Paddy Moloney is the uillean pipes player as well as the founder of The Chieftains, leaders in traditional Irish tunes. Currently nearing the end of their 33rd North American tour, The Chieftains have no intention of slowing down. On Thursday, March 8, The Chieftains bring the tour to Milwaukee at the Riverside Theatre.
While waiting for a delayed flight, Paddy Moloney made time to talk to OnMilwaukee.com about the tour, the music and the future of The Chieftains.
OMC: Hey there, Paddy! Can you tell us a little about your current tour? Who's joined you this time around?
PM: We've got a lot to offer this time. It's a very big show. We have this group Líadan, from the University of Limerick, the Irish World Music School, where we set up a scholarship for Derek Bell (late member of The Chieftains) in his name, you know? They get up and sing a capella, they play instruments, harp, flute, and everything, and I've persuaded them to do dance, sean-nós the old style of dance. And they're wonderful; I bring them on towards the end of the first half.
Then we've got Ryan MacNeil, a keyboard player, he creates big orchestra sounds. We also have Triona Marshall, who can play her harp to her hearts content and she's fantastic. And then of course we have the lovely Cara Butler, who's been with us for 14 years; she's our Irish dancer.
OMC: You've been to Milwaukee many times now for events such as Irish Fest and on tour, how is this performance different?
PM: Oh, yes, many times. And this time we have a brand new dance, created by Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, it's a real showstopper at the end of the concert. I'm encouraging people to do the old favorites, but this time there is a lot of new material here. I would say 70 percent of the program is completely new for our audience. We're looking forward so much to coming back to Milwaukee where we have a great following.
OMC: You've been touring the United States for 33 years now; do you have any favorite stories from your tours?
PM: Well, it's always an experience. Something new happens everywhere. The experiences, I mean, they've been wonderful. Last year Elvis Costello joined us in Carnegie Hall. And this year we'll have a huge surprise at Carnegie Hall as well.
OMC: You mentioned Carnegie Hall, the last day of your tour. It ends on March 17, coincidence?
PM: That could be it, yeah! It will be our 22nd visit to Carnegie, and we always have a guest appear.
OMC: What can your Milwaukee fans expect for your performance?
PM: With our show coming up in Milwaukee, I have no fears any more, though I was a bit nervous, about getting in a new program with new people and that sort of thing. It works the brain, you know, with the whole fusion of the younger people joining in, and us old guys we need a bit of boot, you know? But we're not going to be leaving out of course solos by each members of the band. That could be the start of the program. So it's going to be a good show, you know?
OMC: Can you tell us a little bit about your last album?
PM: Our last album, "The Essential Chieftains", its a double CD, which has the first CD has the earlier days and the music we that created for the first 25 years and then after that the second CD features our collaborations with various folks. The song we did with Sting is on that album, too.
OMC: You've collaborated with many artists over the years such as Van Morrison, James Galway, Elvis Costello, just to name a few. Are there any artists that you have not yet collaborated with that you might look into?
PM: Well, one of the people that we had hoped to work with for "The Long Journey Home", that I had a song for, would be Bob Dylan. He was to play a song on that (soundtrack) ... we had plans but we ran out of time, so it was put on the burner.
OMC: How would you compare your Irish fan base to your American fan base?
PM: You know, we're playing more at home now than we ever did before. So many (fans) come back to us again. We could be touring around more, but then we wouldn't get to play more for the fellas back home in Ireland, which is wonderful. We put on the same program at home that we do at the United States. We deliver it the same way as well as just being ourselves.
You know, and people think of us that way, too; not flashing lights, just genuine solid humor, the music. They always enjoy it. You know, when we go to Japan, we've gone there several times now, and we have a huge fan base there as well. A lot of younger people, too. They're coming for a show, and our regular fans for many years; they always want to see what's happening, what's new with the music. And this year, you know, people have said we've been giving them the best show they've ever seen. People get to come backstage and say hello, and we sign autographs.
OMC: What can fans expect from The Chieftains over the next 40 years? Are there any surprises coming up?
PM: (ha-ha) Well, we're always looking for what we can do. There is a family clan that is celebrating their 400 years; they have us playing in Ireland, because they have people coming from all over the world. We've also played for friends weddings as well, like when Elvis Costello married the lovely Diana Krall at the home of Elton John. Paul McCartney was there, too, and we were guests, not hired as the band, but we played for 15 minutes. But it was incredible to see McCartney getting up to dance.
PM: I've got to go board now. I don't want to miss my flight!
OMC: Thank you Paddy, for making time to talk with us. Safe travels!
PM: God Bless.
