Participating in the band of the Family Folk Machine is one of the great joys of my life and my husband Joe equally loves being a member of the intrepid bass section. I will only be able to participate in the Sunday concert but my fellow fiddlers Caleigh Stanier and Ben Sauder will have the… Read More Family Folk Machine; Calling Me Home
Many thanks to Little Village Magazine and to Kent Williams for his kind review of Folk Songs You Never Sang In Grade School. Some of the best musicians in Iowa City and environs are not chasing a career in music. Keith Reins, for example, is a player and collector of folk songs who also works… Read More Little Village Magazine Review
This is me at my happiest onstage. Collaboration is where it’s at for me. I write these words as I listen to some tracks from a project in the works with my bandmate Keith Reins and our friend, piper Jon Cooper. The final recording session is scheduled for early next year but I can’t keep to myself how proud… Read More Collaboration
Most of the time that we have a babysitter booked, we’re working. It might look like a night out on the town but it’s really a night out for everyone else. We’re on the job playing music. I mean, it’s really fun, sure. And yes, Joe and I are in the same band so we have… Read More Date Night
Here’s to a year of slow going, of taking time to putter, taking time to breathe, of “walking up the mountain rather than running up the hill” –Debbie Rosas Atticus and I up at the cabin before the polar vortex shoved us inside Nothing entrances like flame After only 11 short years and multiple rejections,… Read More Here’s hoping that 2014 proceeds as it began
Friends and family, I am asking a favor. This event means a lot to me, my music students, my son, and his dance school. Please consider attending, bringing your family, and telling everyone you know about it. You most definitely will not regret it. I’m attaching a note from Tréa Champagne, Director/Instructor at Champagne Academy… Read More 3rd Annual Irish Christmas Ceili
We had a fabulous time at Arts Fest. We play festivals out of town so often in the summer. This was our first year on the main stage in our hometown. The next three photos are by my handsome brother-in-wish Troy Shehan. We were thrilled to partner with the Champagne Academy of Irish Dance at… Read More Arts Fest
We had the best time in St. Louis last weekend for the Tionól. The happy fun times began at Schlafly’s Tap Room. The sessions on Friday night are always so crowded and I’m claustrophobic so our favorite thing to do is to hunker down sans instruments and listen to the incredibly fantastic ceili band. then… Read More St. Louis
Yesterday it rained. I went to see my bandmate do an excellent presentation on writing and folk music. When I returned home, a superhero series had begun filming at my house. Naturally, we had to build a website.
Tomorrow (July 7) is going to be such a fun day! In the morning from 9 to 11 am, we’ll be playing at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market. I love making music while kids climb the trees behind me, toddlers make art with sidewalk chalk, and dogs snarfle up stray popcorn bits. It’s truly a… Read More A Very Irish Saturday
Tara McGovern 