"Spancil Hill" is a haunting old story-song about Irish immigration followed by a fiddle composition by Junior Crehan, who I was lucky to know, "Farewell to Milltown." This is a song about and by a man who immigrated from County Clare and ended up in California during the Gold Rush/Famine. He never did make it back to Ireland, but he left us a haunting story-song. I sing this in the old, heart-wrenching sean-nos tradition as I was fortunate to experience it in West Clare in the 1990s.

Spancil Hill

Fiddling in Irish sessions and contradances was a big part of my growing up in New Hampshire. I then lived in County Clare, Ireland for years and learned from the old players, also traveling around Ireland gathering tunes, in the 1990s. I play in bands in Flagstaff and also solo shows which involve improvisation and fusion. In addition to fiddle, I play mandolin, Irish whistle, and I sing.

New tracks tagged #SeanNos