Hanz Araki & Kathryn Claire

secretary — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:37:55 +0000

Ann and Beth of KMUZ Celtic Music Hour interviewed the wonderful duo Hanz Araki & Kathryn Claire earlier in April. Hanz (flute) and Kathryn (violin & guitar) are superb musicians and their vocal harmony is unmatched. Ceili of the Valley has been so lucky to have them play at one of our Ceili’s in the past.

Catch this interview on KMUZ, 88.5 FM this Friday, May 4, 2012, on the Celtic Music Hour, from 7-8pm.

Kathryn, Ann, Hanz, & Beth

Newport Celtic Festival and Highland Games coming in June

secretary — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:53:03 +0000

The 2nd annual Newport Celtic Festival and Highland Games coming in June 8, 9, and 10th. See Ceili of the Valley there plus many more activities, music, workshops, and games. Please spend a week-end in Newport and support the festival. For more information: http://ncfhg.com/Home_Page.html

Ceil of the Valley at the 2011 Newport Celtic Festival.

April 13th Ceili

secretary — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:25:45 +0000

Thanks to everyone for coming out and to the Willamette Swing Club also. We had a great turn-out of 70 + people and lots of kids. And thanks to D’n'A for the great music.

Donated CD’s for Celtic Music Hour

secretary — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:58:26 +0000

CVS wants to thank the following music groups for providing their CDs for the Celtic Music Hour on KMUZ, 88.5 FM, Friday Nights, 7-8 pm.

BUA- Green Fields, Live at Martyrs’, and Spealadoir

Rendezvous String Band- Wild Rover.

March Ceili Mor

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:11:54 +0000

March is the month when everyone is Irish… And what a better way to celebrate than at the Céilí of the Valley Society 2^nd Friday Céilí where you can feast on a corned beef dinner, learn an Irish Jig and listen to amazing live music.

For those unfamiliar with the custom, an Irish Céilí (pronounced Kay-lee) is a merry social gathering for the purpose of enjoying music, songs, dancing, friends and refreshments. During a Céilí, a traditional Irish band will play lively tunes while a caller leads everyone through the dances (much like square and contra dancing). Each dance is walked through before the music begins, so even the newest dancer can maneuver like a pro. And if you get confused, as we all occasionally do, there are plenty of helping hands to guide you along the way.

So come be Irish with us! Learn a jig step, and share the fun of Salem’s 2nd Friday Irish Céilí dance. Who knows, you may just catch a glimpse of a party-loving leprechaun out of the corner of your eye. The March 2^nd Friday Céilí takes place at the VFW Hall on 630 Hood ST NE in Salem, OR, Friday, March 9, 2012. The evening begins with a complimentary dance lesson from 7-8 PM followed by the Céilí from 8-11PM. All ages are welcome. No partner or experience is necessary. This is a great mixer for singles, too.

Also being served starting at 6 PM, prior to the Céilí, is the Annual VFW Corned Beef & Cabbage dinner for only $7 per person ($5 under 12 years old). Dinner includes corned beef & cabbage, potatoes, a roll, drink and dessert. Please RSVP in writing to: MOC Pup Tent 6, PO Box 13714, Salem OR 97309-1714 or M. O. C. Pup Tent 6, 630 Hood St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301 (Please Note: Questions about the dinner should be directed to the above post office box as it is managed by the VFW and not the Céilí of the Valley Society. Thank you!)

The Céilí of the Valley Society is an Oregon non-profit dedicated to supporting, preserving, and celebrating Irish culture and heritage. For further information, please contact the Céilí of the Valley Society at:

New Year Update

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:02:57 +0000

2012- January 13- What a tremendous way to start the new year. We had a great crowd (60+) and great music and dancing. Thanks to Bruce Kenny for coming down from Gresham to teach and call a wonderful set of dances. A very special thanks to Brad Johnson and George Penk for filling in at the last minute with some spectacular tunes. As many of you might know, Felim Egan was scheduled to play this ceili. He got a last minute offer from some Asian TV production team to go to LA for a ‘shoot’. He really missed a great ceili. Thanks to all the regulars and especially the newbies who came out. You all did a marvelous job with the dances. We did some tough ones- The Antrim Reel to start it off, and a couple of my favorites, The North Kerry Set and Clare Lancers Set- you made it look easy and are starting to look like pros. We had a large contingent from the S & A crowd come down from the Portland area. We can’t say enough about what they do to keep the ceili world growing.

Once again I am sorry to say we are losing another one of our young gents. Jason Weeks will be leaving for Edmonton, Alberta for employment in the near future. His enthusiasm will be sorely missed at the ceilis. So, if you know of any young gentlemen, who are into a fun activity, bring them on down to the Hall. Next month we have Maldon Meehan booked for calling and keyboardist Joe Root- you old timers might remember when Joe used to play his accordian for our classes- with Django Amerson, fiddler extraordinaire, playing tunes.

Don’t forget about our radio show on KMUZ 88.5 Turner on Friday nights from 7-8 PM. Beth and Ann are really working it and getting to sound professional. You can listen on the air if you live nearby or get it on the web at www.KMUZ.org .We have a few of their first podcasts available at the KMUZ site and soon we will be hosting a site of our own for you to check out the podcasts and make requests and comments. If you know of some traditional music event coming up be sure and let us know. We have a music calendar that will be announced weekly to keep you informed of what is available here in the mid-Willamette Valley.

I’ll see you at class on Tuesday! Slainte’!

2012, January 13 Ceili Mor

President — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:18:13 +0000

We’ll have a special guest caller in Bruce Kenny for this month. He’s done a wonderful job at our ceili’s in the past and it will be good to have him back. He has become our regular St. Patrick’s Ceili caller. So, he’ll be back in March too. Felim Egan (concertina extraordinaire) will be providing the tunes for our first ceili of the year. Felim always brings great musical artists with him from the Portland area. He’s the real deal folks- born and raised in Ireland. I’ve heard he’s pretty good on the bodhran, too. He has a band ‘The Chancers’ that we might see in Salem sometime. You can check out his music at thechancers.net/>

2011 December updates

President — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:15:54 +0000

2011- December 16 saw Molly’s Revenge in Corvallis for a Christmas Celebration at the First Presbyterian Church. They had a special guest vocalist, Christa Burch, and the Murray Irish Dancers. It was quite a show. Christa Burch has a beautiful voice that really shines through. The Murray Dancers- just two- were fantastic. Their energy and youthful exuberance really stole the show. It wasn’t a typical MR show. The raucousness was tamed and more civilized with the intermixing of holiday tunes with their traditional jigs and reels.

They’ll be up in Ridgefield, WA just north of the border tonight if you want to see them. This will be your last chance to see them in this form. Pete, the old guy, is retiring from the band. He and his wife have been like Mom & Dad for the boys for 10+ years. I’ll miss Pete’s wit and bazouki. They’ll be trying out new people to fill the hole. In January they’ll be up at Sam & Aine’s Winona Grange with Coleen Rainey doing vocals. An event not to miss.

Ceili of the Valley is in conversations with Molly’s Revenge for a Salem appearance. It won’t be until 2013, but we’re planning on a BIG St. Patrick’s Day show. I’m shooting for March 15, 2013. If all goes as planned it’ll be videoed and broadcast by CCTV. I would like to get Beth and Anne and KMUZ in there too for a LIVE broadcast. I can dream, can’t I?

Beth and Anne had their second broadcast of ‘The Celtic Music Hour’ on KMUZ last night. I missed it, being at the concert, but I heard they were going to be playing some Hanz Araki and Kathryn Claire. They’ll be in Salem at the Grand Theater on Thursday night Dec. 22 with a full entourage of musicians. You won’t want to miss this one.

A Celtic Conspiracy Winter Solstice Celebration. maybe we can have a bonfire out in the street out front!

http://thecelticconspiracy.com/

2011- December 9 can be marked as a big day for the Ceili of the Valley Society. We had a spectacular Ceili Mor and very successful Silent Auction. Thanks to Brad Johnson and Roy Rowland for providing the tunes at the ceili and Sam Keator for calling the dances. Sam was his usual jovial soul and kept us all hopping to the wonderful tunes.My thanks to all the people and companies that donated items for our benefit. Thanks to the 50+ patrons that perused these items looking for the perfect item or gift for that special someone. Speaking of special gifts, we had our first ever marriage proposal as the last auction item. Chris Snow is lucky he wasn’t outbid for that beautiful young maiden, Jenn Webb.

Besides the proposal, auction and ceili we had our first radio broadcast on KMUZ- Turner/Salem. Beth and Anne did a fantastic job at the station. You can listen in to their show- The Celtic Music Hour- on Friday evenings from 7-8 PM. Just tune in on the web at KMUZ.org. Brad was recording the ceili so I hope to be able to use some of it on the show. Soon- hopefully just after New Years- you’ll be able to tune in at 88.5 FM. The signal is aimed toward South Salem, so you people in N. Salem and Keizer might only be able to hear it in your car. If you have ideas or comments let us know, we’re new to this and open to all suggestions and criticisms. Keep a watch on this website for podcasts of the show. As soon as we figure out how to load them you’ll be able to listen at your liesure.

Don’t forget about our Tuesday classes- 6:30-8-30 PM. We won’t be holding class the week between Christmas and New Years. But, we’ll be back in 2012 with more ‘All Things Irish!”

11-11-11 Ceili Mor

President — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:40:07 +0000

Well, we had a small but enthusiastic crowd at the ceili.Too many things trying to share the same night. One of our members had a house concert, the Portland Ceili Society was holding a benefit ceili and there was also the Yachats Irish Music Festival to attend. All that and it being a holiday-Labor Day- I guess we were lucky any of us showed up. But, Maldon did a wonderful job with choices of dances and calling, Felim Egan and Eric Killops provided fantastic tunes and Kevin Johnson did a great job keeping it all sounding perfect on the soundboard.We also had a photographer roaming the hall. I can’t wait to see the pic’s. I just wish there had been more of us to get our pictures taken.

It was the last Salem ceili for one of our favorite youngsters. Jared Wilde is moving to Walla Walla, WA. He’ll be missed by all of us and by any of those ladies who like to spin fast. I wish him well up north and hope he can find or start another fun ceili group up there.

I want everyone to be aware we have our Silent Auction coming up in December and if you know of anyone or anything that will make a donation to the cause please let us know. Attaining our Federal 501(3)(c) non-profit status allows you or them to take a tax deduction for the donation. If you also donate to the Oregon Cultural Trust the whole amount is 100% deductible right off the top.

I want to thank Ann and Beth for attending the KMUZ 88.5 FM orientation and open house. It looks like we’ll be hosting a radio show in the near future. If you want to help or have ideas for the show let me know. I think we have our local Irish Gaelic native tongue speaker, Aislinn Adams, and traditional Irish music aficionados, Brad Johnson and Hanz Araki, lined up to be special hosts/guests. We still need to decide on a radio host because I don’t do well with public speaking.

In the coming week we have our regular class on Tuesday night, I’ll see you there. On Wednesday we are doing a Holiday Greetings video at CCTV and on Thursday I am meeting with the KMUZ Programs Manager to sell him on our radio show ideas.

So it looks like another busy week. See you at class. Keep your radio tuned to KMUZ 88.5 FM to hear us on the air really soon.

2011- Nov. 11 Ceili Mor with Felim Egan and Maldon Meehan

President — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:14:49 +0000

We have Felim Egan of the famous Irish musical family providing tunes this Friday and the always amazing Maldon Meehan- ethnochoreographer (University of Limerick){http://www.maldonmeehan.com/about.html}- teaching and calling the dances. Maldon also teaches a Saturday After the Ceili Sean Nos class at the VFW Hall. I’m sure we can entice her into showing us a few steps during the 9 PM break.
Felim is always a fun one with his button concertina and he always brings extraordinary musicians with him as accompaniment. County Offaly native Felim Egan (button accordion) was born in 1972 in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway and raised in Cloghan, Co. Offaly (west Offaly). His dad has a passion for music and encouraged him to play. He began lessons at the age of four with his father and then with a local Offaly fiddler Dan Cleary. He comes from a family of 5 children all well accomplished musicians. In his youth he was the drummer in the Clochan Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Ceili Band as well as competing in solo fleadh competitions on the Button accordion, Bodhran and ceili drumming. In 1993 he moved to Portland, OR where he started doing his first gigs with Bob Soper and Aidan Brennan and playing at Mikey Beglan’s East Avenue Tavern session.
So, you see what special guests we’ll have. Come and join the fun on 11/11/11 Veteran’s Day at the Salem VFW Post #661. No experience or partner necessary. All ages welcome- families encouraged. Start getting in shape for the holidays with our fun exercise. All dances taught prior to dancing and called as we dance. Lessons start 7-ish, live music and dancing 8-11PM. See you there!