Tag: traditional

John McCusker | Emma + Jamie’s Wedding

“Born in Bellshill, near Glasgow, John began playing whistle and fiddle as a child and joined the legendary folk outfit Battlefield Band aged 17,” (https://www.johnmccusker.co.uk/about/). During his 11 years with the band, he also released his first two solo recordings, 1995’s self-titled debut and 2000’s Yella Hoose. His most recent albums include Under One Sky and the reissues of Yella Hoose and Goodnight Ginger re-mastered deluxe.

John has long been renowned for his skill at transcending musical boundaries: striving to keep his music fresh and exciting, never leaving the past behind but always embracing new sonic adventures. As a live and studio guest he has shared stages with Paul Weller, Paolo Nutini, Teenage Fanclub, Graham Coxon and Eddi Reader. Since 2008, he has been a member of Mark Knopfler’s band, playing arenas around the world including a double bill with Bob Dylan at The Hollywood Bowl and 20 nights at the Royal Albert Hall.

…John was awarded the coveted BBC Radio 2 Musician of the Year in 2003 and also The Spirit of Scotland Award for music in 1999 and again in 2009. 2016 saw John receive the Good Tradition Award and perform with his band at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at The Royal Albert Hall.”

After “Emma and Jamie’s Wedding” (2016) begins in G major, a second section (0:57) seems to alternate in emphasis between Bb major and its relative G minor. Then follows a return to G major. The pattern continues from there.

Monster Ceilidh Band | Red Monster

“Monster Ceilidh Band … bring something quite unique to the folk world,’ (BrightYoungFolk). “(They) act as a strong bridge between traditional ideas of folk music and the more modern sounds of dance and techno.

This can sound like a bizarre style to try and adopt, but the simple fact is that it works so well in its context. As the band name alone suggests, the focus is on music you can dance along with. To do this, they simply one-up the use of folk instruments by merging them with sound effects, electric guitar tricks, and other methods of really getting a beat pumping.”

From the band’s own website: “Disc 2 of the Monster Ceilidh Band’s 2011 double-album Mechanical Monster (is) a mix of traditional Folk music and dirty electronic beats … the UK’s first Drum ‘n’ Bass Ceilidh crossover!” Starting in A minor, “Red Monster” shifts into B minor at 0:33 before returning to A minor at 0:49. The alternating pattern continues from there.

Bellowhead | Gosport Nancy

“Bellowhead formed in 2004 and after 12 amazing years, they called it a day in 2016,” (bellowhead.co.uk). “In their active years they played to thousands of people at festivals and on tour, recorded five studio albums (selling over a quarter of a million copies), were the proud recipients of two silver discs and won a staggering eight BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. 

During lockdown in 2020, the 11 members of Bellowhead first re-connected online to remotely record ‘New York Girls – At Home’. That led to re-uniting in person for a one-off performance … one of the biggest online streams of 2020, confirming that Bellowhead are still one of the biggest and most in demand UK folk acts, despite not performing for nearly five years. The stream led to pleas from fans for more and the stars aligned for a mammoth reunion tour in November 2022 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their fourth album, Broadside.“

Released in 2016, “Gosport Nancy” is unusual for its horn section. Contributor JB adds: “It’s rare for an English trad band to include horns at all, and yet rarer to feature such a funky horns arrangement.” Adding to the intrigue, the tune also includes plenty of syncopation and a few compound chords. Starting in D major, the tune modulates up a whole step to E major at 2:49, layering more shifts in the subsequent measures before landing back in D major.

Tamsin Elliott | Emerging/Full Squirrel

“Tamsin is a folk musician, composer and film-maker based in Bristol, UK,” (TamsinElliott.co.uk). “With roots in the dance tunes of the British Isles, her interests and playing styles extend to European and Middle Eastern musics as well as experimental and ambient sounds. Her ‘beautiful, filmic compositions for accordion, harp, whistle, and voice’ (The Guardian) are rooted in tradition, whilst pushing boundaries and exploring minimalist, neo-classical, sound art and other non-traditional formats. 

Her debut solo album Frey (2022), which features the playing of Sid Goldsmith and Rowan Rheingans … explores themes of limbo, pain, healing and acceptance, reflecting on the microcosm of her personal experience of chronic illness alongside wider themes of societal disconnection and environmental grief. ‘One of the most accomplished debut albums we’ve heard in a long time… the influence of tradition pulses through every track,’ (Tradfolk).”

After an extended rubato intro in A minor, an accelerated waltz section begins at 1:48. A shift to A major begins at 2:08, returning to A minor at 2:25. More transitions continue from there.

Aly Bain + Phil Cunningham | The Jig Runrig

“Fiddler Aly Bain and accordionist Phil Cunningham are two of the most celebrated musicians on the Scottish traditional scene,” (Compass Records). “By the time they began working together in 1988, they were already renowned for their previous accomplishments. Bain was a founding member of the Boys of the Lough, a group whose repertoire includes both Scottish and Irish influences. Cunningham became a member of the infamous Silly Wizard at the age of sixteen, launching a prolific and diverse musical career. The duo first worked together on a television series in 1988, and embarked on their first tour shortly after. They were so well-received that they have been touring together ever since. Their two previous duo recordings, The Pearl (1996) and The Ruby (1998), have been met with high acclaim.”

“Having toured together since 1986 to packed concert halls all over the world, Aly and Phil continue to charm audiences with their stunning music and on-stage charisma that defies description,” (PhilCunningham.com). “Witty and humorous banter sits alongside tunes that tug the heartstrings, and joyous reels and melodies that have feet tapping along at their ever popular concerts. The pair have recorded many highly acclaimed albums in their thirty years together including two ‘Best Of’ collections. Aly and Phil have won numerous awards, including the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ BEST DUO Award, and have been nominated in the Scottish Traditional Music Awards for ’Live Act of the Year.’”

The duo’s piece “The Jig Runrig,” performed here in 2019, modulates several times, starting with a shift up a perfect fourth at the 0:30 mark. The duo’s phrasing is uncanny, with the fiddle and accordion often sounding like a single instrument during the unison sections!

The Boys of the Lough | Farewell and Remember Me

“A fun-loving approach to Celtic music has made the Boys of the Lough one of folk music’s most influential groups. Since they formed in the 1960s, the Ireland-based band have been instrumental in the evolution of traditional Irish music,” (Qobuz).

“Boys of the Lough are one of the masters of celtic music, combining members from several celtic traditions with a long history (Ceolas.org) … Like that other long-running act, the Chieftans, their music tends to the formal; impeccable technique and sensitivity, with large, sometimes classical-style arrangements, and very tight ensemble playing. They lack the fire and roughness of other groups; the overall feeling is of a group of skilled, well-integrated musicians playing together for the pure pleasure of it.”

“Farewell and Remember Me,” from the group’s 1987 album of the same name, is a ballad largely built in F# major. Accompanied by piano and fiddle, the solo vocal line takes center stage for several verses, each ending on a suspended tonic chord. At 2:12, the final verse shifts to F# minor, closing the tune without resolution on a wistful VI chord.

Paul McCandless | We Gather Together

Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Paul McCandless plays oboe on this arrangement of the Christian hymn “We Gather Together,” originally written in 1597 and often associated with Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The track is the first cut on the 1998 Windham Hill collection Thanksgiving. It begins in G, and modulates up to A at 2:18.

Paul Young | Sordid

Let’s first establish that we’re not referring to THAT Paul Young (the vocalist with the multiple 80s pop hits — also from the UK).

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we’ve landed in trad/folk world. “Paul (Young) has been a busy member of the Northern folk scene for a number of years now,” (Aluinn Ceiligh Band’s website). “Formerly a member of the well-known group Black Beard’s Tea-Party, he joined Aluinn shortly after their formation in 2011 and has been playing with them ever since. He also runs his own York-based band The New Fox Band. As adept on melodeon as he is on fiddle, Paul also has a busy teaching practice.” Young’s own website flips the script, emphasizing his melodeon work over the fiddle. Overall, Young’s web presence is very slim indeed, aside from his extensive Youtube videos.

Regular contributor JB adds: “In addition to stellar technique, Young is a pretty gifted songwriter.  All 30 tunes in the video are his original compositions, and while there are a few clunkers, most of the tunes manage to pull off a really difficult straddle: They sound sufficiently ‘trad-adjacent’ that they could be seamlessly mixed into a set with tunes that were written 200 years ago, but are also more harmonically adventurous than 95% of trad tunes.”

After starting in A minor, Young’s “Sordid” shifts to A major at 41:26, then back to minor at 41:42, alternating onward from there. (Our apologies for the oddly huge numbers on the timeslates, but this tune is merely a small part of a much larger compilation video featuring Young’s work).

PeakFiddler | Tam Lin (Glasgow Reel)

Regular contributor JB writes: “While the production values of this video are nothing to write home about, the musicianship is top notch. There are places where you would swear that the performer dubbed in a second violin track, but it’s a single track, with very skillful (and unobtrusive) use of double-stops and aural illusions (your ear hears a given element of a chord as continuing even when it’s not).  

The same performer also recorded the guitar and banjo parts, but since he apparently views them as mere backdrops for the fiddle, he didn’t bother to use the ‘Hollywood Squares’ style of video. If you can listen to this tune without your heart rising and your pulse quickening, you’re probably deceased…”

PeakFiddler has no website, but does maintain some of the usual social media channels, all furnished with the same videos of live performance. But there’s no accompanying bio information to be found anywhere — other than that he’s “a musician living in the Northwest of England.” After a start in D minor, the tune transitions to A minor at 1:50.

Anthem Lights | God Bless America

In observance of Independence Day in the US, today we feature Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” covered here by the Nashville-based a cappella Christian group Anthem Lights. The group, which includes Caleb Grimm, Chad Graham, Joey Stamper, and Spencer Kane, has released seven albums. This arrangement begins in A and modulates suddenly to B at 1:01.