Being on the road is not quite as glamorous as one would imagine, so I’d like to start by thanking the people who have made it a little nicer.  Our hosts, folks at the venues, and everyone who has made it out to a show – thank you so much!

We started out with a little bit of drama when a deer ran out in front of the car on our way to a house concert on Long Island, New York.  Neither the deer nor the car survived, but Colm and I were perfectly fine (if a tiny bit shaken). Had a lovely time in New York and then down to Philadelphia as well.  Good friends, some music, lovely weather.

When we were in New York city, we recorded a little bit of rehearsal video of a beautiful Paul Brady song.

I’m off to Baltimore later today and then back up to New York City again until later in the week. Colm, fiddler Christine Traxler, and I will be on Bainbridge Island at Winslow’s Pegasus Coffeehouse, a week from today if you feel like a lovely evening ferry ride and some Irish music.  We are looking forward to it, and we’d love to see you!

with love,
colleen

Colm and I are very excited to announce 3 upcoming shows on the east coast at the end of April.  We hope you will be able to join us and if you know of anyone in the area, please do pass along the information.  The more the merrier!

Friday, April 20th, 7pm. Houseconcert at the home of Brian and Nicole Hunt in Wading River, New York. Email Brian at coastocoast@optonline.net

Monday, April 23rd, 7:30pm.  A living room style houseconcert at The Shop Theatre at CAP21 in Manhattan. 18 West 18th Street, 6th floor. Tickets available here.  Limited seating.

Wednesday, April 25th, 8pm.  Colleen & Colm make their Philadelphia area debut at the lovely Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, PA.  This all-ages venue is a great supporter of acoustic and folk music and we’re very excited that we were able to make this show work this year. More information and tickets here.

We look forward to seeing you soon!!

with love,
colleen

I had the opportunity to travel to Northern California to play with some unbelievable musicians over St. Patrick’s Week and I can’t WAIT to get back down there.

What an honor it was to be able to spend that week playing with John Weed, Stu Mason, Zac Léger, and Johnny Pozzi.  Here’s a little sample of what we got up to.

I’ve posted a lot of photos and other links and such on my facebook page if you’d like to take a look at that.  We’re planning for a bunch more shows and I’m going to make sure they get up to the Pacific Northwest so I can trot them around and show them off like they deserve.

Later in April Colm and I will be heading back to the east coast for a few shows and then back again in early May for the Bethabara Celtic Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.  I’m headed down to Austin in June, and who knows where else we’ll end up!  We’d love to come to wherever you are and are always looking for house concert hosts or venue suggestions.  Email me at colleen@colleenraney.com if you are interested – it’s pretty easy and I have a great “How-To” kit I’ve put together.

Now I’m going out to get some new freckles before the rain returns!
with love,
colleen

As many of you know, I grew up in a big family in Seattle.  There wasn’t a time when all 10 of us lived in the same house at the same time, as a few of the elders were off at college and into apartments and the like when Brigid and I were very little.  Not everyone was able to make it home for Christmas, but everyone was ALWAYS home for St. Patrick’s Day. We had shows, after all!  Anyway, as a result, St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite time of year. And this year is no exception.

I fly off to California in a couple of days to join John Weed and Stu Mason of Molly’s Revenge and the inimitable Zac Léger for 4 shows under the name Heart of Erin.  If you are in the area or know of anyone in the area, we’ll be playing a Don Quixote’s Music Hall in Felton in addition to other shows.  It’s all listed on the tour page.  And then Casey Neill and myself will be out in Long Beach (WA) for a lovely little houseconcert on the coast.

Working on a few shows on the East Coast in late April, up to Washington a couple of times in May, and then who knows where we’ll go!  Check back often to find out.  And have a very happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day!

with love,
colleen

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us over the three concerts in Lakewood, Seattle, and Snohomish.  We had such a great time playing and meeting folks and seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while!  Photos and videos have been showing up from the three concerts over on my facebook page and if you have any you’d like to share, please feel free!

A very special thank you to Christine Traxler for jumping in with both feet and her fiddle!!

I get a little break now for a few weeks and then head to Northern California to play with a couple of the lads from Molly’s Revenge and Zac Legér over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.  I was also just confirmed to return to the Bethabara Celtic Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in May and am working on a few other East Coast shows in April – I’d love to see you if you’re in any of those areas!  And of course, if you’re interested in hosting a house concert or have a venue in which you think I should play, please send me an email and let me know!

One more quick thing: we’ve gotten back to work on the liner notes for Cuan and are now at the halfway point!  Fonn Mall Acla, a beautiful air that Colm wrote and plays on the record.  Have a look!

with love,
colleen

I’m always on the hunt for new songs and this one popped up as I was driving back from a concert on Whidbey Island in December.  It was a freezing cold, crystal clear, star filled night and when I got to the ferry dock, I hopped out of my car and ran up to Colm’s (it was very cold) to play it for him.  A few months later, here we have it.  Well, to be fair, here is the 3rd time we ran through the song together in his apartment a few days ago.  But we’re both pretty happy with it.

Also, I’m very excited that artist and writer Katie Presley has created a limited edition, block print to celebrate the US release of Cuan.  They will be available at all 3 of the upcoming concerts!  If you aren’t able to be there, and would like a print, please be in touch and I’ll see what we can sort out for you.

with love,
colleen

February is already upon us, which is quite alright with me, to be honest! It has been a beautiful few days in Portland and there are some very exciting things on the horizon.  Firstly, Colm MacCárthaigh and I are very pleased, with our good friend Christine Traxler, to present cd release concerts for our record, Cuan, on February 16th, 17th, and 18th in Lakewood, Seattle, and Snohomish, Washington, respectively.  Ticket information can be found by clicking on each of the cities, and we hope you are able to join us in celebration.

Secondly there is a bunch of great travel coming up in March and April.  I will be singing in an all-star Irish music show called Heart of Erin in California joining the likes of Stuart Mason and John Weed  from Molly’s Revenge, and bouzouki and whistle player Zac Legér over the week of St. Patrick’s Day in the Santa Cruz area.  If you or anyone you know will be in the area, please let them know!  Info at Molly’s Revenge.  April finds me back on the east coast from Boston to DC, so as soon as I know the details about that, I’ll certainly let you know!

Much closer to home, and also very exciting, will be a lovely house concert in Eugene on February 11th with traditional singer and songwriter Matthew Hayward-Macdonald.  Please email me for details and I will put you in touch with our hosts, or you can find their information on the image below and contact them directly.  This is my favorite kind of show, with one of my favorite colleagues and friends.  It would be nice to see you there as well.

with love,
colleen

We’ve just put up the liner notes for the fourth track on Cuan if you’d like to have a look and tell us what you think!

Matthew Hayward-Macdonald and I getting ready for a lovely Robert Burns Night on January 27th at the Newberg Music Center and we hope you can join us for a night of songs and poems from Scotland.

Shows have been confirmed for Lakewood, Seattle, and Snohomish, Washington over President’s Day weekend so tell all of your friends and come out for a night of Irish music.  We’ve added fiddler Christine Traxler to the lineup for these concerts!  Fun!!

There are a bunch of exciting upcoming shows that I wanted to quickly tell you about and some new liner notes.

Jan 13, Colleen Raney & Michael Jodell sing some classic country songs from 6-8pm at The Grant House in Vancouver, WA

Jan 14, Colleen Raney joins Molly’s Revenge and Rebecca Lomnicky for a great night of Celtic music at Winona Grange in Tualatin, OR.  Click here for more information.

Jan 27, Colleen Raney & Matthew Hayward-Macdonald celebrate Robert Burns Night at Newberg Music Center.

Colm and I just put together our third set of Cuan liner notes.  In this set we talk about The Flower of Magherally and you get to see my handwriting! (Which is somewhat more orderly than my brain, sadly).  Take a look!

Shows have been confirmed for Lakewood and Snohomish, Washington and are in the works for Seattle WA, Santa Cruz, CA and Pleasanton CA.  Stay tuned!!

with love, colleen

The second set of liner notes have been finished and can be read on Colm’s website.  This time we both talk about the song Lord Franklin, which is the second track on Cuan.  Have a look and drop us a note if you have any questions or comments.  We’d love to hear from you!