Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man (American Musicspheres)
"An engaging and exhaustive study of the historical developments and social realities that impacted Heaney's attitudes, performance styles, and his eventual rise to prominence as the sean-nós ("old-style") singer par excellence...an intimate and important look at the life of a major figure in Irish folk music. It is a significant work for ethnomusicologists, folklorists, and scholars of Irish culture, and a fitting tribute to the life and art of Joe Heaney.: --Journal of Folklore Research"InBright Star of the West, Williams and Ó Laoire have written a text that contextualizes and gives further meaning to the music and life of Joe Heaney." --The New Hibernia Review"Authors Sean Williams and Lillis Ó Laoire [deliver] a book that is layered, beautifully non-teleological, and intimate, like loosely-sutured memories that do not strive to tell the complete social fact, but which instead subtly connect illuminating moments of performance and interpretation." --Ethnomusicology