Cool song, Chris. You guys have really captured the traditional style!!

Just beautiful work Chris and Martin. Highest caliber and a gorgeous listen. really appreciate the effort you put into bringing this out with an interpretation that delivers it most effectively to the modern listener, while clearly bringing us back to a seminal era. Delicious stuff! Durge

This is a wee treasure Chris...  lovely to listen to

Lovely and honest.  Wonderful vocals, guitars and all performances!

Fabulous piece of work, enjoyed every minute of it.

Chris: Lyrics & melody arrangement/vocals/Brauchli lapslide/audio engineering
Martin: Bass, rhythm, main guitars, shruti, instrumental arrangement & recording.
Another collaboration re-imagining the tradition, with Martin Kirwan…we’ve made this one a free download if you enjoy it. Martin has composed and played the instrumental on layered guitar tracks and shruti, and I've re-arranged the lyrics and vocal melody. As always, I'm blown away by his beautiful playing and imaginative blending of cultural sounds. https://soundcloud.com/tradladsaughrim

This gem can be found in Buntings Ancient Music of Ireland, and the "literal  translation from the original Irish" was undertaken by a Miss Mary Balfour, (there is a slightly different  translation in my 1897 book The Minstrelsy of Ireland). 
The original Irish song was believed to have been collected by an agent of Bunting's associates the McCrackens - a man called Patrick Lynch...who collected over 200 songs from singers around the Mayo area in the early 1800's but this man was never acknowledged in the publication. 
The original tune was believed to have been first published as "Ye Trugh" by Neal in 1724, but Bunting got it from Charles Byrne at a harpist's gathering around the 1790's.

"Arise from thy slumbers, oh fairest of maids!
With me wilt thou wander to Truigha's green shades,
Where sorrel and bright rowan berries abound,
And nuts in rich clusters the branches have crowned.

A bed of fresh ivy to rest thee I'll bring,
The blackbirds and thrushes around us shall sing,
And there with unceasing attachment I'll prove,
How soothing the cares of affection and love.

In my contemporary arrangement I've made the English lyrics flow a bit better. 

Photo by Chris Okunbor

An Seann Triuca

An Seann Triuća (The Old Truigha) Trad. arr. Okunbor & Kirwan. Free download if you like it

Hard times, I hope you will forgive the lightness of touch. A big thank you to three magnificent earthlings who allow me to keep dreaming: https://soundcloud.com/janinelevinson, https://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein and Yaron Engler. 

https://youtu.be/gcvxFj4CPZY

Rocket fuel regular
Or rocket fuel light?
Said the Venusian
He was ever so polite

She said, give me regular
And lit a cigar
He knew straight away
That this girl was from Mars

No smoking in here
You’ll blow us all up
She said, give me ya phone number
And I might look you up

He went red
She remained green
Coz Martians and Venusians
Are like meat with ice cream

Meat with Ice Cream
Meat with Ice Cream

He went red
She remained green
But when you think about it
What’s wrong with meat with ice cream

He gave her his number
That’s  what they did
She gave hime a wink
And he fluttered his lids

Meat with Ice Cream
Meat with Ice Cream
He gave her his number
And a little while later they had green and red kids

Meat with Ice Cream
Meat with Ice Cream
Meat with Ice Cream
You know what I mean

Meat With Ice Cream

Meat With Ice Cream (feat. Janine Levinson & Jonathan Beckenstein)

some songs come into this world a bit depressed........this is one of them, with a bit of light..................thanks for having a listen

Going Down

Watch the video on YouTube!! https://youtu.be/3XKWXagB3Cs

Vocals, Lyrics and Artwork by https://soundcloud.com/cosmic_keanu
Produced by HOBOCOP


Lyrics:

What can I say 
I don’t know what to think
Can’t shake this feeling
It overwhelms me

only solution
Seems to be
just to run away

That’s the way
I’ve dealt with
Everything before

every time 
I feel the fear 
and want to run away
I think of you
And I’m not 
so afraid

This tide incoming 
it feels so hopeless
There is no reason
No sense of purpose

pushed around so long
By things we can’t change
We feel abandoned
life has no meaning

that’s an illusion
Things are deeper than
we can ever know

There is infinite joy
Beyond understanding
Beyond the senses,
Living in the truth

Achieving this
no higher goal
grounded in being, unshaken
In pain and sadness

Content with whatever
unattached to pleasure
Gain true freedom
Enter absolute joy

Let go of attachments
mind grounded in the truth
At peace forever
Completely absorbed in God

Belief without faith
is a quagmire of doubt
never satisfied
In this world or beyond

Let go of attachments
mind grounded in the truth
At peace forever
Completely absorbed in God

every time 
I think of you
I’m not 
so afraid

NotSoAfraid(Hobocop & Cosmic Keanu)VIDEO AVAILABLE🎥

Me Instant Composition

From our 2017 debut album which will be released properly one day soon. This song is the story of making a rough time all better again, but then there is the matter of John, and who is he in the song? I thought it was most obvious when I wrote it and that everyone would get the reference, but so far no-one has mentioned the connection or had an "aha!" moment. Perhaps one of you will. ;-) 

Pictured is Yoshi who was our first and amazing cajon player whom we greatly missed when she left for Japan. 

Does all this silence give you space
To turn things over
I hope you get it bright side up
It was never meant to fall apart like this
O babe we were never really s'posed to

You know I feel with you
You make me laugh 
I make you smile
And there's no need for goodbye
I dig you out you lift me high
Oh high

Can I keep on running with you
Close by me
I never meant to say goodbye
I want you with me
Through all of this
Oh babe
We were never really s'posed to

You know I feel with you
You make me laugh
I make you smile
And there's no need for goodbye
I dig you out 
You left me high
Oh high

He told her in the beginning she was a gem.
They had a good thing going
Don't ruin it
But they gave a little more and more and more
Hey John is yes always the answer?
Look at this mess.
They said no first
And then yes yes yes.

Watchglass

If you love me keep me

Dont Blame John

These songs are influenced by images from the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold. I’m not sure how this poem came to me, I’m not a big reader of poetry, but there is is. I used several images from the poem to name the songs, as well.

The Tide is Full

The Light Gleams And Is Gone

This song is all about travelling in your imagination. It's got me playing some sax too...

Ruby Shoes~anna 4.m4a

where would we bee without the honeybee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,cheers for having a listen

Honeybee

Across This Land (Original)

In this fictional story, Madlyn, "the little girl dressed in blue" from the track, Climb Up the Ladder is missed by her dad. We've gotten a number of condolence messages. I guess we did a good job on this track!

Ruby LaRue

MADLYN

Chris, hailing  from North West  Tasmania in Australia, is a singer-songwriter who pens originals, and  plays vintage music the way it used to be.  Her mashup of  Folk, Blues,  &  Americana  draws on a lifetime of  encounters with places, people, and the magic of nature;  echoing  a multitude of  global grassroots traditions. 
Traveling around carrying her “band” like a pack pony ~ lap-slide, banjo, uke, as well as a few plain ole guitars, she  regularly performs in Australia and Europe.
Growing up in Merseyside, England, Chris was exposed to the vibrant music scene of the late 60’s and 70’s,  and her music is has been influenced by  traditional folk, country blues, and  world music .
In 2016 she represented her State at the International Blues Challenge & National Women in Blues Showcase in Memphis,  and her second album,  “Wailin’ & Raggin’ the Blues” was  a   finalist for “Best Self-produced CD with the Blues Foundation , USA.  Her third album, “Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways” was  a finalist for Blues & Roots Radio Album of the Year in 2018.
www.chrisokunbor.net

An Seann Triuća (The Old Truigha) Trad. arr. Okunbor & Kirwan. Free download if you like it

Chris O (2)

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