Événement

Colleen Raney CD Release, 'Here this is Home'

2nd Saturday Community Concerts. www.colleenraney.com Doors at 6:45pm, concert at 7:30pm. Please note, Tickets at the door are $20 by cash or check only.

Our 4th Season starts with Colleen Raney's CD Release, "Here This is Home", with Johnny B Connolly and Sean Earnest!

Portland Irish singer Colleen Raney has spent more of the last year on the road than in the place that she calls home, a circumstance about which she doesn't actually have complaint. "The last year of touring in various combinations has been both a challenge and a great joy, " she says with a cup of tea on the couch on a brief stop at her actual address. "It has given me an enormous amount of perspective on my career, on family, on music, and on the concept of home. In the manner of the great traveling musicians of earlier eras, you learn that home is less a physical place than a feeling." This idea unintentionally became the golden thread that weaves together her newest album, "Here This is Home" which is set for release on October 1, 2013.

Over five weeks in the summer of 2013 Colleen traveled to Dublin, Ireland to collect songs and record them with some of Irish music's finest players. "Here This is Home" is as much about the time in Ireland as it is about time on the road. More importantly, though, it is about the integral part that this music has played in her life. Rather than a location, the sense of home comes from the songs and stories of the people of Ireland - and of the people who left Ireland, as her family did several generations before. "I can be anywhere, in any car on any long highway, and still get a sense of home from these songs and tunes. They are our living legacy. And they are very much alive."

Produced by Aidan Brennan, engineered and mixed by Trevor Hutchinson, the album is collection of 11 songs from mostly the Irish tradition, with a few contributions from Scotland and England for good measure. In addition to producing, Aidan Brennan is credited with guitar, bouzouki, vocals, and songwriting and is joined by Trevor Hutchinson (bass), Johnny B. Connolly (button accordions), Steve Larkin (fiddles), Colm O'Caoimh (piano, harmonium), Dave Hingerty (drums, percussion), and special guest Aaron Jones (bouzouki, vocals).

Colleen will be releasing the album over a month-long tour of the US from California to Maine and many points in between, beginning with the KVMR Grass Valley Celtic Festival in late September. In her touring band for each show is master button accordion player Johnny B. Connolly and guitar/bouzouki virtuoso Sean Earnest.

Dublin-born Johnny B. Connolly's dexterity on the accordion earned him a place with the established Celtic ensemble Anam at the tender age of seventeen. In 1996 Johnny seized an opportunity to bring his skills to America and in 2001 he signed with Green Linnet Records and released two very well-received albums. In addition to three years on the road with the touring show Celtic Legends, Johnny has appeared on both festival stages and in respected venues and is recognized among his peers as a stand out in traditional box playing.

Bouzouki and guitar player Sean Earnest's sensitive yet eclectic musical stylings have taken him far from his native central Pennsylvania. He is among the most in-demand Celtic traditional music accompanists today and can be heard on stages up and down both coasts of the United States and all points in between. Sean spends most of his time in New York and the greater Northeast, where he can be heard playing and recording with some of the top talents of the genre. Having cut his musical teeth in the vibrant session scenes of Baltimore and New York, Sean honed his guitar and bouzouki craft whilst studying abroad at the University of Limerick's Irish World Academy of Music & Dance. Friendships forged across the length & breadth of Ireland lead to Sean's highly successful 2009 tour with Irish supergroup Téada. For the last three years Sean has worked with the legendary McPeake family of Belfast in bringing their signature sound to American audiences. In the summer of 2011 he rejoined 'McPeake' for their third critically-acclaimed American summer tour. Also that year, Sean joined forces with one of the most exciting bands to come out of Scotland, the Paul McKenna Band, for two highly successful tours of the U.S. and Canada. Most recently Sean has been playing with his band, The Yanks, who have been touring nationally in support of their critically acclaimed debut album.

Full tour schedule can be found at www.colleenraney.com
Press contact: booking@colleenraney.com