When Too Much Music Isn't Nearly Enough (With apologies to Roy and HG)

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A key theme of this trip to Ireland has been music, specifically Irish traditional music. We wanted to see it performed and hear as much as we could. We were keen to experience music in the places and in the situations where the Irish traditionally play this type of music. It was unlikely that we were going to be invited into homes and private gatherings all over Ireland and so, in large part, it was off to the pubs and the 'sessions' there.

Sessions can be quite informal. Musicians go to pubs and take their instruments. Normally, they meet other musicians there. They have a corner, or a particular table allocated by the management, and they go about playing. These musicians might be encouraged in their endeavours with a supply of their favourite tipple provided by the pub, or appreciative patrons. Most of the sessions we found started relatively late – for us; rarely do they get going before 9.30 or 10pm but they often seem to keep going once they get started and you may find that you are there for quite a while if it is a good session.

As you would expect, the instruments vary, as does the quality of the music. We were impressed, though, by most of the performers we were lucky enough to come across. We found that having the musicians sing was a bonus. When they do start to sing, the norm among the locals in a lot of places was for pub patrons to give them respect and shut up while they are singing. Often, with just instruments being played, many conversations continue. One of the better singers we found was the young bloke at JJ Hough's in Banagher on the Shannon River who sang a mix of traditional Irish songs, some Steve Earle, Mumford and Sons, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash. It wasn't the only time we heard Johnny Cash. Country music is big in Ireland. JJ Hough's serves up just alcohol and music. You will need to sort your food requirements out somewhere else. There are options.

Clearly, it is of value for the pubs to have musicians playing so some come to arrangements with musicians to play on particular nights. We were in some places where the musicians quite clearly were playing for the crowd and were being paid for their work. In a pub in Donegal, for instance, two very skilled musicians, a guitarist who sang and a fiddler, played songs clearly aimed at their largely tourist audience. Not so many jigs, reels and polkas and more of what are seen to be popular old Irish songs. In other places there were more jigs, reels and polkas and rarely anything that those of us not in the know would be able to name. All good though. It is normally possible to find out where music might be on and in what pubs when you arrived in a town or village, so it is not totally random.

Galway has the reputation of being a centre for music but you wouldn't want to discount Co. Mayo nor Co. Kerry, and Co. Clare is also considered high on the list of places to find good music. There is a lot of it about.

It would be an unusual pub in Galway City that didn't have music on. The best session we found in that area though was in a pub in Kinvara about 30 kms outside Galway City. This was in O'Connells, the yellow pub on the main road. You will see it on the right hand side opposite the Green Pub, also good. This session happened on a Sunday afternoon (evening for us: 6.30pm) and attracted well renowned musicians from quite a distance. Tony Trundle was on fiddle and sang, a harpist whose name we didn't learn from Co. Mayo was excellent. Her son was playing the banjo, as was Mary Shannon. Mary Staunton was on fiddle and concertina and there was an excellent guitarist. A nice feature was that, even though these people clearly knew each other well and had played together before, the contribution by a tourist with a harmonica in the crowd was welcomed and applauded by both the musicians and other patrons.

Not all sessions are great. Also in Kinvara we came upon another session, in a different pub this time, where the musicians were playing a form of country music. It wasn't bad but neither was it to the evident taste of the majority of the patrons. They didn't do so well.

Milltown Malbay trades on its fame as the birth place and home of Willie Clancy. He was a uilleann piper of high renown for many years. The town has a surprisingly good, small museum focusing on Willie Clancy and other musicians from the area which is well worth a visit. You have to search for it a little but everyone in town can direct you should there be a need. Milltown Malbay also hosts an annual week-long summer school for budding and other musicians which has become very well attended. We unfortunately missed it by just one week. When we were looking for places where there was likely to be music played we didn't think to search for schools. There are others around and they provide the opportunity for everyone from beginners to experts to develop their skills.

The best pub for music in Milltown Malbay seems to be Friels or Lynch's – it seems to go by both names – where we came across an excellent session that had up to 10 instruments operating. This was one of those nights where, when we arrived at around 9.30pm there was only the barman and us. An hour or so later the place was full and when the wedding reception from up the street shifted down, it was bursting at the seams. The Players Club is good as well on some nights. Some of the same musicians we had seen at Friels were there but playing with others. That was our first real exposure to the low whistle. There were two of them being played in many tunes, (We now have one and intend to play it … one day). A number of the other pubs also have music at times. It is, indeed, a good town for music.

Fiddles are probably the most common instrument. They are everywhere and, by the time they hit the pubs, are routinely well played. We did come across a young girl playing on the cliffs of Loop Head which would be an excellent place to practice this instrument. Guitars are around and common but it is also not unusual for there not to be one at a session. Whistles aren't as common as we had expected', and neither are bodhrans, but there were a number of timber flutes, including two playing together with some back up violin and guitar at a pub in Ballina, Co. Tipperary.

Concertinas, accordions and harmonicas are good for creating a decent sound without amplification. We should mention one harmonica player at Milltown Malbay who was very skilful and capable of seamlessly switching harmonicas to accommodate the key changes that occurred during some of the sets. A couple of harps and one player at Kinvara was especially good. She played in a way that both gave you the gentle, melodic instrument you normally hear but would switch to drive tunes and provide some great harmonies.

Participation of random singers and musicians seem to be routinely accepted and welcomed. We saw a few who weren't quite up to the standard of some of the other players. One singer/guitarist may have had a pretty decent start on the others in the tipple department and, by the time, we heard him sing he was singing very low and slow. Then there was another old bloke, this time in a pub in Dublin, who still had a great voice and was belting out some great songs but had some difficulty with the words on occasion. Luckily his wife, who knew every word, did an excellent job as a prompt. In that case I bought them both a beer, probably making the situation more difficult. It was pretty late though and things were wrapping up.

Prior to arriving in Ireland we had heard that there was a lot of music about but we weren't too sure how it all worked. On the net (we do some preliminary research) we found the Ireland Folkfest to be held at Killarney in July so, to be sure, to be sure, we booked tickets and accommodation in do-able walking distance from the venue. It was a good move. We aren't talking BluesFest at Byron Bay here – for you Australians – but it was a good 3 days. The music was not by any means what some might have called folk but the majority of the acts were interesting and there were some brilliant musicians among them who put on an excellent show. The set up was such that you could see every act if you could get your act together successfully. We didn't make it to all of them but did see most.

The pick for us on the first night was Little Green Cars. They are an indie rock, folk group from Dublin, I think, and very good, young musicians whose set was interesting and different. They performed their last song in the middle of the audience with no amplification or instruments. We could only just hear them but they endeared themselves to the crowd no end.

Damian Dempsey was the crowd favourite that night. He has a great, big voice and he did Rocky Road to Dublin brilliantly. He operates a lot like Springsteen and may have a bigger voice. It would have been good to have a couple of songs included in the set that provided a little variation, a bit of light and shade. Marc O'Reilly had a very tight, very well organised set and was backed by very good musicians. The Young Folk came on at 12.30 am and we were starting to feel the effects of a long drive. After three or four songs that all sounded a bit like Mumford and Sons we headed for our B&B.

Rain arrived on the second day and the idea of the outside stage for the afternoon sessions had to be quickly changed. They have to be used to this in Ireland but the venue for the acts in the afternoon – a large and noisy bar – wasn't ideal. A young, local group, Seven Glens, did a good job with the first set. Irish traditional music performed with plenty of energy and with a couple of dancers adding to the performance.

Meabh Begley (from Dunquin near the westernmost part of Ireland) and Matt Griffin, again with primarily Irish traditional music, were polished and entertaining; and Muireann Nic Amhlaibough and Gerry O'Bierne demonstrated that talent, plenty of practice and experience is hard to beat.

Iarla O'Lionaird, a sean nos singer, opened up the evening. He was backed by Steve Cooney (an ex-Redgum guitarist from Australia now something of a legend in Ireland). They put on a set that, for me, was unforgettable and beautiful. A lovely voice. My Mum would have loved him.

Colm Mac Con Iomaire is a composer and innovator doubling as a very good musician. I hadn't heard of him before but will watch out for his name on the credits of documentaries and movies in the future.

The hit of the night was Christie Moore. The crowd loved him. Knew every song and sang along. He put on a great show and left them roaring. He has clearly retained the passion and sense of right that was a hallmark of his early songs and is still writing. Reputed not to perform in places where he has to fly so probably won't get to see him in Australia again.

Then came Mike McGoldrick and his Big Band. The band was great and included a tabla player as well as a bodhran player. Mike McGoldrick played the whistle, the low whistle, the uilleann pipes, flute and I think he sang at one point. A very talented man and an excellent act. The Band.

Seamus Begley, another renowned artist, is an older man – definitely older than us that is – and he is the kind of musician who is happiest when he has everyone who can, and plenty that can't, dancing. With his concertina and a couple of friends on guitar and fiddle, he came on at about 1.00am. Afterwards we struggled through the rain to the B&B and I am sure we were back there by 3am.

The third day had a lot to live up to and, to be honest, it didn't really get there. There were some good acts in the afternoon but they didn't set the world on fire, apart from the Mairtin OÇonnor Band, this time without Christy Moore.

The indisputable pick of the evening was We Banjo 3, four young blokes who put on a high energy show with great vocals, banjos, mandolins, guitars and the best bodhran playing we have seen on the trip – even better than the amazing three piece percussion solo done by the McGoldrick Band the night before. If there is any justice we will see more of these lads. The Waterboys were the headline act for the night. They used to be a celtic rock band. Their current music has moved a long way from those celtic roots.

A nice surprise was that Irish audiences – or those at these concerts and in the pubs we have been in anyway – sing very melodically (unlike those we've heard/been part of in Australia). After a bit of discussion about it, we concluded that the reason is they don't try to sing the songs at the top of their voices and so are more likely to stay in tune. Or part of it might be that the Irish sing a lot more anyway.

Music is indeed everywhere in Ireland. I did wonder occasionally whether the general populace appreciated how good they have it. For us, it was the defining ingredient in a great trip. Whatever they can do to keep it going strong would, in our humble opinion, be a really good thing for the country.

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Photos

The Museum at Milltown Malbay
Worth visiting

Main act at Ireland Folkfest
Christy Moore with the Mairtin OÇonnor Band. Fantastic

Mike McGoldrick
On the uilleann pipes here

Inspired
so more practice on the travel banjo

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Music fills the soul
Loved reading about your musical experiences while on the Emerald Isle. Love every bit of music.