Best Roadhouse This Side of Austin - Irish American News

10 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS June 2008Tradition In ReviewWell, there ARE some very tastytreats this time, to be sure! Enoughlollygagging. Let’s get to it!We have two very top picks thismonth. The first is the last. By that,unfortunately, we mean the last fromthe master of real honest-to-GodIrish music, Frank Harte. If youdon’t know, there are many whowould argue that Frank was the preeminentcollector of Irish songs inhis long and storied life. Beginningat the age of 10, the collecting bughit Frank when he bought his firstIrish broadsheet. These were songson paper sold for a penny at fairs,markets, in town—or anywhere abuyer could be found. Pubs were,of course, also favorite points ofcommerce. These songs covered theentire waterfront when it came totopics. Love, emigration, abandonment,war, labor conditions, and—inBill Margesonmany cases—current events. Someof the best are political in nature—and not ALL of the political onesdecried the British, as you mightthink. Over his life, Frank collectedan estimated 10,000 of these—manyon just scraps of paper. Many wouldhave no melodic notation, and manywould. In thousands of cases, thesesongs represented a local musicalnewspaper, of sorts. Singers sellingthese songs would gather at the marketsand hold forth, actually presentingthe songs live—so you know theyhad to be good to gather the attentionof the listeners, as well as their pennies.Very often, they were intendedto be sung in song pubs. One ofthe things we remember the mostabout Frank was his perfect songpub voice. High, nasal, edgy—justperfect to cut through the din of thedrinkers packed into their local. Youcould hear Frank—and you couldunderstand him perfectly. When nottending to his duties as Professor ofArchitecture at University CollegeDublin, he would be found in a widevariety of settings—both educationaland entertainment. He was a master.We were the last to interview him.We had known him for a numberof years, and were saddened alongwith everyone else in Irish musicwhen this master passed from ustwo weeks after we spoke for thefinal time. He left behind a numberof incredible gifts in the albums herecorded over the years sotto voce,as well as with Donald Lunny. Thelast of the albums has been released.He was working on it at the timeof his death, though the recordingshad, thankfully, been finished. It isentitled, There’s Gangs of Them Digging.There are 19 songs chroniclingthe Irish worker abroad—mostly relatingto those who went to Englandand Scotland. This is the real deal.Over the years, Frank recorded entirealbums on topics like the Famine,the Irish in the Napoleonic Wars (adouble album!!) and Dublin streetsongs, among many many others.The last word we heard is that thelegendarily knowledgeable HarryBradshaw, formerly the archivist ofthe RTE trad music library, is handlingthe codification of the HarteCollection. No small task, to besure. In any event, the old saw about“Frank never being truly gone” is true.We have this music. And, on There’sGangs of Them Digging we have ahistory lesson and a wonderful pieceof music at the same time. Not to bemissed. It is on the Daisy label. Rating:Four Harps to InfinityNext up is a new fav, The ParishPlatform by Rattle the Boards. Fourmusicians, with guest stars. John Nugent,Benny McCarthy, John Eganand Pat Ryan offer an album of greatfun and a sense of the real trad. Thisis not the honed studio perfection ofso many albums today. This is a big,blousy thing with a great sense of themusic, the rhythms and the meaning.It is the most fun we have had listeningto anything in quite a while. Wefrequently smiled, and even got up toshake a foot occasionally ourselves!The role of ceili and set dancing iswell recorded in Irish music, andvastly overrated. And, if this album indescription pays a little too much of atip of the hat to the dancing tradition,it delivers the essential goods—themusic itself. You will love this album.It will be a contender for Vocal/Instrumental Album of the Year. Itis their second album and is offeredthrough Doon Productions. Go towww.rattletheboards.com. Find thisalbum and buy it. Then turn it up.Smile. Rating: Four HarpsCapercaille is out with theirnew one, Roses and Tears. It is onVertical Records. It is Capercaille,all right. We have always lovedthis group. Now, this album plowsno real new ground for them—butdoes it need to? Any group thathas Karen Matheson, Donald Shaw,Ewan Vernal, Manus Lunny andthe man—Michael McGoldrick init is already a winner. It is not theirbest—nor is it “important” in theway some of their earlier work was.But, it IS perfectly played and highlyenjoyable. Capercaille fans will, ofcourse, run to get it, love it and willplay it ceaselessly. We ARE fans, butwe won’t be playing it ceaselessly—but we will play it a lot.Rating: Three HarpsCompass Records has KaranCasey’s new one, Ships in the Forest.There are masses of Karan Caseyfans, and we number ourselvesamong them. A lot of her work hasbeen almost angry. Social protestand musical lectures on varioustopics both current and historical.We thought she was moving past allthat. Now, this is a purely personalobservation of taste. Many love thosetypes of tunes. We do not. When wewere working as a studio musiciandecades ago, the saying for singerswas, “If you want to send a message,use Western Union.” Karan Caseyhas a superb voice and a real sensenow of who she is. Many, many ofher songs are not message-based andthey are superb, as well as her voice.She had the good sense to leave Solas,where she originally came to allour attention. Since then, she has recordeda number of albums, first forShanachie and now, Compass. Thesemajor labels know a star when theyhear one, and Karan is a star. A lovelygal with a great voice. But, we heara little too much of Western Unioncalling. Rating: Three HarpsLast is a lovely album distributedfrom Copperplate in London, probablythe best in the world at findingand marketing this kind of thing.It is The Factory Town by DamianO’Brien and Oliver Loughlin. Thesetwo Leitrim musicians (Damian onfiddle and Oliver on piano accordion)have produced a lovely all-instrumentalouting of taste and precision.These lads can play. A minor boneof contention—like so many otheralbums today, the album notes arebeing over produced, resulting intheir being almost impossible toread. And, that is a shame, in thatwe want to easily know more aboutthese tunes and musicians. They arejoined by some lovely side musicians,including the legend, ArtyMcGlynn on guitar. As we said, thisis a lovely album, even if it breaksno new ground—and is not meant to.Rating: Three HarpsNote:• Go to www.cfstours.com andclick on the “Tours” section, pulldown November, check the tourout and join us for an incrediblecombination of The Great Sightsand Sounds of Ireland. Check itout. You’ll see. Incredible.• Blarney on the Air—7-9 Chicagotime, every Monday night. WDCB,90.9 fm, or www.wdcb.org ShayClarke and I spinning all thebest platters and hottest wax foryou—wait, what decade did wejust shift into? Listen in, you’llhave a ball!Ta!