NEW YORK -- Look out, Lilith Fair!

Your status as the most prestigious musical vehicle for female pop artists could be threatened by "Tears of Stone," the next album by Ireland's top traditional-music group, the all-male Chieftains.

"It's almost complete, and we're very excited about it," said Paddy Moloney, the Chieftains' gregarious leader, speaking in a quietly elegant Manhattan cafe.

"It features Loreena McKennitt, Sinead O'Connor, the Rankins, the Corrs, Joan Osborne, (Chinese singer) Da Da Wah and (Japanese singer) Akiko Yano. Joni Mitchell has promised me (she'll do) a song with us, and Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow each want to do one. And I'd like to get Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie to join in."

Given Moloney's persuasive powers and the consistent excellence of his group's music, it won't be surprising if Jewel and Barbra Streisand also end up on the Chieftains' album, due out in the fall on RCA Victor.

"The whole feel of the album is love, sad and happy," Moloney said. "It starts off with a poem by W.B. Yeats, 'Never Give All the Heart,' read by Brenda Fricker, the actress who won an Oscar for 'My Left Foot,' accompanied by the choir Anuna."

The eclectic album also features what Moloney fondly describes as "the lady fiddlers." Three of them -- Eileen Ivers, Maire Breathnach and Natalie McMaster -- are from Ireland. The fourth, Norway's Anna Bjorg, plays a hardingfele, a violin with four strings under the fingerboard that resonate with the primary strings, producing a sympathetic drone.

Meanwhile, fans cans get a partial preview of "Tears of Stone" Tuesday night when the Chieftains share the stage with Sinead O'Connor at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay on Shelter Island. In addition to doing individual sets, the masterly Irish sextet and O'Connor will perform several songs together.

"I've had her guest with us on many occasions in London, and at Carnegie Hall," Moloney said of O'Connor, who also sings on the recent Chieftains-led album "Long Journey Home."

"She's terrific -- an absolute lady and a wonderful person. And, musically, she's top class."

The only band anywhere to serve as the opening act for both the Rolling Stones and Pope John Paul II, the Chieftains formed in 1963 to develop a wider audience for its timeless repertoire of stately airs, mournful laments and exuberant jigs and reels.

The group has been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards and won five, along with a 1976 Oscar for its haunting soundtrack to the film "Barry Lyndon." And it has recorded with everyone from Elvis Costello, Rickie Lee Jones and classical flutist James Galway to Los Lobos, jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and fellow Irishman Van Morrison, with whom the Chieftains recorded the classic 1988 album "Irish Heartbeat."

But the group's members did not abandon their day jobs until in 1975, after selling out London's fabled Royal Albert Hall. The same year saw the Chieftains beat out Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Roxy Music for Best Group of the Year honors in the prestigious Melody Maker readers' poll.

"Ireland made us official goodwill musical ambassadors 12 years ago," Moloney proudly noted. "They gave us lovely leather bags that say 'Goodwill Ambassador.' But we opened them, and there was nothing in them!"

Moloney, a master of the tin whistle and the Uillean pipes (a relative of the Scottish bagpipes), grew more serious.

"I think we set out on a mission 35 years ago to spread the gospel about what real Irish music is about," he said.

"That's not to criticize what the Clancy Brothers did previously with their ballad singing, because they did a great job. But I wanted the world to know there was a lot more to Irish music than 'Mother McCree' and all these tear-jerkers, which are all fine and play a part in it."

For the first decade of the Chieftains' existence, Moloney also worked as the general manager and accountant for Claddagh Records. The small Irish indie label released several albums by the Chieftains, along with recordings by such prominent poets as Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell.

Earlier this year, Moloney launched his own label, Wicklow Records (originally known as Unisphere), which is devoted to showcasing quality music from around the world. The label's second album, "Fire in the Kitchen," was released yesterday. It features 11 tracks by artists from Cape Breton and other parts of Canada. (One of the acts, Great Big Sea, will open Tuesday's Chieftains/O'Connor show.)

Wicklow's global focus to the contrary, Moloney understandably bristles when that dubious, catch-all category known as World Music is invoked.

"The pigeonholing of World Music drives me mad," he said. "So does this whole Celtic trend, which has gotten out of hand. You've got people cashing in now that haven't got a clue. I try to steer away from them, and just stick to the music.

"Wicklow won't be a Celtic label, a traditional label or a World Music label. It will be a good-music label, period."

Guinness Fleadh

The Chieftains and Sinead O'Connor are just a few of the acts who will perform June 28 in the Guinness Fleadh at San Jose's Spartan Stadium Fields. Also appearing at the daylong festival will be Tracy Chapman, X, Chumbawamba, John Lee Hooker, Los Lobos, Wilco, John Martyn, Billy Bragg, Richard Thompson, former San Diegan Alejandro Escovedo, Catie Curtis and more than a dozen others. Tickets are available by calling: (510)-762-BASS.

GEORGE VARGA can be reached by phone (619-293-2253), fax (619-293-2436) and e-mail.