òran mór

Planxty Reunion Concert in 2004

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mike Jeanneau was helping me anchor the sessions at McMenemy’s over Memorial Day Weekend while Bob and Dave were traveling. We had a lot of fun — as we often do — and we were joined by our friends Eamon Coyne, Kevin Sheehan, Ramona Connelly and Bill Zecker on Thursday, and Kevin, Ramona and Reagh Greenleaf  on Saturday night.

The start of Thursday night was a bit quiet since there weren’t a lot of diners and people were saving their money for the long weekend…so we had the opportunity to play some stuff we don’t normally get to play. One of my favorite songs to play with Mike is “The Ballad of Little Musgrave” and, since the place was kind of quiet, we launched into it.

Man, I love that song and Mike’s playing on it is always great…and I was listening to a version of it on the ride to work today and wanted to share it.

If you’re not familiar with the song, it’s a traditional ballad (F.J. Child’s Ballad #81) that is known by several names and variations, including “Mattie Groves,” “Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard,” and the version we do, which is based on Planxty’s arrangement…which you can see on their live 2004 concert here.

When you come across really great songs — especially really old ones — it’s always fascinating to learn a little more about them. There’s a lot out there about “Little Musgrave”, but last year, I found a cool post on Rational Delight. It’s worth checking out if you like the song, especially since it has the audio of Nic Jones’ version…which I can’t find anywhere else.

We had a chance to play the song, and we took it. If you have a chance to check out the video and the post, you should take it as well.

They left Pete in charge?!?

Well, well, well … Dave and Bob have each packed up and gone away this week. Dave is traipsing around the west coast of Ireland (recorder in hand) and Bob is in Maryland visiting friends (wife Sue in hand), leaving me all alone at McMenemy’s. Whatever will I do?

It's Mike to the rescue!

Never fear, my friends! I’m not tackling this on my own. I’ve enlisted the help of our good friend (and Mudhook bandmate) Mike Jeanneau to help anchor Thursday and Saturday night. We’ve also invited a few special guests — not all the usual crowd — to stop by to join us.

So there may be no ‘Clockwinder’ this week, but we’re planning to tear it up with a different mix of tunes and songs. I’m expecting the craic to be grand!

The Shriner fez

On May 1, the Bektash Shriners of NH kicked off their Spring Ceremonial with a welcome reception at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, and òran mór was honored to play for them.

But why, you may ask, would the Shriners invite a group of Celtic musicians to play for their Spring Ceremonial?

Dick at the Highland Games

It turns out that there is a strong connection between Scottish Free Masonry and the Shriners. Our friends Dick Boyd and Sherry Thompson, members of the Bektash Shrine, were organizing the reception. But Dick and Sherry are also very active in the St. Andrews Society, so they thought the evening would be a great opportunity to introduce ‘All Things Scottish’ to those Shriners who were not familiar with the connection. They invited us to play and we were delighted to introduce the members to our favorite pieces of Scottish music.

Sherry promises some photos from the night are on their way, and we’ll post them soon.

If we get invited back, I’m going to get a plaid fez to wear.

It was a  Thursday night with a fine start – as Mike Jeanneau had finished up some work at Hideaway Studios and sauntered in for some tunes.

But not long after Mike had headed home, to avoid bringing ‘There’s Sure to Be a Row’ from song to reality, Steve Carrigan happened in.  He joined us a few songs – and then gave us a first – himself on guitar.

Steve”s obviously been holding out on us, being  pretty comfy and adept at his chords and accompaniment.  That gave us a nice finale to the night – and a nice scoop.

Many thanks  Steve.

Worthy of a tune!

If there is a tune named “The Cat That Drank The Stout”, I want to learn it. If there isn’t, I’m going to write one just so we can keep this photo circulating.

(Of course, this cat is a kitten, so I feel obligated to point out that òran mór is definitely against under-age drinking.)

Ah, go on…I’m just having fun on a Wednesday!