Eileen Ivers Brings Irish Spirit to Bethel Woods
BY DYLAN SKRILOFF

Grammy-winning Irish roots artist Eileen Ivers will be playing with her band Immigrant Soul at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Sullivan County next Saturday, May 14. Ivers tours all over the world but lives nearby with her husband/manager in West Nyack. In February she played locally at Dominican College. She said she is looking forward to her gig at Bethel Woods, which is on the site of the original Woodstock festival in 1969.

 

"I played there two, three years ago. It's fantastic for many reasons, it's such a historic place up there. The folks were so nice and the audience was really warm and interactive," said Ivers, who brings the traditional musical standards of Ireland to life.

 

Since the late 1980's Ivers has added to the diversity of the musical landscape in the country by focusing her natural musical talents on her Irish heritage. She is a first-generation American, born in New York City in 1965 to Irish immigrant parents, and spent summers during her childhood working on farms in Ireland.

 

"When I look at the years as a kid, it was something we took for granted.  But to see my parents interact with relatives, and see my grandparents work in the field and hear the stories sitting around the fire and all the incredible chats about life and dealing with life, the joys and sorrows and all. It’s something you take in, you don’t realize it but it definitely gets in your mind and psyche," Ivers said of her distinctly Irish-American upbringing. 

 

Ivers started playing music around 8-years-old. "I didn’t envision having a career and playing professionally until later in life. I went to Iona College in New Rochelle, got a math degree and had a different track at that point in my mind. I was always playing even through those years, collaborating with other musicians," she said.

 

During her career Ivers became a founding member of the Irish-American "supergroup" Cherish the Ladies, joined the Riverdance tour as the musical star and played an Irish standard in the Martin Scorsese film "Gangs of New York." She was described by the New York Times as "The Jimi Hendrix of the violin." She is widely considered the preeminent player of the Irish fiddle in the entire world.

 

Currently Ivers is coming back from a tour out west, having played two gigs in Montana and one in Washington during April. "One of the great joys of what I do is traveling, meeting people from new places. It never ceases to amazes what a great country it is. It's so gorgeous and diverse. We've got everything in this country, really --- a year ago I went a couple times up to Alaska," Ivers noted.  

 

She said the Irish music appeals to all types of people . One time after a show she remembers an audience members exclaiming, "Eileen, I love your music! And I'm Mexican!" She also said her music is increasingly popular in Ireland itself.

 

Ivers is currently working on a new album Beyond the Bog Road, named after the bog roads in Ireland that led people of the country through the years. She likes to fine tune her songs while touring, so you will get to hear her play new material at the Bethel Woods show next weekend.