Carrboro Ceili Band

2006-12-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

Tir Na Nog on January 4, 2007

The Carrboro Ceili Band will be starting the New Year off with a ceili at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. It is scheduled to start at 10:00 p.m. Lee Raymond will be calling.

2006-12-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

Inis Cairde Christmas Ceili

The Christmas Ceili sponsored by the Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance was great fun. I am guessing there were about 100 people there of all ages. School founder Meighan Carpenter called a variety of dances for the crowd. We also played for each of the classes as they demonstrated their skills.

2006-11-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

Inis Cairde Christmas Party - December 10, 2006

The Carrboro Ceili Band will be playing for the Inis Cairde Christmas party. This is a benefit for the students. More details are available at the Inis Cairde web site. Stay tuned for more details.

2006-09-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Listen to Some of Our Tunes

As part of the process of applying for the Carrboro Music Festival, we recorded two sets of tunes. You can listen to them by clicking on the links here and on the sidebar.

The first is a set of jigs

==> Cooley's (The Knights of Saint Patrick) / The Tongs by the Fire / The Wandering Minstrel.

The second is a set of reels:

==> The Bag of Potatoes / Roaring Mary.

We got both of these sets of tunes from early recordings of the Ballinakill Ceili Band.

2006-09-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Carrboro Music Festival

We are going to be performing at the Carrboro Music Festival on September 24, 2006. We are schedule for 2:00 p.m. on the deck at Cycling Specifics (formerly Music Explorium). The address is 403 Weaver Street.

Please come listen and dance.

2006-07-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Carrboro Tune Book - New Version 7-10-06

I have posted a new version of the Carrboro Tune Book. You can download it from the link on the right. Some of the new tunes and/or medleys include

1) Sporting Nell / West Clare Railway
-- This version of Sporting Nell is from Julia Ross. It is a little different from the usual. We sometimes call it "Sporting Not".

2) Toormore Polkas #1 & #2
-- A nice set of polkas also from Julia.

3) The Traveler / John Henry
-- The Traveler is from Patrick Sky. This version of John Henry is from Cathy Sky.

4) Woman of the House/ Man of the House
-- Man of the House is new here. It is from Ciaran Somers who taught this tune at the Philly Tionol this spring.

A few other tunes have been corrected here and there. I also have images that print more clearly than in previous versions.

2006-05-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Carrboro Ceili Book of Tunes - New Release

There is a new version of the "Book of Tunes" as of 5/4/06. (See the link to the right.) This version includes two new sets or reels; namely,

McDermott's / Murphy's / The Crooked Road to Dublin
The Mills are Grinding/ The Torn Jacket

These are all tunes I have gotten from Cathy Sky. Thanks to Cathy. If you live in the Chapel Hill area and have the opportunity to take lessons from her, I highly recommend it. (See the link to the right.)

Note that I changed the name of the tune book slightly to reflect that although these are all good, traditional ceili tunes, they are not necessarily going to be played by the Carrboro Ceili Band.

2006-04-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

Beltane - Scottish May Day Celebration at NCSU

The Carrboro Ceili Band is playing at the Beltane Celebration at the NCSU Talley Student Center on Saturday, April 29, 2006. Lee Raymond will be calling for a demonstration ceili dance on the North Plaza. We expect to be on stage from about 4 until 4:45 p.m.

We are likely to perform some or all of the following tunes:

Jigs:
Tynagh Jig/ Father Quinn's
Goat on the Green / Jerry's Beaver Hat / The Nightingale

Cooley's / Tongs by the Fire / Wandering Minstrel
The Shaskeen / Brendan Tonra's / Whelan's

Reels:
Limestone Rock / Tommy Whelan's
Rookery / Eddie Moloney's Favorite / Humours of Tulla
Bag of Potatoes / Roaring Mary
Ana Mac / Aggie Whyte's

Polkas:
My Love is but a Lassie / Dark Girl Dressed in Blue

2006-03-25T15:53:00.000-08:00

What is a Ceili?

An Irish ceili is a community gathering for Irish social dancing with live musical accompaniment. Come out and join us for a fun evening of social dance and music with the Carrboro Ceili Band, consisting of Tim Smith (flute and keyboard), Eileen Regan (fiddle), Grace Haaland (fiddle), Alison Arnold(flute), and Perry Haaland (flute). This flute and fiddle band is modeled after the early ceili bands of western Ireland, especially the 1930s Ballinakill Ceili Band of East Galway, and its repertoire includes jigs, reels, hornpipes and other traditional dance tunes from Galway and Clare counties. For more information, contact Alison Arnold (919-469-5734) or Perry Haaland (919-942-6658).

2006-03-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

IRISH CEILI DANCE - April 7, 2006

With the Carrboro Ceili Band
and caller Lee Raymond

Friday April 7, 2006, 7:30-10:00pm

Community Church of Chapel Hill
106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill
For directions, see http://www.mindspring.com/~c3h/

Admission: Adults $5, Students $3, Children $2, Family rate – max. $12

Come on out and join us for a fun evening of
social dance and music.

2006-02-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Photos from the February 3, 2006 Ceili Dance

The dance was held at the home of Charlie and Judith Muse again. Thanks Charlie and Judith!

Lee Raymond did her usual excellent job of calling. There was a nice turn out of dancers.

Grace was able to join us for this ceili. So this was our first opportunity to play a dance with the full band.

One of the unusual features of our band is its "flutiness". Although flute players are not so common in our area, they were a standard feature in groups of traditional players from the East Galway area.

2006-01-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Ceili Dance - Friday, February 3, 2006

Our second ceili dance is coming up this Friday. Charlie and Judith Muse have graciously agreed to serve as hosts again. You can email Charlie for directions (creatconst@earthlink.net). The dance will start at 7:30 p.m. at Charlie's place in NW Raleigh. Lee Raymond will be calling.

Here is a tentative set list (the order will vary):

Jigs:

Cooley's Jig / The Tongs by the Fire / The Wandering Minstrel
The Mountain Heather / The Grouse in the Bog
The Piper's Chair / Cuil Aodha / Sean Bui

Reels:

The Bag of Potatoes / Roaring Mary
The Chattering Magpie / The Flax in Bloom
The Limestone Rock / Tommy Whelan's

This is an interesting collection of tunes that are traditional dance tunes in the East Galway and West Clare areas. Any of these would have been played by the Ballinakill Ceili Band, and, indeed, we have recordings of several of these from various traditional players from the area.

2006-01-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

New Version of the Carrboro Ceili Band Book of Tunes - 01/23/06

I have posted a new version of the book of tunes. You can download it by clicking here. Here are the highlights of the new edition:

Added two reels: Woman of the House / The West Clare Railway

Both of these tunes come from to me from Cathy Sky. The Woman of the House is a popular ceili and set dancing tune. The West Clare Railway is a Junior Creehan tune. It is interesting because it is in A modal as most of the other references on the web have been in F# minor. Cathy says you should be able to hear the engine when you play it. I find it interesting because of the pronounced syncopation. I think these two tunes can be played together reasonably well, but I really have put them together because I just learned both of them. Because the flute cannot easily roll on a C, Cathy and I made some ornamentation changes. A fiddler could do some more interesting things with emphasis and ornamentation.

Added a new jig: The Slopes of Sliabh Luachra

I put this in with the medley of Katie's Fancy and Tobin's Jig. This is a Kerry tune, but it gets played in West Clare. An interesting ornamentation that Patrick Sky gave me was to do a cran on the first E instead of a roll. I find that it fits in naturally and feels quite different. All of these tunes come to me from Cathy Sky. I might later split this medley up as Cathy has heard this tune played with Dan Collins' Jig.

New/revised polkas: My Love is but a Lassie / Dark Girl Dressed in Blue

The first tune is actually a version of Farewell to Whiskey and replaces it in this medley. The particular setting here is from Frankie Gavin's album "Up and Away".

Revised: Aggie Whyte's

I changed the ending of the second part to Aggie Whyte's because, although it was lovely and interesting, it was really hard to play on the flute.

As always, thanks to Cathy Sky. It is a wonderful thing to have the direct connection to the traditions of West Clare!

2006-01-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

A Picture of the Band Taken January 2, 2006.

Our instrumentation is similar to the original Ballinakill Ceili Band which was formed in the Woodford area of County Galway. East Galway in particular has a great flute tradition. We try to play as many tunes as we can from the repertoire of the Ballinakill Ceili Band.

From Left to Right: Eileen Regan - fiddle, Tim Smith - flute, Grace Haaland - fiddle, Alison Arnold - flute, Perry Haaland - flute.

2005-12-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

Our First Ceili Dance - December 6, 2005

Our first ceili dance was held at Charlie and Judith Muse's home in North Raleigh on December 6, 2005. Charlie cleared out the furniture from the living room. Lee Raymond called the dance.

We had a nice turn out of 12-14 dancers.

Lee Raymond called our first Ceili Dance. We all really enjoyed the experience.

Lee Raymond teaching a dance.

Our intrepid band leader, keyboardist and flute guy, Tim Smith, working undercover. Tim has the major responsibility of agreeing on a tempo with the caller, starting the tunes, calling the transitions, and generally keeping the music together with the dancers.

2005-12-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Me - Perry Haaland -- Organizer

2005-12-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

The Carrboro Ceili Band consists of

Tim Smith - flute and keyboards
Eileen Regan - fiddle
Grace Haaland - fiddle
Alison Arnold - flute
Perry Haaland - flute

We have approximately the same instrumentation as the original Ballinakill Ceili Band from East Galway. Our repertoire includes a number of sets we got from early recordings of the Ballinakill Ceili Band. We also play a variety of other tunes in traditional styles from East Galway and West Clare.

Lee Raymond is our caller.

We are available for ceili dances in the Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro area.
Contact me -- Perry Haaland: jigsandreels@gmail.com