By Earle Hitchner

Special guest will be Joe Derrane himself, who will play a few tunes and take questions from the audience.

"Ceol" Columnist, IRISH ECHO newspaper, New York City

Contributing Music Writer, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Instructor, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, USA

For much of the 20th century, many American-born players of Irish traditional music were often considered little more than competent clones or acolytes of Michael Coleman, James Morrison, P. J. Conlon, John McKenna, and other seminal Irish immigrant players in America. But not long after World War Two, a Boston-born teenager would help to shatter that assumption. In 1948, first-generation Irish American button accordionist Joe Derrane, still a high-school senior, recorded sixteen 78-rpm solo sides that established a new benchmark for stateside box playing--a benchmark never to be surpassed, except by himself. On May 29, 1994, after a hiatus of four decades on the button accordion, Derrane re-emerged in spectacular fashion at an Irish festival in Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia. Several critics regard it as the greatest comeback in the history of Irish traditional music, and since then Joe Derrane has recorded six albums strengthening his earlier stature as Irish America’s button accordion player nonpareil. With video clips and recordings, this lecture will explore how the unique talent, improbable return, and career renewal of Joe Derrane belie U.S. writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous truism that “there are no second acts in American lives.” The second act of Joe Derrane’s musical life, in fact, now dwarfs the first.

Joe Derrane will perform and take questions during the lecture
Seinnfidh Joe Derrane ceol agus glacfidh sé le ceisteanna ag an léacht.

EARLE HITCHNER:

BIOGRAPHY

Called “arguably the pre-eminent Celtic critic in this country” by The Boston Globe (October 1, 2004), “the dean of American Irish music writers” by Dirty Linen magazine (June/July 2002), and “the foremost Irish music critic in the United States” by the Boston Irish Reporter newspaper (August 2007), Earle Hitchner also writes with distinction about country, alt-country, bluegrass, old-timey, jazz, rock, pop, folk, blues, world, and classical music. He is the author of more than a thousand published articles, reviews, columns, book essays, album liner notes, and children’s books, and has won several awards for his newspaper and magazine writing as well as for his radio broadcasting work.

At Drew University Earle is currently teaching “Old Modes, New Media: Journalism at a Crossroads,” a graduate journalism course he conceived and designed. At The City University of New York’s Lehman College he taught “Critical Review Writing,” an advanced undergraduate journalism course. At the State University of New York’s Rockland Community College he taught “Detective-Mystery Fiction,” an undergraduate English course, and is currently teaching “Themes in Irish Literature,” an undergraduate English course. At Marist College he taught “College Writing I” and “College Writing II,” freshman composition courses.

Along with former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins and New York University Global Distinguished Professor Mick Moloney, Earle is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Irish-American Studies of The City University of New York. During April 19-22, 2006, at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, he presented a scholarly paper at the American Conference for Irish Studies National Conference, for which he received a competitive travel grant. Earle also gave a plenary presentation at “The Construction of Irish-American Identity” conference during June 22-23, 2006, at Drew University in Madison, N.J.; a lecture on September 22, 2006, at the Boston College Center for Irish Programs and Irish Studies’ Gaelic Roots Music, Song, and Dance Workshop and Lecture Series in Chestnut Hill, Mass.; and a scholarly paper at the American Conference for Irish Studies National Conference, sponsored by the Institute for Irish-American Studies of The City University of New York at CUNY Graduate Center during April 18-21, 2007.

Earle has written dozens of feature articles and reviews on music for The Wall Street Journal, one of the most prestigious and largest newspapers (2,000,000-plus readers) in North America. Since December 1991, he has been writing regularly on Irish and other Celtic music for the Irish Echo newspaper (100,000-plus readers), the largest-circulation weekly of its kind in North America, for which he is currently “Ceol” columnist.

From March 2000 to December 2001, Earle was a contributing writer to Sonicnet, the on-line music magazine owned and operated by MTV; from February 1999 to December 2006, Earle was a contributor to Irish Music magazine (Dublin, Ireland); from 1985 to 1998, he was a columnist on Celtic traditional music for the California Traditional Music Society Journal; and from March 1991 to December 1992, he was a contributing editor to An Gael magazine.

Earle has also written music articles and reviews for Billboard (Los Angeles, Calif.), The Oxford American (Oxford, Miss.), New Choices (Pleasantville, N.Y.), Details (New York City), Reader’s Digest Your Family (Pleasantville, N.Y.), Treoir (Dublin), Irish America (New York City), Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts), Rhythm Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and Concertina & Squeezebox (Ithaca, New York) magazines. Among the many albums for which he’s written liner notes is the Boston Pops Orchestra’s The Celtic Album (RCA Victor/BMG Records), nominated for a Grammy award as the best classical crossover album of 1998.

Earle wrote six essays for The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, a comprehensive, scholarly reference source published by Cork University Press (Ireland) and New York University Press (USA) in spring 1999, and he is also the only full-time American journalist to be the subject of a separate entry in the book. In recognition of the quality of his writing on Irish traditional music and musicians, Earle was given a special presentation by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the largest organization of Irish musicians in the world, both at their 1992 North American Conference in Montreal and at their 2001 North American Conference in Toronto. From August 1989 through October 1991 in the Irish Voice newspaper, Earle wrote “Sounds Irish,” the first weekly full-page column on Irish traditional music in a major Irish-American newspaper.

To date, Earle has written liner notes for 61 albums. They are John Whelan and Eileen Ivers’s Fresh Takes (Green Linnet Records, 1987), the best-selling compilation of The Celts Rise Again (Green Linnet Records, 1990), John Whelan’s From the Heart (Oenoke Records, 1990), the compilation of Heart of the Gaels (Green Linnet Records, 1992), Paddy O’Brien and Séamus Connolly’s The Banks of the Shannon (Green Linnet Records, 1993), the Billboard magazine, top-ten charted compilation of Celtic Odyssey (Narada/Virgin Records, 1993), Kevin Burke, Johnny Cunningham, and Christian Lemaitre’s The Celtic Fiddle Festival (Green Linnet Records, 1993), Wrap the Green Flag: Favorites of the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem (Sony Records, 1994), James Keane’s That’s the Spirit (Green Linnet Records, 1994), Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan’s A Tribute to Michael Coleman (Green Linnet Records, 1994), John McGann’s Upslide (Green Linnet Records, 1995), Billboard magazine’s #6 most popular “World Music” album of the year Celtic Legacy (Narada/Virgin Records, 1995), Joe Derrane’s Give Us Another (Green Linnet Records, 1995), Celtic Voices: Women of Song (Narada/Virgin Records, 1995), Christmas Blessings (Narada/Virgin Records, 1995), John Whelan’s Celtic Reflections: Misty-Eyed Morning (Narada/Virgin Records, 1996), Joe Derrane’s Return to Inis Mór (Green Linnet Records, 1996), Solas (Shanachie Records, 1996), Celtic Treasure: The Legacy of Turlough O’Carolan (Narada/Virgin Records, 1996), Celtic Spirit (Narada/Virgin Records, 1996), The Best of Altan (Green Linnet Records, 1997), Karan Casey’s Songlines (Shanachie Records, 1997), Dance of the Celts (Narada/Virgin Records, 1997), Heart of the Celts (Narada/Virgin Records, 1997), Jerry O’Sullivan’s The Gift (Shanachie Records, 1998), Joe Derrane’s The Tie That Binds (Shanachie Records, 1998), Brave Hearts (Narada/Virgin Records, 1998), the Boston Pops Orchestra’s The Celtic Album (RCA Victor/BMG Records, 1998), Moving Cloud’s Foxglove (Green Linnet Records, 1998), Celtic Treasure II: The Living Legacy of Turlough O’Carolan (Narada/Virgin Records, 1998), The Celtic Fiddle of Liz Knowles (Lyrichord Discs, 1998), Pierre Schryer and Dermot Byrne’s Two Worlds United (New Canadian Records, 1999), Kim Robertson’s The Spiral Gate (Narada/Virgin Records, 1999), Dordán’s Celtic Aire (Narada/Virgin Records, 1999), Patty Furlong: Traditional Irish Music on Button Accordion (1999), Fits of Passion (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2000; 8,000 stores in USA), Danú’s Think Before You Think (Shanachie Records, 2000), Manus McGuire’s Saffron and Blue (Green Linnet Records, 2000), Kevin Crawford’s In Good Company (Green Linnet Records, 2001), John Whelan’s Celtic Fire (Narada/Virgin Records, 2001), Kim Robertson’s Dance to Your Shadow (Narada/Virgin Records, 2001), Brian Conway’s First Through the Gate (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2002), Lúnasa (Compass Records, 2002), John Whelan’s From the Heart (JAR Productions, 2002; a reissue with new notes and tracks), The Best of the Dubliners (Sony/Epic/Legacy, 2002), The Best of the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem (Sony/Epic/Legacy, 2002), Alan and John Kelly’s Fourmilehouse (Blackbox Music, 2002; Compass Records, 2002), Maeve Donnelly (issued in Ireland, 2002), Winifred Horan & Friends’ Pleasures of Home (Cracker Barrel, 2002), Narada Presents the Best of Celtic Christmas (Narada/Virgin Records, 2002; executive producer and compiler of this CD as well), April Verch’s From Where I Stand (Rounder Records, 2003), Celtic Compass (Compass Records, 2003), Séamus Fay’s Cavan’s Lilter (Cavan Music, 2003), Tulla Céilí Band’s Echoes of Erin (Dublin Records/Irish Music Corporation, 2004), Meet Paddy Canny, All-Ireland Champion—Violin (Dublin Records/Irish Music Corporation, 2004), The Fabulous Kilfenora Céili Band (Dublin Records/Irish Music Corporation, 2004), Jerry O’Sullivan’s O’Sullivan Meets O’Farrell (Jerry O’Sullivan Music, 2004), Gerry O’Connor’s No Place Like Home (Myriad Media, 2004), Joe Derrane, Séamus Connolly, and John McGann’s The Boston Edge (Mapleshade Records, 2004), John Gordon, Ben Lennon, Charlie Lennon, Brian Rooney, Maurice Lennon, and Séamus Quinn’s Within a Mile of Kilty (Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 2005), and Michael Rooney and June McCormack’s Land’s End (Doorla Records, 2006).

Earle was also the main compiler of music for Green Linnet Records’ The Twentieth-Anniversary Collection double-CD release in 1996.

In 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, Earle received a prestigious appointment to the awards nominating committee in the Celtic/British Isles category of the Association for Independent Music (AFIM), formerly known as the National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers (NAIRD). In 2002, he also became a judge in AFIM's bluegrass, traditional folk, and contemporary folk awards categories.

Earle Hitchner has been an emcee, presenter, panelist, moderator, lecturer, and speaker at many music festivals, concerts, showcases, conferences, workshops, music schools, universities, and colleges over the years.

Among the universities and colleges at which he’s lectured, guest-taught, or emceed are Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York; New York University in Manhattan; Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Boston University in Massachusetts; Purchase College/State University of New York in Purchase, N.Y.; College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York; Lehman College at The City University of New York in the Bronx, New York; and Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, New Jersey.

Earle has also presided, spoken, emceed, or been a featured participant at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School of Music in Bunbeg, County Donegal, Ireland; Éigse na Laoi Festival presented by University College Cork in Cork City, Ireland; Milwaukee Irish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; New York Irish History Roundtable’s “Keeping the Tradition Alive: History of Irish Music and Dance in New York City” at the Museum of the City of New York; East Coast Music Awards and Conference in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada; NEMO Music Showcase and Conference in Boston, Massachusetts; Irish Folk Festival in Glen Echo Park, Maryland, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Vienna, Virginia, and Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Gaithersburg, Maryland; Lowell Folk Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts; Gaelic Roots Summer School and Festival at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Irish Traditional Music Festival sponsored by Manhattan’s Irish Arts Center in Snug Harbor, Staten Island, New York, and the Bronx, New York; Irish Connections Festival in Canton, Massachusetts; Irish Traditional Dance Festival in Mineola, New York; Philadelphia Ceili Group’s Irish Festival in Northeast Philadelphia, Pa.; Woodside on the Move Irish Festival in Queens, New York; Irish Traditional Music Festival in East Durham, New York; Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireannn’s 2005 Mid-Atlantic Region hall of fame induction ceremony, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey; Brooklyn Arts Council concerts of Irish traditional music and dance; Celtic traditional concerts sponsored by the William Carlos Williams Center for the Arts in Rutherford, New Jersey; and Celtic traditional concerts and special events at the Lovinger Theater on the campus of Lehman College at The City University of New York, Bronx, New York; Town Hall, New York City; Bardavon 1869 Opera House, Poughkeepsie, New York; The Turning Point, Piermont, New York; Towne Crier Café, Pawling, New York; Kutsher’s Country Club, Monticello, New York; and Friar Tuck Inn, Catskill, New York.

From 1984 to 1989, Earle was the host and programmer of the “Celtic Hour,” a three-hour Saturday afternoon radio show in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area that was devoted to Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Manx, Breton, Galician, Canadian, and other traditional music. It was considered one of the finest and most influential radio programs on Celtic traditional music in America. In 1986, the “Celtic Hour” was nominated for the prestigious Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation award for excellence in radio broadcasting. And in May 1989, a month after it left the air, the “Celtic Hour” was similarly cited for broadcasting excellence by the Mid-Atlantic Region Board of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann on a formal plaque presented to Earle and his wife, Nancy, who usually engineered the live-music shows. More than 150 musical guests appeared live on the “Celtic Hour” during its five-year run. They included Jean Redpath, the Boys of the Lough, Liam O’Flynn, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Ossian, Johnny Cunningham, Paddy Glackin, Noel Hill, Altan, Eric Bogle, P.J. and Martin Hayes, Séamus Connolly, James Keane, Dan Ar Bras, Joe Cormier, Luka Bloom, Hamish Moore, Tommy Sands, Fintan Vallely, Bríd Harper, Rod Paterson, Dísirt Tola, the House Band, Mick Moloney, Alasdair Fraser, Séamus Egan, Alistair Anderson, Jimmy Keane, and Seán O’Driscoll.

Earle appeared in Guardians of the Spirit, a 1994 documentary on Irish traditional musicians that was broadcast on PBS-TV; As Played by Joe Derrane, a 1994 documentary about the comeback of Boston-born button-accordion sensation Joe Derrane; John Whelan: A Celtic Seisiún, a 1998 documentary combining concert and recording studio footage on the seven-time All-Ireland champion musician that was broadcast on PBS-TV; and From Shore to Shore: Retrospective Reels, a 2006 documentary of additional performances and interviews originally taped for From Shore to Shore: Irish Traditional Music in New York City. This last-mentioned video documentary was produced in 1993 in association with The Irish Arts Center in Manhattan and aired on PBS-TV.

Other professional writing by Earle Hitchner has been published in such magazines as Reader’s Digest, Publishers Weekly, Attenzione, and Business Week Careers, as well as in the journal National Productivity Review, for which he was the main featured business book reviewer from 1992 to 2000.

Earle has been mentioned and/or quoted in articles or reviews published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Newsday, The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland), The Record (Hackensack, N.J.), The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Poughkeepsie Journal (N.Y.), Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.), Le Soleil (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada), The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.), The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.), and Taconic Press (Millbrook, N.Y.) newspapers. He’s also been mentioned, cited, or quoted in Hot Press (Ireland’s equivalent to America’s Rolling Stone), Dance (New York City), Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), Dutchess (Millbrook, N.Y.), and Lehman Lightning (Bronx, N.Y.) magazines, and in such books as Deep Community by National Public Radio critic Scott Alarik, Can’t You Hear Me Callin’: The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass by Richard D. Smith, See You at the Hall by former Berklee Press music book editor Susan Gedutis, and Irish Boston by Michael P. Quinlin.

Earle has been a guest on WFUV-FM, a National Public Radio affiliate in New York City; WPKN-FM in Bridgeport, Conn.; WNTN-AM and WMEX-AM in Boston, Mass.; Cork Radio in Cork City, Ireland; and CBC Radio One in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

He is the author of more than a dozen published books for children, and a number of his published articles on music are posted on the Celtic Cafe website at http://www.celticcafe.com/Hitchner/index.htm and http://www.celticcafe.com/Hitchner/Joe_Derrane/index.htm. In addition, a 70-minute scholarly lecture on music delivered by Earle at Boston College on September 22, 2006, can be seen and heard at http://frontrow.bc.edu/program/hitchner/.