Dancing at the Crossroads

Prohibition, the national ban on booze, came into effect just as the Irish Catskills had come into being. That didn't stop the Irish, including gangster "Legs" Diamond. Episode 7 of the Dancing at the Crossroads podcast is an offshoot of the PBS documentary, The Irish Catskills: Dancing at the Crossroads.

In this end of the decade episode, Dancing at the Crossroads profiles two very different Irish sounds: Jimmy Gallagher, a Glaswegian showland performer known for his guitar picking, and Kelly Rock, lead singer for Celtic Rock band Hellcat Maggie.

In this episode of Dancing at the Crossroads, we explore the uilleann pipes, one of the most challenging instruments in traditional Irish music. Artists include Feachra O'Regan, Kara Doyle, Colleen Shanks, Benedict Koehler, Liam O'Flynn and others.

Dancing at the Crossroads podcast is an offshoot of the PBS documentary by the same name. In Episode 4, we hear never before heard recordings made in the 1950s and 1960s of some of the top Irish and Irish-American singers and musicians of their time. Joe Ryan, Maura McLoughlin, Charlie Mulvihill, Tommy Mulvihill (age 10), and Joe Cunningham are among the featured artists.

Dancing at the Crossroads explores Irish and Irish-American music. In Episode 3, we take a trip to New York's Rockaways, once known as the Irish Riviera. Featured artists include Paddy Noonan, Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies, Michael Coleman, The Flanagan Brothers, Mickey and Mary Carton, the Noel Henry Showband, Hellcat Maggie, Brendan Ward and his Orchestra, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.