The Story so far...
The Ever returning Episode – Off Again.
05.09.2024
Well not exactly. It’s just that this theme regularly seems to stick its head into my subconsious. Possibly because of the importance out of that young phase of my being. Only recently someone tapped my shoulder in Ireland stating that I had ‘done it’ where all others had returned from the adventure of going ‘off again’. At the tender age of seventeen it was daunting then as it is now looking back on it and as much as people say we should not hang in the past, this chapter has a very colourful and vivid fascination for me, despite the fear and the reservations of trying to anticipate what was to come next at the time. Youth held a care free feeling about itself that not only holds my awe but also my admiration. It was something that formed a thread of streetwiseness and a feeling of inner capability. Of having gained a wider horizon.
Only just two years ago I fulfilled a wish to take a walk on the Camino. 300 km alone on the Primitivo. Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela. All along the way it was almost a return to those old days of restless moving and time spent in the depths of my then young mind. Trying to carve a road movie out of an adventure with no script to go by. The Camino was different in the sense that it was replaced with sleek organisation and comfortable hotels and in a way mirrored to me that the old days were not to be ever had or experienced in the way they once had. That journey was over.
In the song Off Again (unreleased) there is an underlying whisper of youth rebellion which loads of kids go through in their teens and so I consider myself lucky that this form of embarking was actually possible at the time. It was the days of European borders, foreign currencies, Thomas Cook cheques, ferries, Interrail tickets and most importantly hitching car rides. It was for a kid of that age a journey into the great unknown.
In those days I depended on intuition as to how to navigate through the people and languages that confronted me. Often relying on a feeling of friendship or companionship to relate to others. A feeling of truth and trust between humans. We were young and open to suggestion and some very early relationships have held to this day. Maybe I was just lucky.
It seems to me that this adventure is more now a picture book or a photo album. It may be too nostalgic for some but I think we all sometimes fall prey to nostalgia and the formation of our personal DNA. A chapter to turn the pages of our memories one more time. Maybe trying to touch that feeling of rising anxiety and curiosity that takes you out the door – and off again.
A Summer Evening in the Woods
15.07.2024
Set the scene for an evening in the woods. Among the trees with an open and partaking audience, good food and drink and above all nature doing as it sometimes does, dressing us as we like best. As it progressed it just got better. This was one to remember and calls for a repeat were already being called out as the band left the stage. Thanks to Ully Zahn (Whisky Freunde Pfalz e.V.), The Naturfreundehaus (Haisl)
Foto (edited): Johann-Peter Melder / Upload: Brigitte Melder ( Wochenblatt )
A Quick Visit Home.
And so it was. Yet as quick as the four days flew past me, I was astounded as to how much I was able to fit in. Apart from the main issue of spending important and heart warming time with my family, there was also time for a quick photo shoot with Karl Murphy and Noel Allan. After a hearty full Irish Breakfast at Strongs Café and Bistro (music insiders will know) at the Market Square in Kildare, we slipped off into the truly wonderful countryside (in local jargon: out the back of Kildare) where the lads had found a superb location and we shot a few pics. The one above being a highlight. As was the midday sip of Jameson. Considering that this was practically an inpromtu session and also very quick to suit my pressing timetable (more whisky later), it was indeed a pleasure and a treasure. Much thanks to Karl and Noel.
G
The Making of:
Looking around these days made me come to the conclusion that I should also follow the trend of releasing singles through the socials. I would like to see what happens along this route and I have a hunch that there will be a solo album at some stage along the line. But for the moment let’s see what this brings, this world of fast releases, streams and playlists.
Oddly enough it is a re-release that put up it’s hand to be taken out into the limelight, although it was actually AI that sparked the initiative. For sometime now this new engulfing theme and trend seemed to avoid me or better said I avoided thinking about this fast expanding so called modern monster AI. It wasn’t until I first seen a graphic AI video that I realised it would be a fine experiment to use it for a music video and this first example that I had discovered immediately sparked a combination to use an old song Salt of the Earth that I had written for Fleadh around 2015 and this very fairy tale style of animation.
Musically I felt that the flute line had to be updated and so Brian Haitz kindly helped out while Andy Horn remixed. Looking back I remembered that at the time Salt of the Earth just barely made it onto the album The Peacocks Feather. I’m quite sure it was the last track recorded to that project and that the band had not heard it until I had put down the pilot tracks.
The first version of the video was almost perfect and Chris Heunis (Aicraft) revised it swiftly with two small minor changes. Apparently a tricky process.The rawness as a whole is accepted. First auditions of it here at home brought the idea of subtitling the lyrics which I went along with. The video has something of what they call here in Germany a ‘wimmelbild’ which is basically a packed drawing with umpteen small figures or objects which you explore. This is similar I think and when you watch a second or third time around you discover a little bit more (the bees!).
I have heard from some friends that this is a favourite song for them. It might foremost appear somewhat masculine, nevertheless the root desire of a fulfilled life, whilst maybe not in this exact format, is I think inherent in us all. Life of course rarely bends to all our needs but fairy tales do, don’t they?
SÌOLTA VIDEO RELEASE
14.02.2024
We worked on this video last year with Nils Nolte on camera and I must say I’m happy that the band give me so much rope and space for my songs. The Thief is also a good live number and we pair it with The Golden Stud. The song originates from my 2016 CD Ghosts of Tomorrow and entails the looking back on relationships and the wish to reach back and maybe undo some situations which of course is impossible. That my son Sunny plays my younger self is a big treat for me and the scene of the transition on the railway stairs is quite a spinal ripple for me. Anyway the band and myself hope you like it.
SOUTHBOUND AGAIN
12.02.2024
There is lot of promotion running for this gig down south in Biberach an d. Riss, so it’s only right that I should wade in too. With 19 bands lined up for a night of music around the town I am indeed curious as to how this will be. Our location is at Wagner’s Schwarz Rössle and our programm will run the length of the evening until well into the night.
More of the Same Please
Síolta Moving too
Well, well, here we are already in to 2024 and it won’t be long before I settle onto new stages around Germany. There are things to be done! Coming up on the 19. January is a gig with SÌOLTA in the Bischofsmühle Hildesheim. I almost played here some years back but was unfortunately thwarted in the process. Now a second chance to prove myself. The day after the band will travel on to Wernigerode for a double bill with CARA at the Kultur-& Kongresszentrum. I’ve been here once before and I hope it will also be as enjoyable as the last time around.
The SAOIRSE MHÒR TRIO embarks on a mini tour starting on the 26.January starting in the Casa del a Trova in Wendelstein, next day we trundle on to Bamberg to play the KUFA. Finally we will entertain at the SCHEUER in Villingen which has hosted many seasoned folk musicians over the years including Beoga, Kieran Halpin and The Tannahill Weavers.
I’m thinking this is a good way to start into the new year and of course I hope this is a pointer to more good things to come.
ASHBURY LANE
The nice story about Ashbury Lane was that going into the production I felt it was the weakest of all songs in the project. I distinctly remember playing this to Michael Busch at the sound check for a gig in Speyer. I was quite unsure of it’s potential. As it turned out it advanced swiftly during the process primarily with a fine fiddle melody from Andrew Cadie. Subsequently Katie Doherty delivered the incredible lifting backing vocals enabling Andy Horn to extravagantly make everything shine and to come together. The song pushed itself to the fore and become the oper for Minor Tales and Major stories. At the German Rock and Pop Awards it came in as the winner in the English and in the meantime it is my most played Spotify song. I have released it to Soundcloud for 2024.
Word UP
My own Bermuda Triangle
Ireland, Co. Kildare. My mind was branded as a child and a youth in the triangle of The Curragh, Kilcullen and Suncroft. The plains off The Curragh are vast and inviting and the green is ever appealing and drawing to me. The sheep make up for the white spots and are ever present around these three pinpoints of my boyhood. Every time I return I very quickly latch back on to the mechanisms of life around my family and from where I evolved before having left, now quite a long time ago. And so it is that this home inheritance has led me to reflecting this onto audiences around Germany and beyond. It’s much like a shared homecoming at every concert. Welcome to my triangle.
Bands and musicians
I have been pretty lucky being able to play with such excellent musicians and bands who take my songs further than I ever could as a solo artist. As in a studio, the precision and the competence plays a vital role in delivering the best possible results. The likes of Andy Horn, Michael Busch, Stefan Emde, Brian Haitz, Dietrich Linhardt, Andrew Cadie and Katie Doherty have all helped and are improving the quality of the songs. It really is a blessing and long may it last.
