Books & Music

Now celebrating its 36th year, The Boulder Irish Session is a Boulder ‘institution’ and is still going strong. They are an informal, dynamic gathering of top-notch Front Range musicians who, until Covid, came together on Sunday evenings at License No. 1 in the Boulderado Hotel to share tunes and songs of the Celtic tradition. After the last 2 summers of outdoor sessions on Sunday evenings at Harlequin’s Gardens, beginning Sunday Oct. 3rd, BIS is trying out a new indoor venue. We’ll update you soon!

Over the years, the Session has gained many loyal followers who know they will always hear some of the best, most spirited live traditional Irish and Celtic music in the region on any given Sunday. Harlequin’s Gardens co-owner Eve Brawner is one of the founding members of the Boulder Irish Session and is still a ‘regular’ there, playing English concertina, and singing. We offer both of their excellent CDs, Sunday at Conor’s and the sequel, Next Sunday at Conor’s.

If you have met and spoken with our founder and guiding force, Mikl Brawner, then you know that he is, to say the least, an interesting man who has led an interesting life. He is also a gifted storyteller and writer and has at last begun to recount his adventures and observations on paper.

These stories are from true experiences in Mikl’s life. They start at the end of his 2-years of work in the Peace Corps in India, with a trip to Katmandu, Nepal. From there, Mikl chronicles his adventures travelling solo overland from India in 1971 through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, Munich, and London, and has added a bonus of a few other stories. It’s a page-turner. Read a paragraph and see.

Profits from the sale of his book will be donated to our Staff Prosperity Fund.

Nearly everyone loves butterflies! We watch them because they’re exquisitely beautiful, but they also have magical life cycles and intricate relationships among their host ecosystems. Are you overwhelmed by the array of possibilities in field guides that cover a broad geographic range?

This expanded second edition is a user-friendly book focusing on 100 frequently seen species in the Colorado Front Range. Easily identify butterflies using over 120 striking color photos of individuals in their natural setting, and clear descriptions of both males and females. Each entry also includes that species’ habitat and life cycle, the caterpillar’s host plants, and look-alike butterflies. The introduction includes tips on where to find butterflies, how to get close to them, and what we can do to attract them to our gardens and preserve their sensitive habitats. Belongs in every Colorado hiker’s backpack or back pocket!

Crevice Gardens Rock!

The Crevice Garden: How to make the perfect home for plants from rocky places was in the making for 5 years, a project undertaken by two young rising stars of horticulture in the west. Kenton Seth lives and works in the Grand Junction area and Paul Spriggs in Victoria, B.C. Both have studied the craft extensively and experimented, designed, built, planted and maintained crevice gardens large and small, public and private, in dry conditions and wet, using all kinds of stone and various planting mediums.
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Dragonflies of the Colorado Front Range by Ann Cooper of the Boulder County Nature Association

Dainty but deadly, these shimmering beauties dart over ponds, streams and clearings on the hunt for prey. Showcasing 45 dragonflies and 28 damselflies, the guide covers the most common species found in the region. Accompanying over 90 brilliant photographs are descriptions of habitat, appearance, length, behavior, similar species, flight time and interesting facts for each species. Also included are tips on watching, identifying and photographing these tiny jewels. An excellent field guide for beginners and seasoned naturalists that belongs in every hiker’s backpack or back pocket! 

Don’t be fooled by the title; a lot of the area covered is in Colorado, including Denver, Boulder and Ft. Collins. This is a very good plant ID book from by Mary O’Brien and Karen Vail with interesting descriptions. In addition, it’s an excellent herbal, giving both medicinal and edible uses. Highlighted in yellow are important “cautions”. It is presented in a respectful way honoring nature as did the Ute Indians who pioneered the use of these plants. For example, did you know that Gambel Oak “…is a good back country first aid plant to know, using the leaves as a poultice or wash for insect bites and wounds, or chewing a piece of the bark for toothaches….”  Good photos. These local gals really know their stuff and we highly recommend their book! 

Meet the Natives Author Dan Johnson, curator of Native Plant Gardens at DBG, invites you to meet the native plants of Colorado. He has updated Pesman’s classic field guide to make the guide more useful than ever before. Herbaceous flowering plants are organized by color for faster identification, and color photos assist with accurate identification. Horticultural information is included to help you bring these durable and beautiful native plants into your own garden.

There aren’t many Reshetniks left in the US, and yes – you guessed it – this one is my beloved big brother. And I couldn’t be more proud of him for this exquisite recording, a true labor of love, which I love to listen to, repeatedly. I believe you will, too!

Originally inspired by the singing TV cowboys, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, Michael started guitar lessons at a tender age, and quickly moved on to studying classical guitar. Hearing him practice was actually a pleasure. Later came Folk and Blues, and eventually my bro joined me in playing Irish and other Celtic traditional tunes with the Boulder Irish Session.  The selections on this album are all his original transcriptions and arrangements. 

“This album draws from the last 20 years of listening, arranging, playing and passionate involvement with the guitar. The seeds for Bach transcriptions were sown by the music of Andres Segovia and Julian Bream, both of whom were performing in NYC when I was a kid. The ‘traditional’ tunes are a selection from music heard much later on at music camps and at the Boulder Irish Music Session, played on other instruments. All of these pieces have an elegance, an emotional richness, something beautiful, that I hope speaks to you.”

Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountain Region, the most complete, up-to-date field guide for identifying a huge number of our wildflowers. All of the plants are described, located, and photographed, and arranged in an easy-to-use format.

The Art of Papercraft by Helen Hiebert

Explore the fascinating and accessible arts of papermaking and paper crafts with Helen Hiebert, Colorado’s foremost artist working creatively in this medium! She has taught inspiring papermaking and papercrafting workshops for people of all ages, and her books will walk you through every step of dozens of fun and exciting projects.