Thanks to Chris Okunbor for drawing my attention to your fine cloud Mike. I look forward to listening to much more. Best wishes, Mark

@martin-k-g: It's in the blood I think Martin, thanks for the note...

Love your version of this great song so much Mike....all the gravity it requires

Cáilín Deas Crúite Na Mbó -Pretty Girl Milking a Cow- Traditional Irish Song

I've always been a big fan of Travis's fine guitar playing, but was extra blown away by his blues slide instrumental "Saturday Morning Blues"......such fine guitar playing, the technique there with a bucket of soul.

Travis kindly allowed me to sing along with this track ~ I'm doing another all time favorite of mine, Son House's Walking Blues.


Go have a listen to Travis's excellent blues tracks on:
https://soundcloud.com/travis-moody

Vocal recording &  mix by Eliot Reynolds, Songcave Studios, Hazelbrook

Walking Blues ~ Chris O & Mr Travis Moody   (Son House cover)

Written and recorded by Pearse McGloughlin and Enda Reilly. Scríofa agus teafad déanta ag Pearse McGloughlin agus Enda Reilly.

Liricí

Suí Maedhbh is Ailil lán le gliondar óg
Fadó nuair a bhíodar ag féilte
Roimh thit an chomhrá as a chéile

An tuath seo lan/ de cuimhne soleir
Dath ór/ tine ar-an uisce
Fuaimeanna na h-oiche sna coillte'(crainnte)

Ag ól, Ag ól ag an Garbhóg

Mo dheartháir mór lena bhata iascaí
Ag dreapadh ar na crainnte, an abhainn faoi
Is bheirfeadh sé na héisc mhór is mé na héisc óg
ag an Garbhóg

Líonaim gloine dubh is ólaim an bhrón
Is fada uaim anois Sliabh an Rí;
An féar glas, na sceacha buí

Ag ól ag ól ag an garbhóg.
Ag ól ag ól ag an garbhóg


Ag Ól Ag Ól Ag An Garbhóg

A sean nós styled song from centuries past, it hearkens back to a time of persecution in Ireland.  People would meet in secret, at the 'Mass Rock'.  Code language was often used to communicate.  The version I sing here is the first 'mastered' rendition I have done, and the first with instrumentation.
This track is from the album Irish Old Style At the Irish Roots Cafe and is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michaelcolaughlin3

Buy on iTunes

Were You At the Rock? (An Raibh Tu Ar Ang Carraig)

Drum and flutes.

Native american flute B3 and F#4


The old desert - Native american flute

Jeff Says:
This was one of the most fun pieces to make on the whole album. Dan cooked up that intro, with the gut string banjo taking the lead and it sounded raw and nomadic. Even the dulcimer was adding to this effect for me. So, I tried to give it a few small tonal tweeks to emphasize the blurry lines between styles with the steel drums and and a modified lowered midi sitar. Next up Martin Kiran came in with a real sitar, his excellent ebow slide for that nice bowed saw sound, and an assortment of instruments I'd rather make Dan talk about because I will definitely mix something up. 

Once we had the intro worked out, we had our elves bring the material to Tim Olisker's work shop, where he takes this whole song into a much bigger world.
More wonderful work from Tim (Pianissimo):
https://soundcloud.com/pianissimo

Dan sez: This is one of my favorite carols, thanks to the same Mme Pennypacker referenced in my notes on Entre Le Boeuf. It has a similar ancient quasi-modal setting which simultaneously implies a sense of mystery and dignity,  and also opens it up to all kinds of musical cross-pollination. This has made it popular with holiday performances from all kinds of choirs but also with global fusion artists (see Loreena Mckennit's version), again, non of which we knew when we embarked on this version.

We'd also been hoping to do something with Tim, aka https://soundcloud.com/pianissimo, for some time. He mines similar sonic territory to KG&B, using an enormous library of digital sounds  to create vast, sweeping epic soundtracks, even if the movies haven't been made yet. The end result is a global fusion mixing Eastern and Western sound and traditions elegantly and beautifully. He was a natural pick for Noel Nouvelet, and we asked him to make his own arrangement to tie in with ours.

Pianissimo: everything after 2:27 
KG&B: Banjos, guitars, didgeridoo, jaw harps, percussion, bass, dulcimer, whistles, mandolin, vocals

Noel Nouvelet(Pianissimo with Martin Kirwan and G&B)

Buy on Bandcamp: "Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways"
https://chriso1.bandcamp.com/track/the-north-country
https://chriso1.bandcamp.com/album/twisted-roots-twisted-highways

Old Irish lyrics from the 1800's or before, set to a contemporary instrumental. (My love she comes from the North Countrie. Martin Kirwan composed and played the instrumental (guitar, shruti, sitar) https://soundcloud.com/martkirwan

Chris O re-arranged & re-wrote the lyrics and vocal melody & added some  bits and bobs to the instrumental (slide guitar, vocals, whistle). Original Lyrics collected in the early 1800's - Southern Ireland (but this sounds like an English song, Shakespeare was writing about this stuff in his sonnets).

Here's Martin's original instrumental that inspired this song to be born:
https://soundcloud.com/martkirwan/last-of-the-leaves

My love she comes from the North Countrie (original version ~ pre 1860)

My love she was born in the north countrie
Where hills and lofty mountains rise up from the sea;
She's the fairest young maiden that e'er I did see,
She exceeds all the maids in the north countrie.

My love is as sweet as the cinnamon tree;
She clings to me close as the bark to the tree;
But the leaves they will wither, the roots will decay,
And fair maidens' beauty will soon fade away.

Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways

The North Country ~ Chris O & Martin Kirwan (Trad. Arr. Okunbor & Kirwan)

Dan sez: An augmentation of a solo take I did on this a few years back. The song is a great one,  part of the gospel and country-gospel holiday traditions, which came to me from Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. There are a gazillion other versions out there too from the Folk Revival and everything after; it seems to be a favorite deep cut on Christmas albums from old rockers. Really. REO Speedwagon has a version. It's not all that bad, either. Nick Lowe's is really good. Hall & Oates did it justice too.

Starting from my tinny four-string guitar and vocal, Martin added his new rock solid thumb to it on guitar to give it a rolling bass line. Then came Jeff's bass, some G&B percussion, backing vocals, a little electric cigar box slide and some electric banjo to finish it off. The idea was to keep the sparse vibe even as the sound and scope expanded a bit, and we hope we succeeded.

Kirwan, Greenwood & Burns: 3 string cigar box guitar, 4 string guitar, 5 string banjo, 6 string guitar, electric bass, percussion

The Brownie & Sonny version that inspired this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPByB8_yw0c

Children Go Where I Send Thee (Martin Kirwan with G&B)

Birdy's "Skinny Love" from her self titled debut album "Birdy" out in North America on March 20th! Pre Order Here: http://bit.ly/BirdyAlbum


Birdy

Skinny Love

YOU GO TO MY HEAD / H. Gillespie - JF Coots by GABY KALIKIAN

Irish Sean Nós & traditional singer.  Vocalist with the Irish Roots Cafe house band, Mike performed the first all Irish language stage show in the midwest, and Ranked #1 in the U.S. as a celtic artist on Reverbnation (for nine months). He has had the honor of singing Sean Nós at the annual Gaelic Mass in Kansas City; at the Dublin Irish Festival Sean Nós tent and with the Irish Roots Cafe house band in 2014; and via live, streaming audio shows on the web. Many of his songs are found on YouTube, Vimeo, and iTunes today. Early influences include Joe Heaney of Galway, Cathy Jordon of Dervish, and Niamh Parsons from whom he has taken instruction. 
A featured artist on 'Tradconnect' out of Dublin, the editors 'Spotify' playlist ranked 'Over the Mountain' in the top 15. Mikes album, 'Irish Song: Traditional and Sean Nós' was placed in the Irish Traditional Music Archives in September, 2013. 
The most published author in his field. Since 1978 he has authored: 60 books; 40 CD's and Videos; 300 podcasts; and over 1,000 articles.  Having written books on every county in Ireland, he also publishes rare works in both Irish and English, including 'The Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters'.
 
Michael O'Laughlins 6 fields of Irish study include: Genealogy; History; Irish-America; Language (gaeilge); and Song.  
His first album "Irish Song..." is also available at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michaelcolaughlin

Were You At the Rock? (An Raibh Tu Ar Ang Carraig)

Mike O'Laughlin

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