Irish Ladies' songs, smiles warm a wintry night

By KYLE MUNSON
Register Music Critic
12/18/2000

Outdoors on Friday night in Des Moines a never-ending winter storm spat down snow and freezing rain.

Indoors at St. Augustin Parish Hall, long-running Irish-American group Cherish the Ladies warmed about 220 members and friends of the tight-knit Celtic Music Association. It was a near-capacity crowd, a testament to the CMA's eight-year track record of importing top Irish musical talent.

Cherish the Ladies, six female musicians from around the States, melted the tension with two sets of virtuosity and chummy chatter.

Flutist, tin whistler and backup singer Joanie Madden, a New York City native, has been the group's boisterous leader since its "80s inception. The group was originally conceived as a 10-day, government-sponsored tour to celebrate the handing down of Irish musical heritage from father to daughter. Fourteen years of frequent-flier miles and an RCA record deal later, Cherish the Ladies has become a Celtic music boot camp of sorts for aspiring Irish lasses.

Newest member Deirdre Connolly, the lead singer and tin whistler who joined last April, was heavily featured throughout the night in transfixing renditions of Christmas carols.

Lead Lady Madden greeted her audience with a boisterous "Helloooo, Des Moines!" and didn't tone down the entire night. She even joked, "You think I'm Rosie O"Donnell, and they're the Celtic Spice Girls!"

Madden also took pains during the concert to sketch the family and musical background of each Lady. Most were daughters of famed/accomplished musical fathers straight off the Emerald Isle.

The Ladies effortlessly strung together medleys of tunes. Christmas carols would segue seamlessly into reels at a blizzard tempo, with the audience clapping in time.

There were reels about cats, dogs, even a pair of leather boots Madden purchased in Spain. A pair of young, fleet-footed stepdancers accompanied several songs.

The most tender, reflective selection was a trio of Madden on tin whistle, guitarist Mary Coogan (Madden's steady sidekick in the group) and pianist Donna Long performing a song that Madden co-wrote in an Irish resort town when struck by its beauty. The audience gave it a standing ovation.

The second set was a showcase for nimble solos from accordionist Mary Rafferty and Christmas carol sing-alongs by the audience. Lapses in momentum or quality of material were rare, though the meandering Long composition about California Redwood trees was less compelling.

The concert ended with fiddler Liz Knowles, Connolly and Madden joining the stepdancers. Considering that the Ladies had to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Georgia the next day, they put forth yeoman effort with two sets plus post-show handshaking.

It was, throughout, a concert to cherish. Even the wintry outdoors felt more welcoming afterward.