I long to hear you

We lost a giant of music this week; Paddy Moloney, founder and guiding pipe of The Chieftains, died Wednesday at age 83.

Moloney has been rightly credited with the revival of traditional Irish music, but he took his group down so many paths, creating albums with country, rock, classical and other musicians. He was curious and courageous in this respect, and all the genres have benefited from these collaborations.

President Joe Biden invited The Chieftains to perform at his inauguration, but COVID travel restrictions prevented them showing up. Biden’s said that one of his greatest wishes was to join with them in singing “Shenandoah”. That will not happen, but I’ll give you Paddy, The Chieftains and Van Morrison performing it on the soundtrack of a PBS show, The Irish in America.

Wherever you are, raise a glass for Paddy Moloney.