Bodhrán Theory and Technique-Where the best bodhran tutors hangout
Only a few hours joining the page called Bodhrán Theory and Technique and I got an awesome welcome. Bodhran masters like Jacob McCauley, Matthew Bell and Australian percussionist Jeremy Sibson are frequent visitors. Members post amazing links that newcomers can learn. I think my journey as a bodhran student is more on info gathering. I want to share the discovery to other aspiring musicians. Of course the perks of learning the instrument is being able to play in a local Celtic band. And I already got an invite from my friend Ralph who plays the tin whistle in his own band.
I will be interviewing bodhran teachers in my upcoming posts. In the meantime, I invite you to visit Bodhrán Theory and Technique. Feel at home and post your ideas.
Disclaimer from the page: Bodhrán Theory and Technique group is for the open discussion, critique of language, concepts, theory used associated with and the analysis of technique and the sharing of exercises, lessons for the furthering of the art of playing music of any kind on the Bodhrán.
Anything that is not a discussion on the aforementioned may end up being removed!
My friend Jeremy King of Poitin shared this amazing video made by her friend(an uilleann piper, she’s Czech, works as a vet in Ireland, (that’s a story in itself, isn’t it!?) called Lucie Šmahelová . She’s just made this beautiful video of the places around where she lives).
I am glad to hear that Texas Celtic rock group Cleghorn will be part of St Patrick’s Celebration! Their tune 9 Minutes of Woo still plays in my head. That’s a proof of their persistent devotion to craft. Anyone can be inspired to write a tune. But crafting that tune and making it immortal takes time. This is the area where father and son John Cleghorn ( Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica) Dylan Cleghorn (Fiddle, Bagpipes, Didgeridoo, Vocals) with Mike Griffin – Bass and Paul Muller – Drums really do well.
Check this press release from 3a:
Santa Rosa Beach FL – The 7th Annual 30a St Patrick’s Parade and Festival is slated for Saturday March 15th 2013, Nationally recognized Celtic Rock Band Cleghorn will headline the entertainment along with the Drake School of Irish Dance
CLEGHORN are a Texas-based Celtic Rock band. They combine stadium rock with blues and folk influences laced with a strong Celtic brew.
If you mixed ZZ Top with The Hobbit soundtrack, it might sound something like CLEGHORN. Their music mixes original folk/rock songwriting with high energy Celtic fiddle and bagpipe tunes. Creating their sound based on traditional Celtic fiddle tunes, they rock harder and play wilder shows with a fiddle and didgeridoo than most of their guitar-trashing contemporaries. music mixes original folk/rock songwriting with high energy Celtic fiddle and bagpipe tunes.
The parade expects over 50 floats and parade entries, in all shapes and sizes. Parade lineup begins at 3.30 pm Saturday March 15th on 30a and heads 4 miles west, ending at Gulf Place, where the festivities continue.
“The 7th Annual 30a St Patrick’s Parade and Irish Festival will be bigger than ever, said Paul Vizard, event founder. The original mission to showcase local businesses and the area of 30a is being fulfilled in a greater manner than imagined.”
The perpetual trophy won last year by Kitchens Etc will once again be awarded for “Best in Parade.” The Eco-friendly “green” prize award for the best electric/self powered or non gas powered vehicle entry for the 2nd year running.
Festival goers can purchase commemorative T shirts, experience arts and crafts, including jewelry, wood carving, face painting, and of course a variety of food and drinks. A few vendor table and tent spaces are still available, and businesses are encouraged to be a sponsor, details at www.30aparade.com
Event Information
The 7th Annual 30a St Patrick’s Parade and Festival is the largest celebration in NW Florida of Ireland’s St. Patrick’s day. The parade commences on Scenic 30a in NW Florida March 15th at 3.30pm and ends at Gulf Place, where premier Irish Dancers and Celtic Bands perform through the evening. For details visit www.30aparade.com
Anyone who loves good old whiskey will find something familiar with the band’s logo. Think of Jack Daniel’s and Jack Sparrow-then you get the idea behind the logo of the band Jack Raven’s Whores. Ok I admit I am not confident to say the last word out loud but these guys have the right to be confident with their music.
Adventurous
Beautiful
Wild
Combining Irish folk, Balkan, sailor music (and a hint Breton music)l; they weave songs that celebrate the wild adventures straight out of a pirate movie. In terms of craft, they are serious. Bad Trip is their latest single. It has a long instrumental intro. But then it dips into a beautiful folk song. The band are:Greg Raven(Lead vocals and guitar), Cormac Jones(Vocals and Mandolin), Mathieu Vigouroux(Clarinet and tin whistle), and Ju Rosh Lcmte(Fiddle).
My latest radio show is now available on podcast. Visit the link and enjoy great music!
The High Kings-All Around the World
The High Kings-Come with Me Now
The High Kings-Gucci
The High Kings-Friends for Life
The High Kings-Galway Girl
The High Kings-Health to the Company
The High Kings-Peggy Gordon
Steven Hawson-Maids: In the Meadow; At the Churn; At the Spinning Wheel
Ashley MacIsaac-Devil In The Kitchen
Lisa Gerrard-Sanvean: I Am Your Shadow
Sleepthief-Skimming Stones
J.P. Kallio-Northern Boy
Siouxsie Sioux-Heaven and Alchemy
Samuel Smith-The Way of the World
1. Oh Maggie
2. Gucci
3. All Around the World
4. Johnny Leave Her
5. Health to the Company
6. Galway Girl
7. Peggy Gordon
8. High
9. Ireland’s Shore
10. Come with Me Now
11. McAlpines Fusiliers
12. Friends for Life
Too precious to be pop yet modern to be inaccessible -those are the things I found when I listen to the new album of the High Kings called Friends for Life. I think that after years of being on the road and filling arenas, the quartet of Darren Holden, Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy and Martin Furey can confess that they are going to be in music for life. They are friends and fantastic artists as they weave their talents for listeners to enjoy. Released by Sony Classical, I expect nothing less from this album in terms of production. And yes I am completely satisfied and proud to recommend it to everyone.
Oh Maggie is the first track and it introduces what the whole atmosphere of the album sounds like. Jacketed by a nice banjo sound, it proves that Ireland’s pub culture can sound so good in the cities of the world. After all, it was music that saved civilization and thus the spirit will continue to flourish through time. It shall be savored by generations to come. Gucci is a potential single with its emphasis on power chords and aggressive rhythm on top of the fantastic vocal abilities. We hear guitars, fiddles, accordions and other traditional instruments along with moderns ones in Friends for Life. Jonny Leave Her so irresistible it will make you sing along.
I think this is recorded with live performance in mind as everything here sounds upfront and lively. Darren Holden, Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy and Martin Furey have outdone themselves with this wonderful recording. I love the remake of Galway Girl and Peggy Gordon. Friends for Life continues the magic of Memory Lane but it has a more modern appeal. I think there are tracks that can sound fitting in alternative rock radio stations. The folk roots are still there but I think they are moving forward with this album. They get better and better with every studio session.
As always my big thanks to Anita Daly for pointing me to this new release!
The thing I like about Robert Doyle is that he has a lot to say about creativity. It is always exciting to eavesdrop inside a creative mind and discover what he does in a day-to-day basis when not working on music. This interview sent me looking for his last CD Life in Shadows and played the album once again. I remember the day it got to me. Like music, the artist has many layers. You can read between the lines or you can listen to the songs: They are all a part of him.
You have just released a new single Flags of Belfast with other musicians playing on this track. Are you taking a new direction for the new album?
‘Flags of Belfast’ is a reworking of the melody to ‘Star of the County Down’ with new lyrics. When I began working on it I knew I wanted to add other instrumentation when recording the song. I recorded a lot of demos of the track and some of these were done in Flood Plain Studios here in Dublin which is run by Graham Watson. He suggested trying a second vocal along with uilleann pipes and Aoife Dermody and Eoin Dillon were the perfect choice for this. So yeah there’s going to be some other musicians involved on parts of the album but it will still mostly be a solo record. Sometimes it feels right to have different instruments and then sometimes the music feels better played solo.
You mentioned the new album will be released in 2015. How’s the recording going?
I had hoped to have the album ready by the end of this year but that probably won’t happen now so 2015 is more realistic. From a recording perspective the last single was interesting for me because I got a new preamp for the home studio which now lets me record a guitar sound I’m happy with. This was always a problem in the past. So for the single I recorded the guitar and vocal myself and then we put the other parts down in Flood Plain. This gives me some flexibility for the next record that I didn’t have before. So for now I plan to record most of the album myself and for any extra instrumentation I’d like to work with Graham again. This will be a totally different recording process to last time when I only recorded two of the tracks myself and the rest with an engineer. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to recording yourself and I’ve been debating these with myself over the years. We’ll soon see if I’ve made the right choice this time round!
How will the tracks differ from your last album Life in Shadows in terms of arrangements and lyrics?
At this stage I still have a lot of work to do on writing and arranging. Like the last album it’ll be a mix of original and traditional music but there’ll be a different feel because hopefully I’m a better musician now and this should show in the music. I have about 15 or 16 separate ideas that I’m working on. Some of that material will get cut and hopefully there’ll be a good album in what’s left. Also there’ll be more songs in English this time. In the past I was mostly interested in singing in Irish but there’ll definitely be more English on this record. There’ll be some new instrumental pieces and I want to push those arrangements further on this record. I love to improvise when playing fingerstyle because you have the chance to play basslines, harmony and melody altogether so I’ll improvise around the themes and try to work out the arrangements that way.
Aside from music, what are the other projects you are working on? Can you tell us a bit about your day job?
Work and music takes up a lot of time so aside from that I don’t have any other projects. There are other important things in life though so I hope I make time for them too. The day job is in IT and this comes in useful when invariably you have technical problems in the studio. Obviously not being a full time musician means you can’t spend as much time as you’d like on the music but you try to use the time you have and always stay with it. It would be great to have time to play more gigs and record more often but the important thing is to keep playing music.
After the last album what has changed so far?
Well I think I’ve learnt a lot since then. Each project is a great learning experience and it’s worth all the work for that alone. There was a big jump from the EP I released in 2008 to the album in 2011 and I think it’ll be a similar step this time. Overall I was very happy with the last record. It was great to get a positive reception and some good coverage and radio play. Of course listening back there’s some things that I’d have done differently both in the recording and post-production but that’s all part of it.
What do you plan to accomplish musically this year?
Work on the album is the priority now and if I can get a good piece of it recorded by the end of the year I’ll be happy with that. I’m also working on a collaboration with a bouzouki player based around some traditional songs which hopefully will get to involve other musicians too.
Where can listeners buy your last album Life in Shadows?
The CD is available from Claddagh Records and will soon be for sale again directly from www.robertdoyle.net. A digital download is available from iTunes, Amazon and eMusic.
What other instruments do you play?
I’m learning to play some piano at the moment. It’s not serious piano study but I’m enjoying playing some chords and seeing how they’re built on a different instrument. It would have been great to learn piano when I was starting out all those years ago because as a guitar player you’re often trying to play like a piano player if that makes any sense! I think it’s important to not get too obsessed with the instrument you’re playing so spending some time on another instrument is something I’d recommend.
Boundaries are drawn
On council walls
Divisions are made easily
When a vote was called
The decision did say
The flag won’t fly daily
The Union remains
But the North had changed
Some divisions are the same
Next time you hear the Lagan sound
See the flags of Belfast town
When the protests began
Where are the leaders now
Heard with nothing to say
If there was a chance or a call for calm
It was soon swept away
Living on the sides
Of religious divides
Faith not faded with time
Next time round can you ask the crown
Has she seen the flags of Belfast town
At the start of the night
Through empty streets with dark light
Marches begin to pass
Along an enclave
Calls of an old age
Armed guards to defend both sides
Segregation in schools
Teaches old rules
Lessons begin early
As the children plan
To not let tradition down
And wear the flags in Belfast town
With the city closed
Blockades along the roads
Wasn’t this all a thing of the past
A sectarian divide
A part of city lives
No need to portray any side
Masks leave faces with no names
One after another taking aim
As broken bottles fall all around
The flags of Belfast town
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