U2, Pete Seeger, Sinead O’Connor In PBS ‘Music of Ireland’ Doc
(Scratch Films Co Production)

The Music of Ireland – Welcome Home,” a documentary featuring interviews and performances from U2, Pete Seeger, Sinead O’Connor and the Chieftans will debut on New York public television station WLIW on Feb. 17, then rollout to other PBS affiliates throughout March.

“Music of Ireland” will be available as a CD and DVD in a number of outlets: Barnes & Noble is the exclusive brick and mortar retail partner and will debut an in-store promotional campaign on March 2; Amazon.com will feature all the CD tracks digitally on a 45-day exclusive starting that same day. In addition, the CD and DVD will be bundled as a bonus for those who donate to public television during pledge drives.

The CD was produced by John Reynolds, and features new material by Clannad’s Moya Brennan – who also hosts the documentary – O’Connor, the Chieftans, former Irish Tenor Ronan Tyanan and Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, among others.

The documentary “Music of Ireland” opens in 1960 with the success of the pioneering Clancy Brothers, and includes Liam Clancy’s final U.S. television interview before his death. Other interviews include “Riverdance’s” Michael Flatley, Bob Geldof and Academy Award-nominated director Jim Sheridan.

A sequel to the “Music of Ireland” is planned for later this year, and will focus on U2, Celtic Woman, The Cranberries, The Corrs, the Irish Tenors and songwriters Glen Hansard and Damien Rice.

The documentary was executive produced by The Elevation Group’s Denny Young, who previously produced “Bonefish Grill’s Notes From The Road” for Ovation, and is presented by WLIW in association with WNET.org and Tourism Ireland.

“For such a small country to produce such amazing talent and the way their music defines the people is just extraordinary,” Young says. “It has fascinated me for most of my life and is something I wanted more people to be in tune with.”