Track 153: Billy Caples: Bonny Kate/Merry Blacksmith (reels)

We revisit accordionist Billy Caples' recordings this week with a set of reels recorded with pianist Gene Frain. Caples' setting of the Merry Blacksmith is particularly lovely.

Recorded on the Irish Records label (I-3012). From the Ted McGraw Collection, McGraw 78 03-281.

McGraw 78 03-281

Billy Caples: Bonny Kate/Merry Blacksmith (reels)

Paul Brady recorded live Chicago Nov 1st 2015

Chicago 1st Nov 15 Busted Loose

This was recorded as part of a documentary i made in 1994 about fiddle playing in Donegal.   Pat Mulhern learnt a lot of his music from his uncle James and also got lessons on how to read music from a man called Anderson who worked in the train station house in Ballymagan. Paddy Mc Donald was a travelling travelling fiddle player who made a huge impression at fair days throughout Inishowen. Paddy Mc Donald was also the noted fiddler that played at the quayside in Derry when people were leaving for America. 
Pat Mulhern was 94 years young when I recorded this interview. What an amazing man and full of wit. When I asked him how he learned the fiddle his answer was; ''I just catched it and rattled away til I hit something''.

Pat Mulhern (Donegal Fiddle Tradition)

Liddy Final 11-21 [80]

Just came across this recording from the solo show I did last year in Milwaukee. Great venue at Celtic MKE, and looking forward to a return visit this summer!

Paddy's Rambles Live In Milwaukee

A hornpipe in the key of G major written 3 years ago in October 2014. Influenced very much by piping music and has more of a feel of a set dance about it than a hornpipe really, aside from the fact that the second part is not lengthened in the fashion of a set dance, which is 12 bars. In particular, I wrote this tune imagining it being played in the style of the duet playing of Peter Carberry and Padraig Mc Govern.

C modal reel edit

In Good Tenor

This song always had a particular appeal to me as a fiddle player and a fan of John Doherty – his playing of the air is so beautiful. When I came across this version in Sam Henry’s Songs of the People collection I was immediately curious to compare the transcribed melody with that of the familiar air. I ended up liking the Sam Henry melody better even than the version I already knew. The setting of the narrative is Eastersnow, a townland in Co Roscommon.

Helen Diamond

Helen Diamond - 05 - Eastersnow

Trip To Birmingham (1)

composed by eamon o'leary and sam amádon

The Ballad Of Jimi

This is track one from our 2019 release, Some Assembly Required.  This track features Charlie Branch on guitar, Niamh Fahy and Chris Buckley on fiddle, and Rob Forkner on bodhran.

Album is available here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/petestrickler

Some Assembly Required

Joe Derrane's / The Killavil / Willie Coleman's

Pete Strickler - Some Assembly Required - 01 - Joe Derrane's  The Killavil  Willie Coleman's (Jigs)

A rare session recording of the late County Clare concertina player Paddy Murphy (1913 - 1992), recorded by John Knight In Ennis, on the 4th October 1972 (recovered from Tape_035/036 in January/April 2020). John's records don't specify who the box player is, but credit to them too for the excellent playing!

Some info on Paddy:
Paddy Murphy (who is regarded as a founding father of modern Irish concertina music) was born in the rural community of Fiach Roe in the musically rich heartland of west County Clare (Ireland). His music developed during a time of unprecedented change in Irish society. Emigration from the Irish countryside was reaching critical mass, but Murphy chose to remain at home on a mountainy farm. During the next fifty years, he would become one of the most celebrated concertina players in Ireland, responsible for developing a unique fingering system and for passing on his skills to a new and eager generation of teachers and performers.

Further information may be found here - http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/music/heartland_clare_concertina/dialects_players.htm

Paddy Murphy et al - Recorded by John Knight in Ennis (October 1972)

Established in 1992, the Ward Irish Music Archives houses the largest public collection of Irish music in America. It is named after John J. Ward Jr., father of Irish Fest founder Ed Ward. The archive currently consists of more than 40,000 Irish music recordings and pieces of memorabilia ranging from rare 78 rpm's, LP's and sheet music to song books, instruments, and concert memorabilia. Many of the archives items are extremely difficult to find today, and our diverse collections focus on subjects such as Irish traditional music, Irish folk songs, Scottish music, and Irish contributions to American popular music.

Billy Caples: Bonny Kate/Merry Blacksmith (reels)

Ward Irish Music Archives

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