How can I possibly have summed up Clare music for you? I am a total nut job!

Dear Friends,

I started writing a blog about six times -- I have the drafts in my blogger to prove it.

I went from writing sort of a serious essay giving all this history about the county and the instruments and blah blah blah to giving you my little history of where I started and where I am now to basically name dropping and calling it good. I'll give you the name dropping in a minute, but I wanted to share a bit of a response from one of our sessioneers.

John and I have been corresponding a bit about various things (we both took Randal's class at Arts Week), and we've both studied with Patrick Ourceau and Laurel Martin, so I asked him what his thoughts were on Clare music. Here's what he said (apologies, John, for not asking in advance if this is ok, but I like what you had to say):

"Hilary,
My first real exposure (knowingly) to Clare music was also through Martin Hayes - I think it was The Lonesome Touch CD. I grew up in NYC and was fairly familiar with the sound of the NYC/Sligo style. I was really taken with that Martin Hayes CD - the pace, the dynamics, the sparse but tasteful ornamentation, all made it much more interesting than just dance music. I then went on a hunt for other examples of Clare music. I quickly hit upon Patrick Ourceau's CD with Gearoid. That sealed it for me. That was the sound I was hearing in my head and trying to emulate (largely unsucessfully). An added bonus is my brother plays concertina.
I was thrilled when I learned that Patrick was coming up to Troy and holding workshops and lessons. He pointed me in the direction of a lot of the older players - Paddy Canny, An Historic Music of Irish Music with Paddy Canny and PJ Hayes (one of my favorites), Bobby Casey, the Paddy in the Smoke CD, Willie Clancy, etc...

The pace, the phrasing, the intonation (neutral notes), ambiguous modes (think Paddy Fahey) all make it sound more ancient to me. I still really like the Sligo style - from Michael Coleman and James Morrison to Tony DeMarco and John Carty, but the typical Clare style really intrigues me.

Have fun tomorrow night. Hopefully I can catch up with you and Eric in October.
John McD"

He's right, there's great spirit and joy in the Sligo/New York music, too, no doubt! I have my favorites, too.

As to Clare music, there's a certain lift and rolling pulse to it. As I've read in discussions about local and regional styles all over, I'll say, "I can't describe it, but you'll know it when you hear it."

Fintan Vallely says of Clare music, in his book "The Companion to Irish Traditional Music", "The slower tempo of Clare style allows the player to concentrate more on the melodic aspects of the music. The bowing is more fluid, and extensive use is made of left hand ornamentation such as rolls. Frequent distinction is made between music from the west of the region and that from the east. The West Clare style is represented by the fine playing of Bobby Casey, Junior Crehan, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly, and Joe Ryan. The East Clare style is very much associated with the playing of Paddy Canny, whose wonderful music has been an inspiration to many, including those who play in other styles."

So our friend John is really on the money when he says: "The pace, the phrasing, the intonation (neutral notes), ambiguous modes (think Paddy Fahey) all make it sound more ancient to me." Mr. Vallely couldn't have said it better!

I agree with them both. When I think of Clare music, I think immediately of a certain sound, exemplified by the recording he references, one we lovingly call "The Four Smiling Champions", that features a great set of reels called "The Taproom Set." It features that pulse, those "in-between" notes, and more. You want that Clare sound to the max? Dial up the Tulla Ceili Band. It's that rolling lift times a million.

As to players, I think very first of Paddy Canny, Bobby Casey, PJo Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin, Junior Crehan; of Dennis Liddy and Michael Hynes (great CD called Waifs & Strays); I think of Martin Rocheford, an East Clare musician who played many instruments; Micho Russell of Doolin (whistle and great singing); of Kitty Hayes (concertina); of Pat O'Connor (The Green Mountain); of John Canny (accordion); of Josephine Marsh (accordion & fiddle); of the MacNamaras -- Mary and Andrew; of Tola Custy (fiddler from the famous Custy family); sure and John's right about pipers: Willie Clancy, Garrett Barry, Ronan Browne, Peter Laban, even Johnnie Doran of Wicklow, whose notation on the back of a photo said, "I was welcome anywhere I went. My favorite counties were Kerry, Clare, Mayo.....My best counties were Clare and Galway." He spent a good bit of time in the west of Ireland, although he lived the life of a Traveller and spent many days on the road from Dublin to Waterford.

Now, as an example of "but you said that Clare music doesn't sound like that!", let's take a stroll over to the "K" section -- The Kilfenora Ceili Band [the only ceili band, incidentally, to win three All-Ireland championships in a row (1993, 1994 AND 1995!)], has a completely different, entirely more bouncy and almost "sligo-ey" style. I can't explain it. I don't know why.

Tomorrow night I'll play you a few tracks from Tulla Ceili Band and Kilfenora Ceili Band -- after all, what's the music for but for dancing. I'm interested to hear your reflections on the county and the music, and we'll also work on a few tunes from one or the other of the bands. I've been poking at our session tune list to see how many tunes are identified with the county or were popular tunes for the sets. I'll let you know!

Or maybe you'll let me know! The whole point of this exercise is just to get familiar with some musicians from the area, and to hear a sampling of the style and of the tune choices!

See you tomorrow!!!

The Trad