Some Local Irish Tunes for St. Paddy's Day

In anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, a Patch reporter went to Down Home Music in El Cerrito to ask recommendations on recordings of Irish music by groups in the Bay Area, particularly the East Bay.

"Well, the Black brothers," said store manager John McCord. "They're always good. They're playing at the Freight on Saturday."

Brothers Michael and Shay Black are performing at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse on St. Patrick's Day eve. The pair hail from Dublin originally with Michael now living in San Francisco and Shay in Berkeley. You can see and hear a sample of their music in the attached video.

"There's also Culann's Hounds," McCord said, reaching out for their CD, Year of the Dog. The band is based in San Francisco.

Asked the top choice by customers among Irish musicians from anywhere in the world, McCord said, "The Chieftans are certainly very popular." Selling well lately is their new Voice of Ages CD, as well as their collaboration CD with Ry Cooder, McCord said.