pipes/whistle, and fiddle/piano/vocals, these three have a deep feel for both musical traditions in their tunes and songs (sung in French). Their piper is Fiachra O'Regan from Connemara, who's a renowned player and All Ireland Champion on both whistle and pipes, and their guitarist is Andre Marchand, founding former member of the venerable French Canadian group La Bottine Souriante. O'Regan will also appear Sunday at the Celtic Roots Stage as part of The Piping Circle, four pipers playing and talking about the uniquely Irish instrument, the uilleann pipes.

Boxing Banjo

Banjo: it's more Irish than you might think, and it's all over Irish Fest this year. Boxing Banjo does indeed have a banjo in the band, but they're more than that, and I'm going to describe them as a fusion (there's that word again) of Celtic/pop/rock/Americana on acoustic instruments: guitar, banjo, fiddle, and accordion with vocal harmonies. They're young Irish musicians with a slew of All Ireland titles to their credits who are not only steeped in the tradition but are creating songs and tunes with it in their own very creative and original ways.

Doolin'

Quirky: that's a good word for these Celtic players from France. A lot of their music is more Celtic vibe than Celtic itself, but its fingerprints are all over it. They call themselves Irish Folk Pop and they cover a lot of ground with their big sound, from epic originals with more than a little dose of rock, to straight Irish folk classics, rock covers (like Dylan), and, well, quirky versions of songs like a zydeco-infused take on the calypso classic "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)".

Lisa Canny

Pop music on Celtic harp and banjo? Yep! Lisa Canny takes the Celtic fusion thing to the extreme. She's an All Ireland (it's starting to seem like that's a requirement for playing at Irish Fest this year) in harp and banjo, with years playing in more trad bands, and she's turned her talent to what she calls "mixing Irish traditional themes with contemporary music"—and we're talking really contemporary music here.

And Some More Artists to See

As I mentioned at the top, there are just too many acts to preview all of them, but here's just a few more I wanted to mention, some of them quite well known.

Gaelic Storm—Yeah, I know all the purists turn up their noses at them, but come on, they're a really fun band with some great songs and they really know how to put on a show. Let's face it, they're pretty much the house band of Milwaukee Irish Fest!

Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones—The Wolfe Tones were/are a famous Irish folk band from the 1960s onward who made their mark singing rebel ballads—the folk songs of the Rising and the Republicans. Derek Warfield left acrimoniously a while back and formed the Young Wolf Tones, who continue the tradition. If good old "up the rebels" folk songs are your thing, you won't want to miss them.

Eileen Ivers—the fiery fiddler from New York is no stranger to Milwaukee Irish Fest and she usually brings a full band to back her up.

Skerryvore—Scottish rockers who play in Wisconsin a lot, they're a rock band with bagpipes and fiddle and accordion.

The Finns—a folk duo from Laois (Ireland), they play original songs described as alt-folk or indie folk with hints of blues and rock.

Cassie and Maggie—Nova Scotia sisters who play that Canadian-style trad with a bit of a country edge to it.

So many bands, so little time...

Milwaukee Irish Fest 2023 runs Friday through Saturday August 18-20, with a special opening preview and celebration, The Grand Hooley, on Thursday night.

Update August 16: The popular young trad band from Ireland, Goitse, who were already forced to cancel all their other North American tour dates, have announced that they must cancel their Milwaukee Irish Fest shows as well, due to an incredible snafu in trying to get their visas. In a statement on their Facebook page, they said:

"Well, we held out hope as long as we could, but have had no luck. Despite our visas having been approved for over two weeks now, a delay in the embassy's system means we are unable to have our passports stamped, and therefore cannot perform at the Milwaukee Irish Fest this year.

Disappointment doesn't begin to cover what we're feeling right now. In addition to the massive unrecoverable costs paid out for a cancelled tour, we are devastated to miss out on the opportunity to perform at some of our favourite festivals, and to meet with some of our favourite bands and people."