òran mór

With Christmas approaching, we’ve been throwing in a few holiday songs into the mix. Some are songs we’ve sung for years. Others are relatively new. This year, I decided it was time to learn a modern classic — “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty McColl.

In doing a little homework, I came across a fantastic documentary that the BBC did about “Fairytale” which as been posted on YouTube. The hour-long show is posted in six 10-min chunks…definitely worth watching.

Hope you’ll come out to RiRa’s tomorrow and will shout back “Well so could anyone” as we give “Fairytale” it’s last run before Christmas.

BTW, I tried recruiting our friend Sue Young to sing Kirsty McColl’s part in “Fairytale,” but unfortunately her schedule this fall didn’t allow us to rehearse too much. While I’ve been doing the song solo, Sue will be joining us at RiRa tomorrow, so I may have the lyrics printed for her to jump into Kirsty’s role. 

Liam Clancy, 1935-2009

If you’re a fan of Irish music, I’m sure by now you’ve heard the news that Liam Clancy, the youngest and last surviving Clancy brother, passed away on Friday (Dec. 4). He finally lost his long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, the same disease that claimed his brother, Bobby, in 2002.

A lot of the media reports are quoting Bob Dylan, who described Liam as the “best ballad singer I’d ever heard in my life.” When you think about how many ballad singers Dylan has met, and that statement is fairly mind-blowing.

The praise for Liam’s contributions have begun. Brian O’Donovan did a spectacular tribute show yesterday on WGBH’s Celtic Sojourns, during which he and his guest made the case that Liam’s approach to singing — especially as a solo artist — redefined how Irish folk music is sung and that all modern performers can draw a line from him. I don’t know if that’s true, I’m no expert…but I have no reason to doubt it.

Liam Clancy’s voice was part of the soundtrack to my childhood. I am forever grateful for the stories, poems and songs he introduced to me through his records.

I’m saddened that we’ll never hear him sing again unless it’s a recording. This YouTube post seems as good as any to remember him by.

RIP Liam Clancy

After a great  first night at RiRa,  we’ve got a better feel for the room, the PA settings, and the best way to involve our musical friends in the fun.  As we posted earlier, in we’re looking to create something different…so here’s what we’re envisioning.

We’ll have two open chairs that we’ll mostly pre-arrange with the couple of players or singers who want to be part of our little ‘collaborative performance’ each week. It’ll be more planned and controlled than a session, but we hope everyone will see that it offers some things that wide open sessions don’t:

• For those who come to listen, this format means you’ll get to  ‘really hear’ the great musicians from the Seacoast and beyond play with us…and each week will be different because the other players will bring their own repetoire to the table.

• For our musician friends, the smaller table means we’ll be able to hear each other better — so the music will be tighter and sound the best it can. Plus, you’ll have more chances to lead the songs and tunes.

On November 23rd, Ramona Connelly and Emery Hutchins will join us to put the plan into action.

Ramona will bring her  fiddle and plenty of super tunes – and, when we be lucky enough – we hope she’ll give us some songs.

Emery, with the  combination of concertinas, guitar, banjo, drum, and stories that he chooses, will light up the night for us all.

Hope you can swing by for a pint and/or to give us a song or two.

And if any of our musician friends are interested in getting into the mix, let us know when you might want to stop by and we’ll get you there. Looking forward to some great craic!

While we were still feeling a bit nostalgic about the era just ending at McMenemy’s, we were happy to get a note from Scott the manager at RiRa, inviting us to get together and talk about starting up a new night there…. Mondays from 7-10, starting November 16th.

We’ll use about the same setup we had at McM’s, with Pete and I at a table with mics and room for a few musical friends. The pub wants that format because it’s something different than their other nights, and we like it because it combines the best aspects of a performance and a session. How will that work?

• The performance part engages the audience, with a base of practiced, popular songs and tunes they know. That gets the punters in the door and ‘pays the rent’ for the business.
• The session part means we have one or a few friends join us for added spontaneity and variety. With a small group around one table, we can all hear what we are doing, making the music tighter, and giving those players more chances to lead songs and tunes with a solid foundation.

We hope you’ll enjoy this “collaborative performance” formula and join us on occasion. Having you there will help us make each Monday night unique and fun.

Looking forward to our maiden voyage tonight — hoping you can be there.

A road in Sligo...Terry's family owns the land on the right hand side of the road. Is that authentic Irish or what?

The dust has officially settled regarding McMenemy’s and I’m realizing that, in all the excitement, we only briefly mentioned that we’re going to be back at The Port Tavern with Terry Weir this Sunday (11/8).

We’ll again be performing under the name Sligo Road, but don’t worry…we’ll still have all that tasty òran mór goodness. 

We start at 5:30, so we’d love to see you if can make it!

And if you want to show-up a little early, you can help me cheer for a Pats win over the Miami Dolphins.