"The First Round" is a preview of, and extra takes from, our upcoming album, "I'll Have Another."
Traonach is:
Ed McGowan (fiddle)
Mark Bickford (button accordion, concertina, tenor banjo, guitar, vocals)
Scott Whitham (fiddle, bodhran)
Harry Lawless (bouzouki)
Tim Ball (fiddle, viola, guitar)
Cole Gruberth (flute, whistle, bodhran)
Cliffs of Moher/Toss the Blanket (jigs)
Mark: banjo; Tim: fiddle; Harry: bouzouki; Scott: bodhran
Mark has been playing this set of jigs for close to thirty years now. The first jig is a version of the Cliffs of Moher that came from East Clare fiddler Martin Rocheford, but Mark first heard it played about 1986 by a group of musicians that later on became Altan. He learned the second jig a few years earlier from a session in St. Paul where it was played by banjo player Sean O'Driscoll from Blarney, Co. Cork, who composed it.
The Doon/The Knotted Cord/The High Reel (reels)
Ed, Tim, Scott: fiddles; Mark: accordion; Cole: flute, bodhran; Harry: bouzouki
The famous Kerry fiddler Padraig O'Keefe learned many tunes from his uncle, Con Callaghan from Doon, so there are several Callaghan's reels and Doon reels. One of Ed McGowan's fiddle teachers was John McGrath who composed the second reel, originally titled "The Bangor Reel." The High Reel is a session favorite that appears in O'Neil's as "Duffy the Dancer."
Paddy Cronin's Slides
Mark: concertina; Tim: fiddle
Paddy Cronin visited Noel Hill's concertina class at the Willie Clancy school one summer and played these slides. Paddy called the first slide "The Weaver's" which refers to Bill `The Weaver` Murphy, the father of Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford. We don't know the name of the second slide, but the third one is "Barrack Hill" which is a very old tune that appears in the Petrie collection, published in 1855.
The Plains of Boyle/Miss Dunphy's (hornpipes)
Ed, Tim: fiddles; Mark: concertina; Cole: flute; Harry: bouzouki
Two classic hornpipes that we love to play.
Ships are Sailing/The Longford Collector/The Old Copper Plate (reels)
Ed, Tim, Scott: fiddles; Mark: banjo; Cole: flute; Harry: bouzouki
A set of reels that we have played for more years than we can count. Ships are Sailing is a classic that appears in O'Neil's 1850. After a woman from Longford took offense at the name "The Longford Tinker," Michael Coleman renamed it "The Longford Collector." The Scottish reel "Caber Feidh" (meaning "The Deer's Antlers") was adopted in Ireland as "The Copperplate". Someone made a new version, so the old version became "The Old Copperplate."
credits
released November 28, 2014
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Will Russell at Electric Wilburland, Newfield, NY. Produced by Tim Ball and Will Russell.
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