Irish

Introducing Brian FITZY Fitzgerald (an Interview)

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My new solo record is out! A New Shade of Green is across the board, truly. Think traditional Irish music + Foo Fighters + Genesis + Incubus + Iron Maiden + a dash of Bill Withers. Yep, all over the place, but it all comes together in this project and manages to make sense. The goal was to make a record that was still “one of my records,” but pose some big challenges along the way. I hope you dig it as much as I do.  -Brian

Brian FITZY Fitzgerald is a wonder. He does both- playing a challenging instrument and also singing tunes that require vocal acrobats. He also does  remix tweaking and manning the gears in a recording studio.  People react to his playing with amazement.  It is a music that has that haunting quality to be  pop yet groovy enough to make it accessible to fans of  Hip Hop and Jazz.  The free-spirited energy of his music is reflected in his stage persona.

I really enjoyed this interview with Brian. It’s one of those rare moments that I let an artist decide what font color to choose in the article layout.

A New Shade of Green is  a combination of traditional Irish sounds and urban funk. What are you trying to accomplish musically by releasing this recording?
 
My goal is always to try to do something different, and I really enjoy the concept of ‘mash-ups’ — as long as they make sense.  The idea of “make it your own” was instilled in me at a pretty young age, so that’s what I set out to do.

Have you met musicians who are into Celtic music around PA?
 
Actually, a tremendous number.  I spent the better part of a year touring in the US, and overseas to Ireland, with a band called Ceann.  At many of the festivals we played, I heard quite a few groups blend in progressive rock and hip hop elements.  Music, art…culture; a total melting pot.
 
Why  the electric violin?
 
I hear that one a lot; usually preceded by “what is that thing,” haha.  My background and formal training is of course centered on the traditional acoustic violin, but I started experimenting with pickups early on.  The further I went, the more I realized the technical limitations of that setup, like feedback, and made the switch.  I still perform and record with an acoustic violin often, but the majority of the time I stick with the electric.  Just a lot more control over what ultimately reaches the ears of the audience.

The song writing process, I want to know how you create each song.
 
It’s always different for me.  Sometimes I’ll start with lyrics or the head (the recognizable main melody) and construct around that, then go back in with a knife, rearrange all of it and re-record everything.  Perhaps more often than that, I’ll start with a rhythm section groove and build upwards.  Groove and feel is everything to me.  I prefer density to sparsity in a mix, when it’s warranted, so I usually reach a point where I listen and think about what’s “missing.”  As a multi-instrumentalist, I’m able to plug most things in on my own, be it a Fender Rhodes, Hammond B4, a 20-piece string section, or horn stabs.  I love the writing process, and the production work that’s entwined is just icing on the cake for me.

Are you a night person or a day person.

Night, all the way.  I perform mainly at night, so my day doesn’t end until around 5am.  “Morning” starts around 12 noon.  Doing 280+ dates a year forces that I stay nocturnal, but it’s useful when I’m not performing as well.  The better part of my “day” can be spent working with little interruption while the rest of the world sleeps.

 

Note your greatest musical influences.
 
I credit Jean-Luc Ponty and Philly jazz violin legend John Blake for planting the bug to “get out of the box.”  I got to sit in with Blake’s quartet in front of my school only a year after I started violin, around 9 years old.  That was a huge defining moment.  My mother played Ponty for me starting at a very early age, way before I started violin.  I got a healthy education of George Benson, Yes, The Police, Al Jarreau, Genesis, EWF, Huey Lewis etc. from them, too.  As a teenager I got heavy into Rage Against The Machine, Led Zep, Foo Fighters.. I have an equal love of raw rock, huge production with horn sections, and thick 13 chords.

Engineer,producer and musician. How do you reconcile these facets and how is it like being 1, 2 and 3?
 
Usually very frustrating, haha.  It’s been a real learning experience to learn to step back from what I’m doing and axe something I love if it doesn’t really work.  Another really big problem is my obsessive perfectionism.  I have a hard time knowing when to say “it’s done.”  I’ve done 100 takes of the same bar before, all of them solid and usable, but couldn’t stop going back in.  On REDEFINITION and New Shade, I set somewhat ridiculous time constraints to force completion.  REDEF’ was written, recorded, and out of post production in 36 hours over 3 days.  A New Shade of Green was about a week from start to finish.  I function better under pressure, but if I can bring in another pair of ears I can alleviate a lot of the stress that goes with that pressure.

Weirdest/funniest experience on the road.

Played a 2-night run in Virginia a couple summers back shortly after stink bugs infested the state.  We had to use wet/dry vacs to suck them off the walls..by the hundreds.  It was like an indoor camping trip.  I’m sure there have been other times to top the oddness of that one, but man..

I also did a gig opening up for Snoop Dogg.  Literally 30 seconds before he’s supposed to be on stage, the backstage loading doors of the venue open and he comes jettin through.  There’s a dude standing there off to the side holding his mic..he had been there for a while.  Snoop grabs it, runs out on stage, rocks the joint, finishes up and runs back off handing the mic back to the dude like a baton in a relay race.  Right back out the door he came in and that was that.  I laughed pretty hard.

Memorable experience?

Working with John Paul Jones and the Foo Fighters for a week…wow.  Walking down a hallway with Stevie Wonder.  People paying to see me perform.  What purpose does art have without an audience?  Hard to beat that!

 
More info about how to buy a copy of  A New Shade of Green here: http://brianfitzy.com/        
 
also
 
 
 

The Kilkennys

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I want to thank my friend Christi for bringing this group to my attention. The Fields of Athenry has been covered by great Irish bands. And no arrangements are the same. This one also shows that a song will always be fresh when handed over to artists who not only respect the essence of the music but also builds it to reach immortal heights. The Kilkennys are a group that I will check out from now on.

http://www.thekilkennys.com/

Irish Band Led by Baz McSherry”The Lookin’ Drawer”(album)

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I was chatting with my friend Jimmy last night. He was the one who recommended this band led by Baz McSherry from Northern Ireland. We were discussing how important showmanship is in establishing an artist’s musical career. I totally agree with him because the music business is a very competitive world. To quote from him ” The bar is already high and anything less  just doesn’t stand out.”

Baz McSherry and the rest of his band  have both the talent and showmanship as obvious in this video. Enjoy!

Live Lineup… Baz McSherry-Acoustic Guitar, Lead vocals
Jonny Toman-Acoustic Guitar,5 string Banjo Bouzouki, Lapsteel
Rachel Toman- Backing vocals / Fiddle / Percussion
Alison Crossey- Bodhran / Percussion
Darren Crossey – Upright & Electric Bass / Acoustic gtr / Vocals .

Songs of Loss.

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“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
― Mark Twain

“Well, now
If little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you
Little by little
If suddenly you forget me
Do not look for me
For I shall already have forgotten you

If you think it long and mad the wind of banners that passes through my life
And you decide to leave me at the shore of the heart where I have roots
Remember
That on that day, at that hour, I shall lift my arms
And my roots will set off to seek another land”
― Pablo Neruda, Selected Poems

“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”
― Kahlil Gibran

 

 

What I learned about life is that, never ever be ashamed of your pain just because other people tell you so.In the end people will do what they must do either for practical or for selfish reasons. Everyone is guilty of doing what they must do because it is either survival or because it looks right.  I have established this blog in such a way that I can just write about anything without losing followers.  So today’s article is dedicated to heartbreak.

These are recurring themes to most Irish and Scottish tunes and also in anything that is relatively Celtic. I think that we all have our dark times but what sharing it with true friends can ease down the pain. Before I post songs let me share a prose I wrote today. I won’t call it poetry because I don’t think it has what it takes to be called poetry, but what is important is the emotional feeling behind it.

It’s Just Blood and Milk  

Like a mother of a dead baby

whose breast is aching

because she is full of milk

that’s what this heart is suffering now

bleeding because it has no one to give its love to

not anymore…

and if you happen to pass by

please take what I can give

until the walls stop turning

until the pain subsides…

it’s all that I got now

all dreams

all hopes

now dying slowly….

so take what you can

out of this blood that is given freely

until time erases

what’s left,

and all shall fade in the wind

like the husk of memories

turning to ashes.

But don’t despair dear readers…at the end of this is a redemption song.

http://brokenrecordsband.com/

The first track is called  I Used To Dream by Scottish band Broken Records. It’s taken from their album Let Me Come Home released in 2010. Here’s an interesting blurb:

Use of the violin, cello, and accordion gives them a distinctly Scottish edge and their faster numbers have been known to provoke ceilidh dancing at gigs. The NME branded them the Scottish Arcade Fire, although this is an accolade previously bestowed on My Latest Novel. The band, who swap instruments when performing live, have received numerous comparisons to Arcade Fire, and have also been compared to The Verve and The Levellers. They were described by NME in 2008 as “one of the country’s most exciting new bands.”

My heart is sore, I dare not tell, my heart is sore for Somebody
I would walk a winter’s night all for a sight of Somebody

Music: traditional Irish; lyrics: traditional Scottish
Adapted by Connie Dover
From the CD, Somebody (Songs of Scotland, Ireland and Early America) by Connie Dover

“Ailein Duinn” performed by Karen Matheson (from the film’s OST)

Here is a story that ends tragically. The song itslef has an interesting background:

Ailein duinn (“Dark-haired Alan”) is a traditional Scottish song for solo female voice, a lament that was written in Gàidhlig for Ailean Moireasdan (“Alan Morrison”) by his fiancée, Annag Chaimbeul (“Annie Campbell”). In 1788, Ailean, a sailor, set off with his ship to Scalpay, Harris, where he and Annag would be married. In a tragic twist, the ship sailed into a storm and all on board were lost. Annag was devastated and lost her will to live, dying several months later. Her body was later discovered on the beach, not far from where Ailean’s body was found. Before she died, Annag composed this lament for her lost love.

Jealous Heart-Moya Brennan

Two thumbs up to the wonderful haunting voice of Moya Brennan.

Sinead O’Connor performing The Wolf Is Getting Married from her forthcoming album ‘How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?’ live on The Graham Norton Show 17th February 2012.

Here is the older and wiser Sinead O’Connor performing to the beat of her drum. Her style has always been a cross between traditional Irish and also modern rock. After all these years, the voice is still beautiful as ever.

Piping Lessons from Ryan Murphy (of Ealu and Cara Band)

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I know someone who plays the Uilleann pipes and that person is a Chemistry major. It seems that everyone who has Celtic blood running in their veins, has no difficulty in leading two careers-Music and Science.

***

I featured the band Cara a few weeks ago. That’s when I got to know Ryan Murphy and his other band Ealu. Ryan gives his FYI about  the Uilleann pipes in between tours here.This is for those who want to learn and the basics  and the important things to remember.

Basic info:

Currently with: Cara and Ealu

Hometown: Cork

Also Plays: Flutes, whistles and Saxophones.

The things he could never leave behind when on a tour:

“Aside from the instruments I’d have to say the iPod. The car journeys just get too long with out it.”

http://www.cara-music.com/

http://www.ealumusic.com/

Uilleann Pipes 101

1.Buying the instrument : Make sure you know that the maker has a good reputation and make sure the sound they produce is to your taste.

2.Interpreting traditional pieces: Well everyone interprets tunes differently. I always try to mix up how I interpret every tune. Sometimes they could be filled with loads of ornaments and tricks but then sometimes it’s great to scale it all back.

3.Playing, tuning and knowing the parts of the instrument: Is vital when it comes to the Uilleann pipes as maintenance is critical in order for them to sound right.

4.Practicing: Is a big part of my daily routine. I sometimes skip lectures in college just to practice that hour or two extra.

5.Maintenance: I always keep my pipes as well maintained as possible. On tour the pipes could hang you out to dry in the middle of a concert if they’re not kept in top order. I make sure the joints are always well sealed, in dry climates I humidity the reed as often as I need to depending on the level of humidity.