The Chieftains.jpg
The Chieftains
In Irish mythology, Tir Na Nog is the Land of Eternal Youth
But The Chieftains seem to have discovered the real fountain of youth: staying active, collaborating, and not being afraid of new vistas.
The renowned traditional Irish band, which has won six Grammys, still tour after 50 years in the business and have collaborated with everyone from Paul McCartney to Bon Iver. The Chieftains, which feature Paddy Moloney, Kevin Conneff and Matt Malloy, bring their wide-ranging show to the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center on Sunday.
Group founder Moloney talked about the band in a recent telephone interview.
On still touring after 52 years in the business:
We've actually been cutting back a lot, and we've not been going as hard as we used to. And we don't have to go looking for work. Everything comes in by request. But the U.S. tour is always a very important one. Sean Keane isn't in on this trip because he doesn't want to be traveling as much, but he still on our albums are still very much a Chieftain.
On some of the special guests on tour with the show:
Alyth McCormack is Scottish singer from the Island of Lewis. She has the voice of an angel. Tara Breen is 24-year-old fiddle champion who also dances. And the other surprise from her is that she's a fantastic saxophone player. She wasn't going to bring it with her, but I shamed her into it. (Laughs) She plays reels and jigs on the saxophone that will blow your mind. And of course we have Triona Marshall on the harp who joined us 12 years ago. It's just great to have all this young blood to play with us.
On the universal appeal of Irish music:
You don't have to be Irish do appreciate it. I remember playing in Milan in 1976 when we only had a few albums out. They didn't understand a word I was saying, but once we started playing some of the tunes, they went absolutely berserk. They just loved it. Whatever it is in Irish music, it touches the heart and gets in the stomach. The melodies and the feel of the whole thing are universal.
On how far his (hard-to-play) instrument, the Uilleann pipes, have spread from their native Ireland:
They have an organization and people are in it from all over the world. Japan, Cuba, Mexican Venezuela, and Argentina. It's so gratifying to hear and see all this happening.
On deciding on which songs to play off the band's 30-plus albums:
It's funny. It was just 10 minutes before I got on the phone here that I was talking to my office and I was telling them I'm finding it very difficult to put this program together. (Laughs.) I try to keep everything going so that people don't have time to blink. It just goes, goes, goes. But there's so many pieces that we've been doing that go over so well and I want to keep everybody happy, so you can imagine it's a torment. (Laughs.)
But at the same time I want to maintain who we are, The Chieftains, and not lose sight of what our forte is: Playing good traditional Irish music.