JigTime

So I finally got a couple of hours to sit down and record that 4th audio podcast I have been promising. Life has been busy. I occasionally have to do some chores in life to get enough money to eat and also Lupa has been doing live online Tarot readings. It takes a lot of my time to help her with the cameras and the tech side of things. But it is all so much fun I have to admit. Check out Lupa’s site at http://lupaloo.net

But the audio podcast is up and ready. As always it has the links and info you need for the festival in March and music this week from The Pogues, Mary Black, The Poozies, Altan, Alison Brown, The Corrs and more.

More soon but please do stop by the ive streaming video cast at jigtime.com/radio and join in the chat room. Also if you have Skype you can call into the show and chat.

Enjoy

 

 Ar Ais Aris Podcast - Episode 4 [58:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I know I know. I promised you an audio podcast would be out at the weekend. Well I was being very optimistic  as it turned out. What with a house full of kids, four dogs, an idiotic cat and half the neighbourhood coming in and out all the time, I just didn’t find a moment to sit down and finish it.

So that will be done today at some point and to soothe your frustrated hearts here is today’s video podcast from this morning’s live show. Today I had music from Dick Gaughan, Mary Black, Salsa Celtica and many more. Enjoy.

I was sitting watching the Oscars just now and apart from some very funny banter from John Stewart there was not a lot of entertainment for me this year. I remember for many years that staying up to watch the Oscars back in Ireland was almost worth it. I must be getting older and more cynical.

But there was one moment of pure joy for me tonight, well two, but they involved the very same people. The first was the moment they announced Best Original Song. It was won by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irgova for “Falling Slowly” from the film “Once”. A simple beautiful song from a simple beautiful and very low budget movie. Glen and Marketa accepted the award with great joy and amazement yet still seemed completely at ease amid the glitz of this huge occasion.

After Glen made his thank you comments which included a “thank you” in the Irish language, something you don’t often hear in Hollywood, Marketa went to speak and was cut off by the music. So the second moment of great joy was when they came back from the commercial break, John Stewart (and as a fan I really hope this was his idea) brought Marketa back on to the stage so she could get a chance to say thanks. And she took that moment and made it her own.

Well done to both Glen and Marketa. Such a great song and a well deserved award.

So the rain has abated a little but it was here for a long time and it was lovely. We don’t get much rain in Georgia, certainly not enough in the past few years. So this was both beneficial to everyone here but also reminded me of home. Today I had some great music from Maura O’Connell, Michael McGoldrick, Four Men and a Dog, Mister Midnight, The Pogues and No River City, among others. The mic audio at the start is terrible but bear with it as it improves and I think you will find the music selection makes it worth a few bits of distortion from yours truly.

I will be finishing this week’s audio podcast today and will see you all again on live video on Monday.

Stay well

You know, even though I was brought up with traditional Irish music, like many I moved away from it for periods of time. Even with the bands that had traditional roots there was always a departure from pure Irish music. The Pyros were the band equivalent of a rebellious teen opting to add other forms of music to the mix. Bluegrass, jazz, rock, country were all thrown into the Pyros sound and our own traditional music was not always given the treatment the purists would be happy with. But we had a lot of fun with it and it did bring a lot of decent roots music to a new audience.

But along the way I have been a member of many different types of bands. The Whiskey Priests from Durham were a raucous punk folk outfit. Jack’s Jack was a blues band, Fiveskin was a mixture of original music and classic Americana that the members all loved. When Paul, Laurence and myself worked with Frank Tovey even The Pyros sound changed dramatically. It was rockier, punkier, much louder and more progressive in feel. We pushed a lot of our own boundaries working with Frank and he too went to musical places he would normally never have visited.

But in my very early days I was into much more popular music. I am still a fan of some top 40 songs and artists. My much cooler band mates in many of the bands I was with would cringe when I would tell them the cheesy songs I liked. So it was inevitable I would join a pop band at some stage. In my very early twenties my good friend Damien Doherty was leaving a local band he was in and I was ready for a change too. So we practically swapped jobs and I was suddenly in the Irish Showband scene.

It was such a good learning experience. It was all covers of top 40 and classic pop and rock hits but while it was poppy is wasn’t simple. The first song I had to learn for the band was Rio by Duran Duran. Then it was two years of everything from Wham to TheRolling Stones to Level 42. Pluto were a pop band based in Killybegs a small fishing town but the band were filling dancehalls and clubs all over the country. For me it was like being an instant pop star. We had our stage clothes and hair styles and did photo shoots and it was fun but hard work.

Of course it was cheesy when I look back. I had purple hair for a while with a gold streak in it. And I had a red suit which I wore with a white t-shirt and my jacket sleeves rolled up a la Miami Vice.

So just last week I was brought crashing back to that old time when a girl I knew back then who sometimes sang with the band got in touch and we have been chatting about old times.

Music is music and I loved my days in Pluto. Some of the music was not exactly for the cool but I enjoyed every note. I learned to be a better bassist and how to enjoy being on stage. But nothing really can take away the cringing feeling I get when I look at this blurry picture of me and singer Mary B on stage in Donegal with Pluto.

You can laugh if you want to. Til next time….
Thanks to my dear old friend Paula Cannon for the picture and the great memories

Slainte