09/18/2024
Back by popular demand! An afternoon of great Celtic music and storytelling!
Celebrate the halfway mark to St. Patrick's Day with Shane's Teeth, Take Two, more songs and stories of Ireland's greatest punk poet, Shane MacGowan.
All around the world, in over 100 countries, there's a new holiday being celebrated from September 17th through the 22nd called Halfway to St. Patrick's Day! Halfway to St. Patrick's Day finds its roots in "Arthur Guinness Day" or "Arthur's Day," which celebrates that patron saint of beer, Arthur Guinness himself. In Europe, Asia, the US, and elsewhere, people raise there glasses on to salute the man, the beer, and the fact that we are halfway to our favorite celebration of Irish customs, food, and drink!
So grab and pint and join us in celebration with five of Maine’s finest song interpreters, Toby McAllister, Jim Brady, Ross Gregor Adam, Travis Cote and Troy R. Bennett, who will be mining MacGowan’s gem-filled back catalog, pulling out crowd-favorite tunes as well as overlooked marvels for sonic consideration. The artists will also talk a bit about what makes MacGowan so important in the pantheon of great 20th century songwriters, as well as to them, personally.
MacGowan, who died November 30, 2023 at age 65, leaving behind a towering body of Celtic-inspired songs centered on the Irish immigrant experience, love, friendship and drinking, including the perennial Christmastime anti-carol “Fairytale of New York.”
About the musicians:
Toby McAllister
McAllister is a founding member of the indie rock band Sparks The Rescue and spent his 20s touring the world in a 15 passenger van. Now settled back in Maine, the singer and songwriter is still playing music full time and has two solo albums under his belt. McAllister recently shared stages with the likes of Drake White, Kasey Tyndall, Billy Bob Thornton, Eddie Montgomery, and Rhett Miller and The Old 97’s.
Jim Brady
It’s been more than 20 years since Brady began playing Irish folk music all over New England as both a solo artist and as a member of the Irish rebel band Erin Og. Prior to that, the Berklee College of Music grad spent time living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, studying Irish folk music and history at Queen’s University while learning to play the bagpipes.
Ross Gregor Adam
Originally from Scotland. Adam grew up singing folk songs in his beautiful hometown pub. Now based in Maine, he often performs looping sets, one-man-band style, playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran all at once. Adam also plays bagpipes and released his first album, “Stories My Mother Told Me” in 2022.
Travis Cote
Cote began playing bagpipes at the age of 10, later adding guitar and tin whistle to his music arsenal. As an adult, inspired by the Pogues, he joined Celtic-punk band The Pubcrawlers. The group was a Maine favorite and toured throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states. Cote currently performs solo and as a member of the band Bailey’s Mistake.
Troy R. Bennett
Bennett started singing Irish songs in the early 1990s, playing banjo, bodhran and whistle with the four-piece powerhouse Celtic band Rakish Paddy. Then, after a stint spent studying Anglo-Irish literature at University College Galway, he joined The Squid Jiggers, touring the Atlantic coast and midwest. Now, Bennett helps lead the Maine-based Celtic band Bailey’s Mistake.
Tickets: https://www.thehillarts.me/events/shane-macgowans-teeth-a-tribute-to-irelands-greatest-raconteur-songwriter-and-smile-fw592
