Joanie Madden

Cherish the Ladies

Some of the best young traditional musicians in New York in the 1980s were daughters of immigrants who had arrived in the early ‘60s, including many whose fathers were musicians themselves. In 1985, this phenomenon inspired musician and scholar Mick Moloney (based at that time in Philadelphia) to propose to Ethel Raim of the Ethnic Folk Arts Center (now the Center for Traditional Music and Dance) that a concert be staged to present the best of the young female Irish traditional musicians in New York. Moloney called the show “Cherish the Ladies” after an old Irish jig, and the concert was so successful that further “Cherish the Ladies” shows and a companion Shanachie LP followed, as well as a “Fathers and Daughters” concert and album featuring the ladies with their dads.

The most ebullient performer at the Cherish the Ladies concerts was Joanie Madden, daughter of the Galway accordion player and band leader Joe Madden. A superb flute player and an All-Ireland champion on the tin whistle, Joanie resisted her father’s warning that traditional music could only be a sideline to a “real job,” and turned Cherish the Ladies into a touring band that has continued to perform and record to this day.

Unidentified, waltz ; The orphan, jig / Joanie Madden, flute ; Joe Madden, accordion ; Felix Dolan, piano. Recorded by Terry Rafferty at the Eagle Tavern, New York, 10 April 1992

Annie's favourite, hornpipe ; Wade Hampton's, hornpipe / Joanie Madden ; Joe Madden ; Felix Dolan. Recorded by Terry Rafferty at the Eagle Tavern, New York 10 April 1992