Folk Music Friday #3, St Patrick's Day part 2

On 03/16/2013 at 12:51 AM by Ranger1

And now for Part 2 of our Irish music extravaganza. Sorry if I'm a little loopy, I'm suffering the effects of staying up way to late and getting up far too early.

The first song of part 2 comes from a local band that I don't think is together any more. They were called Rakish Paddy and this song is The Maid of Fife. Fife is actually in Scotland, but the dragoons are Irish, as is the lead singer of Rakish Paddy, so it fits.

Schooner Fare is another group from Maine, but a lot better known. This song is The Rising of the Moon. And apparently embedding has been disabled on this one... Link is here.

I have no idea who this is, I found this video when I was looking for something else. It's a couple of tunes played on uillean pipes. The first is Boys of the Lough and the second is Green Fields of America.

Seamus Kennedy might as well have “Professional Irishman” printed on his business cards. It took me a while to decide on what I was going to post for Seamus. He's better live than in the studio, so that's what I went with. We met when he did a house concert at my friend Mary's, and know each other well enough to trade insults. This song is Finnegan's Wake.

Jed Marum's another musician I met because he did a house concert at Mary's. Jed's amazing, he does a lot of traditional stuff, but he's also an incredibly gifted song writer. He lives in Texas, but travels all over. The White Cockade is an old Irish poem that Jed set to a tune he wrote.

The Boys of the Lough (see why I stumbled on that other set of tunes now?) are a group that's been around for a while. They're not all from Ireland, but who cares? The music's great. Here's a set of reels that I didn't manage to catch the names of, but I think they're in the video. And this is another one that doesn't allow embedding. Boo. Link.

This second tune is Calliope House also done by The Boys of the Lough and was written by one of the members of the group. It's been covered by a ton of other people and groups, including The Waterboys.

Speaking of The Waterboys...Wraggle Taggle Gypsy off the Room To Roam album. This song is trad, by the way.

No set of music for St Patrick's Day would be complete without something by The Pogues. This one may be my favorite Pogues song and is one of the rare songs not written by Shane MacGowan – Thousands Are Sailing.

And to finish this off on a rowdy note, Hay Wrap by The Saw Doctors. No, not trad, but they are Irish.

For your listening ease, here's the playlist.

GrayHaired

03/16/2013 at 12:56 AM

The Cranberries... wait, didnt I alreay comment here? Is it Groundhog day or St. Patrick's?

...........what am I even doing up at this hour....goodnight!

Ranger1

03/16/2013 at 09:29 AM

Yes, what were you doing up at that hour?

smartcelt

03/16/2013 at 01:40 AM

I really enjoy the Jed Marum CD you sent me that time. He is outstanding. I love the sound of uillean pipes. One of my favorite symphonic metal bands,Nightwish,actually has a guy touring with them now that plays them. It's really cool to hear them used in rock music. Rakish Paddy is just the sort of music I want to hear on Sunday. Lotta good music happening in Tulsa this weekend. Just have one question for you. Are you ready for "amateur hour"? Seems like you referred to it as such once. When folks who don't normally drink get plowed and end up covered in retch.

03/16/2013 at 09:30 AM

Yes, you remember that correctly. I'm staying home and sober. Only bar within walking distance of my new place is a barbecue joint.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/16/2013 at 02:26 AM

Again, gonna have to comment tomorrow (I think that I'm commenting now at all is proof of my blog addiction; I can barely keep my eyes open typing this!), but I am most certainly looking foward to having so much music for my Irish ears. Just don't get mad if tomorrow there are lots of typos; or if you do get mad, don't blame me, blame St. Brendan.

03/16/2013 at 09:31 AM

Ha ha! You were up later commenting on blogs than I was!

Halochief90

03/16/2013 at 02:41 AM

Irish related

I saw Flogging Molly as a guest at a concert. I enjoyed even though I didn't like their music when I listened to it beforehand. That's all I've got...

03/16/2013 at 09:32 AM

Some music is just better live. What do you think of The Dropkick Murphys?

03/16/2013 at 02:48 PM

I haven't listened to much of them, but I looked up another song and I really liked it.

03/16/2013 at 03:06 PM

Homelessrook dedicated one of his Punk Tuesday blogs to me last year on 1up. It's all trad/punk like The Pogues and Flogging Molly. Click here if you're interested.

03/16/2013 at 12:25 PM

Flogging Molly is much better live. I've seen them 4 times and each performance was memorable. I saw The Dropkick Murphys open for Motorhead back when I lived in St. Louis. Have liked their music ever since. Hope you have fun tomorrow even at home. We are going to go out briefly to see some music,mostly local Celtic groups. Thanks for all the great music. Helps get me in the mood!

03/16/2013 at 12:53 PM

I'm just happy to have an audience who is interested in checking out something they might not otherwise know about.

angelfaceband42

03/16/2013 at 01:59 PM

I've never listened to a lot of Folk music and the Folk/Irish stuff you put on here is a good start. I really enjoyed it since it's not something I usually listen to. Seamus Kennedy seems like a great entertainer!

03/16/2013 at 02:07 PM

Glad you checked it out. I have very eclectic taste, even when it comes to folk, so if you keep checking on the Folk Music Friday series, you'll see a little bit of everything. Let me know what you like and don't like, I'm always curious to see what resonates with people.

As for Seamus, he's an excellent entertainer. He really enjoys what he does. He tours all over the place, so chances are you might get the opportunity to see him live.

03/16/2013 at 03:56 PM

11. Isn't Rakish Paddy the one that did the one about working on the railway that was my favorite in your last blog? I like them.

12. The guitar in the first part of "Rising of the Moon" reminded me of Tenacious D's "Tribute." lol Don't you hate when they don't allow embedding? Makes everything more difficult. I really enjoyed its spike in energy around 2:12. The bass was really good, too. Also like songs that end in clapping and drop the instrumental for a bit.

13. That guy has some nice pipes. lol

14. Seamus Kennedy's humor is the same that was traded around at my grandpa's wake. That video made me smile.

15. A Texan that plays guitar and does Irish music? I like the cut of this guy's jib.

16. Yeah, the subtitles for the reels are in the video. Nice fiddle playing.

17. Again, that's a mean fiddle.

18. It was drums and bass I noticed most in this one, though still good fidddlin' afoot.

19. I've not actually heard The Pogues before (heard OF them, though), but they remind me of Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. Great pick.I've seen the picture of that man at 3:03 a lot recently.

20. And good on ya for leaving on a rowdy note. I've never believed in slow songs ending a shindig, send everyone home in a good mood. Great song choice!

03/16/2013 at 04:17 PM

The version of Paddy on the Railway that I posted was done by The Wolfe Tones. But...Rakish Paddy did do that version of Paddy on the Railway, as well as the other, better known one. Aly Bain, the fiddler from Boys of the Lough, is probably one of the best fiddlers out there, along with Alasdair Frasier. Both are Scottish, coincidence? As for The Pogues, they've been around far longer than either The Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly. They pretty much were the first group to mix punk with trad, so technically speaking, the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly sound like The Pogues.

And Jed Marum...he's a transplant from Massachusetts, but he's been in Texas for over 20 years now. If you're interested, his calendar of where he's playing is here. He's worth seeing, and if you do go to one of his gigs, tell him that Tami told you to check out his music. He'll be the subject of a future FMF entry, we're working on an interview now.

BrokenH

03/16/2013 at 05:00 PM

There's no doubt occasionally I prefer an acoustic folk sound over the synthesized electric stuff I'm accustomed to. By the way, nice bagpipe jig!

03/16/2013 at 05:19 PM

Glad you liked it. Although, I think technically those were reels.

mothman

03/16/2013 at 06:31 PM

Great Set. Here's one of my Favourite Mike Scott (Waterboys) cuts. The Stolen Child. It fits with the St. Paddy's day theme. In fact I recommend Fisherman's Blues to anyone who might be into that kind of music. I hope the track is good quality. I didn't listen because it makes me well up. LOL

03/16/2013 at 08:45 PM

It was between The Stolen Child and Wraggle Taggle Gypsy. I went with the more traditional song of the two. Plus, I have nostalgic memories of my cousins learning Wraggle Taggle Gypsy so they could sing it to our grandfather so he could learn it. My paternal grampa was illiterate, so every song he learned was by ear.

03/16/2013 at 08:50 PM

That's a really nice story. It makes me smile.

What Mike Scott did in adapting the original poetry of The Stolen Child to music has always blown me away but then I consider him one of the great musicians of our time.

03/16/2013 at 08:54 PM

I've loved The Waterboys ever since I first heard one of their songs when I was in college. My favorite album is Room to Roam. I forgot to tell Joe that Fisherman's Blues was also on the soundtrack to Waking Ned Devine.

03/16/2013 at 09:10 PM

It's funny because for the most part The Waterboys is Mike Scott and session musicians. The first couple of Waterboys albums were quite rock oriented. A Pagan Place and This is The Sea. There is a self titled album before those two that I'm not as familiar with.

There's a song called The Big Music which first got me listening to him. I guess he's pretty famous for The Whole of the Moon which is another great track.

03/16/2013 at 09:19 PM

The Whole of the Moon was the song that turned me on to them back in college. I love his lyrics and the way he mixes literature and fable into his songs.

NSonic79

04/06/2013 at 03:09 PM

thank you for sharing. never thought much folk muscic was heard during this time. most of what I know is green , beer, and beer. and I know some irish people. unknown of me I know.

04/12/2013 at 09:59 PM

Much like the Irish, folk musicians use any excuse to party.

PixlBit

Folk Music Friday #3, St Patrick's Day part 2

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