òran mór

You’ve probably noticed that we haven’t be typing too much this summer…and we apologize to those loyal readers of our humble blog…but it’s been a busy summer with both music and non-music commitments alike:

• I bought a house that needed some work,
• Dave’s been taking a guitar building course (where he’s building a bouzouki — clearly off the curriculum),
• we both are maintaining excellence in our respective day jobs (hi boss),
• and we’ve had a few gigs that we’ve tried to keep you informed about, (and where we’ve been happy to see many of you.)

Great session at Rory O'Connor's, with the Coyne Bros and Tony Giblin, proprietor.

The summer music definitely has been fun. I’ve been enjoying the Sunday session’s at Rory O’Connors, the new pub in Georgetown, MA that’s owned by our friend and fellow troubador Tony Giblin. He and Eamon Coyne host a nice session there on Sunday’s from 6-9 p.m., which was just featured in the local paper. Good food, a nice pint, and music with friends…is there any better way to get mentally prepared for the torture of the week ahead? (hi boss.)

Other highlights from the summer included:

• playing some tunes with Terry Coyne (Eamon’s brother) who was visiting from Liverpool…a fantastic flute and whistle player who has a fair number of songs up his sleeve,
• my getting a chance to meet and sing with THE Johnny McEvoy (I’ll write more on that later),
• Dave headed out to see on the Lannon Irish Music Cruise around Gloucester,
• making some serious headway on our first CD, as well as a CD for Mudhook (the maritime group we’re part of),
• and gearing up with some new songs for the 11th Annual Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival (more on that to come as well).

Dave at the mike, laying down tracks

All in all, it’s been a great summer. We’re wrapping up the summer with a gig up in Wells, ME this Wednesday, Sept. 1…the last show before Labor Day!

Mike Jeanneau -- our Mudhook cohort -- and Jim Prendergast, friend and sound engineer extraordinaire

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.

Pete and I dropped into the first Monday session that Eamon Coyne and Mike Jeanneau are starting at  The Port Tavern, 84 State St. in Newburyport, MA.  It was a good and a lively group, as you might imagine, and they are rocking the place with a great mix of tunes and songs.

The session runs from 7-10PM every Monday.  They want to get the word out and invite all to drop by.

You know you’ll be in for some great music AND a bunch of laughs (what, when Mike plays the banjo, and all).

See how many folks you can identify in this collage of last nights group…
(click to enlarge)

What tricks are up those short sleeves?

This Saturday, April 18, the Seacoast Irish Cultural Association (SICA) will be hosting it’s Spring Ceili at the Dover Elks on Rte. 108 with Eamon Coyne and Dave Surette as the featured performers. As part of the festivities, the lads will lead a workshop on fiddle and accompanying Irish music.

I have to say that I’ve admired Dave Surette’s style of accompaniment for a while and have wanted to chat with him about his approach…so while I can’t stay for the potluck supper at 6pm (yum!) or the dance, I am definitely looking forward to learning a few tricks on accompaniment from Dave. (Let’s see how many of them I remember that night at McMenemy’s.)

For more info on the workshop or ceili, contact SICA at doversica.multiply.com.

We got a special treat at McMenemy’s on Saturday night when a few friends stopped in to play with us, including Eamon Coyne, his son Thomas, Mike Jeanneau, Bill Zecker, Kevin Sheehan and Emery Hutchins. It was great craic — a fun night of music that, luckily, Dave was able to capture on his little recorder.

If you weren’t able to make it Saturday, you can hear a few samples that we’ve posted on our website’s music player…the first five tracks are from Saturday’s session.