Irish Music Stories Podcast

About Irish Music Stories Podcast

The show about traditional music, and the bigger stories behind it. Host Shannon Heaton talks to musicians, dancers, and scholars about where Irish music has been, where it's going, and what it means to so many people around the globe. Whether you already play fiddle or know dance steps, or you don't know anything about traditional music, the emphasis of this show is creativity, community, and heritage.

Publisher

Shannon Heaton

Category

music · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Jan 2017

Latest episode

1 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

3 of 98 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   1 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 93-Woolen Pants and Grave Situations

   Host Shannon Heaton explores the intriguing origins of "I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave" with a remote collaborator, revealing connections to blind pipers and wool pants.

2. 

   4 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 92-Eagles and Eggplants

   Episode 92-Eagles and Eggplants--Going for the gold year round... Things change over the years. But a lot of the same stories (and tunes) just seem to keep coming up. Like a bad penny. Or a Golden Eagle. Host Shannon Heaton and flute player Kozo Toyota sail the golden, storied seas about a gold coin, a clipper ship, an eggplant, and a fiery little hornpipe. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head to ShannonHeatonMusic.com

3. 

   1 Apr 2026

   Episode 91-Doherty, Norah, and Ma

   As tunes and songs get passed around they transform. Airs and hornpipes turn into jigs or reels, entire parts get added or condensed, melodies change, words alter or are forgotten altogether (until the song becomes just a tune). In this episode, singer Niamh Parsons and host Shannon Heaton trace a tune and its words back to its source. It's a celebration of listening, and finding the story in a song together. _________________ For playlists, transcripts, links to videos, companion essays, and to contribute to this project, please head to https://shannonheatonmusic.com/ims/

Inside a recent episode

Episode 93-Woolen Pants and Grave Situations

Published 1 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So here's a deeper dive on Nell and the tune that she helped to give me. Nell McCarthy was born in 1887. Her family lived near Kilmikill in West Clare. The village name comes for Irish, meaning the Church of St. Michael, but the McCarthy's liked music more than they liked church. They frequently hosted visiting musicians, and one of their regular and most beloved guests was the itinerant piper, Garrett Barry. He'd stayed for long periods of time and became a mentor to Nell. As she learned fiddle and concertina, he gave her tunes and he told her stories from his childhood about growing up in the middle of the Great Famine, about how he lost his sight as a small child. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

95 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Contact Irish Music Stories Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.