Launched in 2009, the annual event aims to keep the memory of An Gorta Mor, Ireland’s Great Hunger, alive while also paying tribute to the outstanding accomplishments of the Irish men and women who left their homeland to escape certain death by starvation and illness, bravely starting new lives abroad and laying the foundations for the now 70 million-strong Irish diaspora.

The Irish Famine Commemoration, which will run from November 6 – 9, is being organized by a board containing a cross-section of prominent figures from Louisiana's Irish community and Irish Consul General to Atlanta Paul Gleeson.

Black 47 will be bidding farewell to Cincinnati at The Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati on Thursday, October 9th at 7pm. The IHC is located at 3905 Eastern Ave in Columbia Tusculum.

Last gig in Connolly's this Saturday - Who's coming? Help release the new CD RISE UP - The Political Songs. On stage 10pm.

• Sept 26 Great Scott, Allston, MA
• Sept 27 Connolly's, NYC
• Oct 7 Kent Stage, Kent, OH
• Oct 8 Byrne's Pub, Columbus, OH
• Oct 9 Irish Heritage Center, Cincinnati, OH
• Oct 10 Rex Theatre, Pittsburgh
• Oct 11 Rocky Sullivan's, Brooklyn, NY
• Oct 16 Jammin' Java, Vienna, VA
• Oct 17 Emmett's Castle at Blue Hill, Pearl River, NY

Lisa Kasdan vocals
Bill Bloom guitar and vocals
Dave Abrams guitar
John Ehlis guitar and mandolin
Bruce Agte bass
Matt Hauser drums
Fred Parcells trombone

On Saturday, September 20, the farewell tour makes a stop at BergenPAC (30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, NJ) with special guest The Bill Weevils.

It’s getting close to the end of the road for the New York-based band Black 47, which plans to play its last shows ever in November. It’s possible that its show this Saturday at BergenPAC in Englewood will be its last Jersey appearance.

Along with Kirwan, the current configuration includes Geoff Blythe (sax), Fred Parcells (trombone, whistle), Thomas Hamlin (drums), Joseph Mulvanerty (uilleann pipes, bodran) and Joseph "Bearclaw" Burcan (bass). After 25 years, the band is hanging up its pipes and beer mugs, but once the choice was made, funny things began to happen, like a last record. "Songs began to flow out," Kirwan remembers, "it seemed like it had been dammed up, it flowed out into the 'Last Call' album."

One last musical statement. One more dance on the New York City skyline. One last call for Black 47.

New York’s Black 47 released Last Call on March 4, 2014 and it is just that: their last call. After 25 years the band made a decision to stand down while they are still going strong and to reinforce that fact made a final musical statement with a solid 13-track album.

A year ago, after an invigorating performance for an exuberant crowd at the South Buffalo Irish Festival, Larry Kirwan, the lead singer of the popular Irish rock band Black 47, had an unusual thought:

Maybe it was time to wrap it up.

A year later, with the band headed back to the South Buffalo Irish Festival on Saturday near the end of its yearlong “Last Call” farewell tour, Kirwan recalled his thought process.

That night a year ago, he said, “The band sounded so great. On the way back I had that feeling you get after a good gig, and they’re all good gigs, but there was something about this one, about South Buffalo. It’s a bastion of Irishness, and yet here Black 47 is a rock band with the big brass sound, and everyone loves it.”

As he mused on the show, Kirwan said his thoughts turned to the future. “I always wondered how Black 47 would end, because I could never see an end in sight for it. We were always on to the next album or on to the next gig, or the next controversy or whatever. But on the way back I was thinking, maybe this is the way it should happen, it should go out with us just feeling really great about the whole thing.”

“We're inextricably linked to Hoboken because of the closure of many bars in the town after an outdoor show that we did back in the summer of 1994.”

Accounts differ on what actually went down that day, but Kirwan’s version is that, “then-Chief of Police Carmen LaBruno grew alarmed when he saw the huge crowd who were—by the way—behaving themselves admirably. He ‘suggested’ that we stop the show… in my opinion that would have been madness—and I still stand by that, as the mood could have changed in moments.”

This focused farewell tour will bring Black 47 to the Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati on Thursday October 9. "We are extremely fortunate to be included in their farewell tour," says Margaret McGurk, a supporter of the IHC.

Milwaukee Irish Fest, August 14-17, Maier Festival Park (irishfest.com)

Starting Thursday, the 34th edition of Irish Fest opens its 4-day run at Maier Festival Park (aka the Summerfest Grounds) on Milwaukee’s Lakefront. Generally regarded as one of the world’s largest celebrations of Celtic culture, the festival features music, dance, theater, history, sports, Celtic Canines, cuisine…not just from Ireland, but from all Celtic lands, including Scotland, Canada, Australia, Wales…even France and Spain!

And of course, a wide array of great music acts will be on hand, including returning favorites like Gaelic Storm, Milwaukee’s Frogwater and Athas, fabulous Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll, Different Drums of Ireland and Black 47 (in their Irish Fest farewell performances!), brilliant accordionist Sharon Shannon, the high-energy Spanish piper Carlos Nunez, Milwaukee’s rowdy Reilly and Whiskey of the Damned, the lusty vocals of the High Kings, longtime local acts Blarney and Leahy’s Luck, and many, many more.

They played more gigs at Shea Stadium than The Beatles, shut down the city of Hoboken, appeared multiple times on Leno, Letterman & O'Brien, starred in a movie with their fans Matt Dillon and Danny Glover, helped spring the Guilford Four and the Birmingham Six from British prisons, saved an Irish immigrant church from the wrecking ball.

The Bill Weevils are a folk-rock group sporting members Lisa Kasdan on vocals, Bill Bloom on guitar and vocals, Dave Abrams on guitar, John Ehlis on guitar and mandolin, Bruce Agte on bass, Matt Hauser on drums and Fred Parcells on trombone.

As we head into the band's final three months many shows will be our last in your area before lights out at BB Kings on Nov. 15th. New shows are being added every week, so check in on www.black47.com Tour If you're missing a CD or t-shirt then visit SHOP at the same site.

New shows added recently:
Aug 28, The Inn, Long Beach, NY
Oct 8, Pat Byrne's, Columbus, OH
Oct 9, Irish Center, Cincinnati, OH
Oct 10, Rex Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 19, Infinity Hall, Hartford, CT
Oct 26, Towne Cryer, Beacon, NY

Take care of yourselves and see you Friday night at our last South Side Chicago gig at Beverly Arts Center and Milwaukee on Saturday for Irish Fest.

Garcia’s, with its bar stretching a decent portion of one side of the venue, was filled with a typical evening pub crowd relaxing and loosening up a bit. The stage was set for the entertainment of the night – a house band perhaps? Well, that’s what it felt like as the folks were hanging out until Irish rockers Black 47 took the stage there on July 31. Though, there was a special anticipation in the air as Black 47 winds down its career later this year while the music is still ripe and fresh, with just a few dozen more shows to go.

Setlist: Green Suede Shoes Celtic Rocker Wedding Reel Johnny Comes A’Courtin’ Culchie Prince Fanatic Heart Rockin’ In The Bronx Five Points Fire of Freedom The Night the Showbands Died James Connolly Salsa O’Keefe Funky Ceili Encore: Like A Rolling Stone

Black 47 capped off a frantic St. Patrick’s Day season with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon http://goo.gl/ljb2DW after playing to a sold out house at BB King’s in Times Square and starting their morning as special guests on VH1 where they performed Salsa O’Keefe http://goo.gl/qcKOp7 ….it was an incredible way to spend their last St. Patrick’s together as a band. Luckily for fans, the tour continues on with shows every week until the finale on Nov. 15th at BB Kings, exactly 25 years after their first gig in The Bronx.

Formed by Chris Byrne an NYPD detective and Kirwan, a playwright, Black 47 – who took their name from the worst year of the Irish Potato Famine – caused an immediate stir by introducing original music and political context into the Irish bar scene. Black 47 was soon signed to EMI Records,Funky Ceili lit up Alternative Radio and MTV, and the band became a feature on Leno, Letterman and O’Brien.

Geoff Blythe (saxophones), Fred Parcells (trombone/whistle) & Thomas Hamlin (drums) are the other three original members. Joseph Mulvanerty(uilleann pipes/bodhran) joined when Chris Byrne left in 2000, and Joseph “Bearclaw” Burcaw (bass) came aboard in 2007.

THE LAST ROCKS OFF CRUISE
On Thursday, July 10, under an almost full moon, Black 47 will take a last cruise on the good ship, The Jewel, around New York Harbor. Hear James Connolly beneath the Statue of Liberty, jig with Bridie and the baby under the Brooklyn Bridge, kiss the Culchie Prince, or just enjoy a cool night out. Join us!

IRISH NIGHT WITH THE METS AT CITIFIELD
Black 47 played Shea Stadium more times than The Beatles. On Friday, Aug. 1st they expect to go one up on the Fab Four at Citifield. Come to Irish Night and see The Mets/Black 47 send The Giants on the "road to ruin."

After twenty five years Black 47 has decided to go out with a bang. This CD is an achetypical collage where Jack Kerouac meets up with William Butler Yeats and James Joyce on the mean streets of Americay.It is a celebration of the end of one era. Where all the old paths have led to dead ends. And yet the truth in history must be remembered.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Black 47 over the course of our St. Patrick's Season Tour and for those who didn't see the band on the Tonight Show here's another chance. We also played Salsa O'Keefe earlier in the day on VH1

For me, two songs-oddly enough in sequence- stand out especially. USA 2014 shows just how skewed the American Dream has really become, the lopsided nature of society there-replicated elsewhere too, it must be said-laid bare in searing lyrics and music. The Night the Showbands Died, which has as its core the Miami Showband murders in 1975, is a lament not only for those who died, but also for the death of our innocence, in an era when we hung like limpets to the words of journalists travelling in the back of the Transits the length and breadth of Ireland and -during Lent, the U.K.

On one day a year, they congregated outside St. Patrick's Cathedral off Prince Street in New York City and marched in celebration. To some of these immigrant Irish and their American born children it was a religious occasion, but to most the gathering was an affirmation of their right, not only to survive but to thrive in their adopted country. That's what I sense on St. Patrick's Day - an echo from a time when the Irish were despised outsiders. And that's why I go along with the raucous energy, the excitement and even the green beer, the plastic shamrocks and the ubiquitous leprechaun.

I didn't always feel that way. When I arrived from Ireland, these manifestations of Irish-America were at best embarrassing. Back home, our own celebrations were rigid and religious; we did sport actual sprigs of shamrock but there was no beer, green or otherwise on this gloomy church holiday. The Parade up Fifth Avenue and the ensuing bacchanal seemed downright pagan by comparison.

I had other immigrant battles of my own ahead. Black 47 was formed to create music that would reflect the complexity of immigrant and contemporary Irish-American life and to banish When Irish Eyes Are Smiling off to a well earned rest at the bottom of Galway Bay. This idea met with not a little resistance in the north Bronx and the south sides of Boston and Chicago; but when irate patrons would yell out in the middle of a reggae/reel "Why can't yez sing somethin' Irish?" I would return the compliment with, "I'm from Ireland, I wrote it! That makes it Irish!"

With time and familiarity, Irish-America came to accept and even treasure Black 47, probably more for our insistence that each generation bears responsibility for solving the political problems in the North of Ireland, than for recasting Danny Boy as a formidable gay construction worker. I, in turn, learned to appreciate the traditions of the community I had joined along with the reasons for the ritualized celebration of our patron saint. And now on St. Patrick's Day, no matter what stage I'm on, mixed in with the swirl of guitars, horns, pipes and drums, I hear an old, but jarring, memory of a people rejoicing as they rose up from their knees.

Fans from across the tri-state area will descend on Empire City to see the performance before Black 47 makes its scheduled St. Patrick’s Day appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in New York City on March 17. The band will keep the St. Patrick’s Day party going with a performance that same night at BB King’s on 42nd Street where their show will be broadcast live by SiriusXM.

"It's kinda interesting being back in Yonkers," Kirwan says during an interview at Empire City. "Some of our first gigs were in a place called Fibber McGee's on McLean Avenue. It's good to come back."

Rather than wrap up with "greatest hits" gigs, the band decided to record one more album, "Last Call," which came out earlier this month. It offers a slate of new songs like rap-rock farewell "US of A 2014" and Latin-flavored "Salsa O'Keefe" to balance longtime fan favorites like "Funky Ceili" and "Maria's Wedding."

The album also introduces a new singer on the reggae-tinged "Johnny Comes a' Courtin": 18-year-old Purchase College student Oona Roche, niece of folk music trio The Roches.

Larry explains what a Culchie Prince is

Front of house

Arriving at the gig

Arriving at the Viacom building to tape 2 songs for air on St. Paddys Day

One more combined Black 47/Celtic Crush Newsletter during March Madness!

Black 47 will appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on March 17th. We'll be shuttling between BB Kings and the NBC studios most of that evening. SiriusXM will also broadcast our last St. Patrick's Day show live from BB's.

Thanks so much to all of you who've come to the recent shows. We've been having a blast, and remember - feel free to take pictures or tape the show - they're neve the same. See you at World Café, Thursday; Stone Pony, Friday; Ocean Mist, Saturday; Empire City Casino, Sunday; BB King's Monday. Some of these will be our last gigs in those clubs, so you can be assured, they will be special.

encore Gloria

St. Patrick's Day

The Reels

Black 47 to appear on The Tonight Show on March 17th with Jimmy Fallon. They will also perform the same night at BB King’s on 42nd Street where their show will be broadcast live by SiriusXM. It’s been quite a year so far for the band who will do their final show in New York exactly 25 years after their first gig in the Bronx in November 1989.

The band will also appear on VHI’s Morning Buzz with Nick Lachey. They have also just received the good news that two of their most influential albums, Home of the Brave and Green Suede Shoes will be re-released by Universal Records later this month.

On Last Call, Kirwan was committed to honor the New York music scene as well in his choice of collaborators. “Christine Ohlman has been on our records for years and is an important voice on Black 47,” Kirwan says. “Mike Fazio playing the atmospherics has really added an element of the band over the years as well. Oona Roche, a niece of the Roches, did some great work as well and it was important that these folks be part of the last call, particularly Christine. We always had this big support among New York musicians and it's great to have them in there.”

Black 47 Serves Up Last Call as Fans Drink in Last Days of the Band in Paramus. A SoundPress.net Feature Article by Rich and Laura Lynch

Heralding from New York City, Black 47 rocks hard for the passion of music and politics. Black 47 concerts are animated affairs. Their songs are a potent brew of Celtic rock, folk, jazz and reggae topped off with rousing lyrics about civil rights, Ireland, urban unrest and war. Black 47 is a band that has boldly spoken their mind for the past 25 years but they plan to go their separate ways in the fall of 2014.

Larry announces that Black 47 will be on Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show" on St Patrick's Day.

It was late last summer when Larry Kirwan first thought about bringing the saga of Black 47 to a close.

"We were coming back from a gig in Buffalo, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, the band sounded really good,' " the frontman for the Celtic-rock sextet said from his home in New York. "And I thought, 'This would be a good time to call it a day - go out when you're sounding really good rather than for other reasons.' . . . Everyone in the band was down with it. It feels like a great time" to finish.

So Black 47 will end in November, exactly 25 years after beginning with the simple ambition of "Rockin' the Bronx." The band went on to do more than that. With a big sound incorporating both uilleann pipes and horns, and spicing the rock with rap and reggae, Black 47 hit like a galvanic blend of the E Street Band and the Clash (Joe Strummer was a big fan).

Black 47, with Barleyjuice, plays at 7 p.m. Thursday March 13 at World Cafe Live

St. Patrick's Day is traditionally celebrated by raising a pint or chowin' down on some corned beef and cabbage. Why not shamrock it up by taking in a Celtic-flavored concert? Here are five shows that will help you kick-start your Irish pride.

WHEN|WHERE 8 p.m. Saturday March 8, YMCA Boulton Center in Bay Shore

I was sitting shotgun on DJ duty during a long volleyball road trip back in high school when I put on a new tape (yes, cassette days) that I was loving of a band I had recently seen playing live at SUNY Albany (yes, pre Internet days). The group was Black 47, the album Fire of Freedom . After about 30 seconds of "Livin' In America" my witty coach who was driving commented "Irish Music is a step below Irish Food", my response was "This isn't Irish Music, it's New York City music."

With St. Patrick's Day on the horizon I wanted to take a second to showcase one of the better albums that my coach would lump in as "Irish Music". Sure you can find loads of traditional songs in audio form or in books, you can find Irish bands who update the traditions in punk-ish or even prog-rock ways but Black 47 plays Irish music in a New York way.

The group during the recording of the album was Dave Conrad (bass), Thomas Hamlin (drums), Fred Parcells (Trombone), Geoffrey Blythe (Sax), Chris Byrne (Uilleann Pipes/Vocals) and Larry Kirwan (Guitars/Lead Vocals). The core played various whistles and programmed drum machines to go along with a host of backing vocalists but at it's center was the 6 players and their style.

After nearly 24 years as New York’s most popular and political celtic rock band, Black 47 is calling it quits this year, but not before they rock stages – including ShamrockFest’s – one last time on a final coast-to-coast tour.

The six-piece outfit not only brings a rollicking, upbeat musical game, their songs also delve deeply into issues that matter, ranging from longstanding political conflicts in Northern Ireland to civil rights and socioeconomic problems in their hometown of New York City. Frontman Larry Kirwin explained the band’s breakup as amicable.

We’re looking forward to raising a pint of Guinness to Black 47 at ShamrockFest one last time.

Don’t miss out on ShamrockFest March 22.

I think that the decision for the placement of Salsa O’Keefe by Black 47 as the opening track of The new album Last Call( and perhaps their final one before disbanding later this year) celebrates their years in the music world as the one and only band that fuses Irish and Reggae while maintaining that Punk Rock energy. Wow the last one? You mean to say that perhaps we will never get to hear them together again? But knowing how passionate these guys are, I am sure we will hear them in various incarnations. I guess it is not easy to carry a huge band like this especially in this changing landscape of the music industry. Maybe these questions will be answered once I hear from the main guy Larry Kirwan.

Last Call could be the unapologetic tongue in cheek take on what it means to be Irish in New York city. But when I read the press release it says here that : , (Last Call)explores the life and psyche of Irish playwright, Brendan Behan, model for Shane McGowan and a host of Celtic rockers. No wonder I feel that poetic passion all over the songs. Culchie Prince features a fantastic uilleann pipe, tin whistle and a whole bunch of traditional Irish instruments on top of what could be one for the greatest modern rock song in history.

Let the People In celebrates diversity and explores themes covering immigration. You check out the lyrics because I know this will stir up that patriotic string in your heart and reminds us the reasons why America is called the land of the free. There are thirteen songs and every song has its ‘style’ to show. It closes with an interesting cover of Stephen Foster’s Hard Times. Like I said this could be the last album you will hear from this legendary band so better grab your copies. We fans keep the music alive!

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Empire City Casino recently announced that it will be hosting its first pre-St. Patrick's Day performance to honor the Irish and will feature popular bands, Black 47 and Shilelagh Law on Sunday, March 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Shilelagh Law is known to embody New York Irish music. By interpreting traditional Irish music through a filter of urban grittiness, Shilelagh Law defines the Irish-American experience.

Thank you so much to the 599 people who joined us in raising the money to pay for the recording costs of Last Call, Black 47's final CD. This album is as much yours as ours and it's one of our best! We're close to finishing it and your pledge incentives will be going out soon. There are two days left to make a pledge - this will ensure that you will get a download copy of the album some time before the general public. Click on the link below to get information, enjoy previews and other information.

Many of us, including this writer, got the inspiration to crack open an Irish history book after hearing a Black 47 lyric. Last Call, the band’s final album, will have a bit of that as well.

This time, band leader Larry Kirwan shines the light on fellow author and playwright Brendan Behan on the track “The Ballad of Brendan Behan.” Kirwan sings, “Born in the glory of Russell Street/you grew up humming Amhrán na Bhfían/your auld lad did time in a Free State jail/for Republican activities beyond the pale/you were your Granny’s best boy, your Mammy’s best chap/you loved to cheer all the old ladies up/but your soul had been scorched with the Orange White and Green/you were the one and only Brendan Behan.”

NEWTON — Irish rock band Black 47 will perform at the Newton Theatre on Friday, March 1.

I'd like to wish you the very best in this holiday season and I hope you're all enjoying yourselves. Because I'm writing this on Christmas Day and am a bit rushed I'm combining the two newsletters but will add the Celtic Crush playlists at the bottom. Thank you all for supporting Black 47 and Celtic Crush in 2013 and I hope you'll have a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2014! As a gift we'd like to invite you to a FREE DOWNLOAD of New Year's Eve in Olde Tymes Square from the LAST CALL recordings.

larry kirwan

Hard Times to reopen at the cell from Jan. 9th to Feb. 2nd

LAST CALL! Getting close!

“In the film, I use Johnny Cash’s 1965 recording of Danny Boy as the prism to investigate the appeal of the song to country artists. His daughter, Rosanne Cash, speaks of why it’s such a natural fit for poor white southerners and their tough, intense lives. While Larry Kirwan of the Irish-American band, Black 47, explains how 19th Century Irish immigrants brought their fiddles and music to the Appalachians. This subsequently influenced bluegrass – then country. With an ancient Irish tune, the Londonderry Air, at the song’s musical heart, it was all beginning to make sense.

“Songs like Danny Boy that last 100 years are rare. They appear simple, but are beautifully complicated. You need a bunch of keys to unlock the mysteries of Danny Boy, but I believe one of its most essential elements is its emotional dialectic – loss and hope, joy and pain, sunshine and shadow – and these lie at the very centre of all our lives.”