Milwaukee Irish Fest 2024 Music Preview

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From the traddest of the traditional to the cutting edge of new Celtic sounds and everything in between, this year's Milwaukee Irish Fest has the full range of what's going on in the Celtic music world. Venerable legends, reigning royalty of the genre, high-energy newcomers, and young cheeky upstarts are all on the bill this year, from all over the world, so here's a bit of a roundup - just a sampling - of some picks and previews of the world's largest Irish music festival this weekend, Thursday through Sunday August 15-18 down at the lakefront.

So what's hot in Ireland right now? That would be The Tumbling Paddies, a hugely popular group of lads with hits on the Irish charts that could best be described as a mix of original heartfelt ballads and good-time anthems, with some Irish standards thrown in, and they definitely have a penchant for covers of rock and country classics: we're talking Kenny Rogers, the Eagles, and John Fogerty via the Status Quo.

How about Canada? Well Canada's got their own Celtic sounds (that's plural, because there's more than one) and those Canadian groups love to get you dancing—especially to the sound of fiddles. Two of those Canadian traditions combine in the husband-wife duo of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, a couple of the finest fiddlers Canada has to offer. Donnell, offering the Ontario side, rose to prominence with his family's band Leahy, while Natalie comes from a well-known musical family in Nova Scotia—Cape Breton island to be exact, where hot traditional Celtic dance music by way of Scotland is a way of life.

Roots Music

Trad—traditional—is the roots music that underpins all Irish music, and it's not just an Irish thing anymore. You'll find it played live from Boston to Belgium to Brisbane to Tokyo, which reminds me, don't miss O'Jizo, the trad trio from Japan. You'll find some great local trad bands all over the grounds this year, and be sure to check out the Celtic Roots Stage where you'll find trad greats like the concertina/fiddle combo of Mary McNamara and Sorcha Costello from County Clare in Ireland.

Trad comes in many flavors, and one of the more flavorful is certainly that of the renowned band Lúnasa, who are no strangers to Milwaukee Irish Fest. They're what you could call a supergroup of Irish players and since 1997 they've been playing their unique contemporary sound—deeply rooted in trad but taken to soaring new heights in the hands of master Celtic musicians.

The American side of trad will be all over the fest this year: don't miss Chicago's Steam, featuring the blazing accordion of John Williams (previously of Solas) and fiddling of Katie Grennan (formerly of Gaelic Storm), and the closely related band, The Bow Tides, where Grennan is joined by two other fiddler friends, Ellery Klein and Jessie Burns ("16 years in the same band but never at the same time") as well as guitarist Jeff Lindblade, also of Steam. Steam will also be playing for the dancing at the Dance Pavilion each day.

For some classic Irish folk singing in pure four-part harmony, you'll want to see Drops of Green, five Irish guys from Laois, Kilkenny and Waterford, who are not only great singers but also musicians, and present their ballads in a unique modern style.

Last year many festgoers were disappointed when some artists had to cancel because of problems getting their visas. One of them, Goitse, are scheduled to perform this year, and let's hope they don't have any more misfortune because they're an award-winning don't-want-to-miss kind of band, playing and singing original as well as traditional songs and tunes.

Modern Energy

If you'd like to see where modern sensibilities and instrumentation can take Celtic music, check out two high-energy bands at the forefront of the newest sounds from Scotland, Talisk and Elephant Sessions. The latter combine trad, funk and electronica in a vibe-heavy drum and bass sound that never loses sight of its trad foundation. Talisk, who describe themselves as a folk band, push the boundaries of the genre in many of their tunes, and weave between the pure drop and the contemporary with often mesmerizing results.

I'd love to preview all the artists, but with over 100 acts across 16 stages, I guess that's not going to happen, so I'll see you on the grounds, and hey, maybe I'll even buy you a pint—wait, it's your turn, isn't it?

For the complete 2024 Milwaukee Irish Fest lineup, visit https://irishfest.com/lineup.