Getting To Know The Masters Of Traditional Irish Music
We recently highlighted an article by Martin Hayes that was published in the Irish magazine “The Journal of Music” (read the article here). I explained in that post how interested I was to get a peek inside a master’s mind as he contemplated his contemporaries (so I won’t bore you with any other of my emotions here!).
A week later, the article hasn’t left my conscience so I thought I better look into it further. And perhaps the best place to start is with the illustrious people that Martin Hayes mentioned in his piece. I had a scan through and here are the names mentioned:
- His father
- Peter O’Loughlin
- Martin Rochford
- Paddy Canny
- Johnny Doherty
- Tommy Peoples
- Tommy Potts
- Willy Clancy
- Pádraig O’Keeffe
- Seán Ó Riada
- Joe Bane
- Bill Malley
- Junior Crehan
- Bobby Casey
- John Naughton
I would reckon that this is a pretty good list to start with on my discovery. And by way of a disclaimer let me say now that my musical prowess goes no further than the tin whistle, piano and violin lessons that I attended as a young fella in Tipperary (admittedly with an excellent teacher, Eileen O’Brien). I have held on to little or none of what I learned, but I am eager to dive in again.
Hayes says of his contemporaries that, “it may be more important to understand how they navigated their uncharted roads as artists than to try and draw conclusions from their artistic output.” I want to approach traditional Irish music from the bottom up, understand this artist’s journey (although I know I won’t be able to experience it), and perhaps learn a few tunes along the way.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have any suggestions or advice for me as I look at these artists. Can you recommend any others? It’s not my fault that Martin Hayes didn’t mention any women, so please call on your female heroes now!
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