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!

Within the next couple of weeks, I’ll begin properly using the mailing list that has been so diligently collected over the last few years and hopefully start the planning to get around the country a bit to see some of my dear friends and fans in places other than the Pacific Northwest (which, today, is as rainy as its stereotype).

Colm and I started a project today that we’ve been talking about for a while.  He explains it more in his writing, but essentially we are taking some time and compiling liner notes for our first duo recording, Cuan.  Please take a look if you’d like to and let us know if you have any questions or thoughts – we’d love to hear them.  Cuan Liner Notes.

I wish you the very best for the new year – health, joy, growth, love, and light.

with love, colleen