Travel “over the river (the Blackstone, of course) and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go” to celebrate a Thanksgiving weekend with Kevin Doyle’s Roscommon Soles!

Funded in part by a grant from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, this custom-themed concert “Health to the Ladies” is named for an old traditional jig and calls out a toast to the generations of women who keep Irish traditions alive from pantry to parlor as old ways and new customs blend around holiday hearths at home and in America. “Health to the Ladies” will spotlight the contributions in dance, music, and song made by some amazing and historic Rhode Island women of the performing arts. Their influence was felt nationally and locally, from vaudeville to the age of radio and television, and on dance stages or in concert halls and recording studios.

This seasonal celebration of families and their ladies features Kevin Doyle, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow; Mary Lee Partington, regional vocal award-winner/NCTE inaugural Teacher of Excellence; Sheila Falls, American & All-Ireland fiddle champion and director of Gaelic Roots at Boston College; Torrin Ryan, multiple All-Ireland medalist and first on uilleann pipes; Tim Keohane, noted guitarist/vocalist of traditional Irish folk and popular repertoire; and a cameo dance appearance by The Dancing Doyles – Maureen Doyle & Shannon Doyle. Josh Kane, honors at Ireland’s Fleadh Cheoil and original cast member of Roscommon Soles, performs on flute and whistle and draws on his early training in step dance to infuse the tunes with the rhythm and roots of tradition.