Browse Content (52 total)
- Relation is exactly "Connolly, Séamus"
Biddy from Sligo / The Connaughtman's Rambles
And as we present this last selection, we come to the end of a long musical journey. It is my hope that whoever reads my stories, anecdotes, and ramblings will get some insight into the tunes' histories, and some new information about them.…
Sitting in the Window
When my wife Chrysandra worked in Washington, DC, we lived across the Potomac in Alexandria, Virginia. During the summer months while she was working I would play my fiddle all day. I wish I had that same energy now! The tune that I play on this…
Old Times
I found an old brown manuscript page and remembered that my former sister-in-law Maureen Glynn had given it to me. Maureen grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She was a talented lady and widely respected in the Irish music and dance world. Maureen was a…
Dogwalker, The
Cindy Polo, my good friend, phoned me one night and lilted part of this melody to me. I loved the sound of it and suggested to Cindy that it might fit naturally on the fiddle in a minor key. We talked about 'doing something with it', and so we began…
Dr. Mick
I have much respect and admiration for National Heritage Fellow Dr. Mick Moloney, a man who has, in my humble opinion, done more to promote Irish music in America than anyone. Through his teaching, music performances, research, productions,…
Lagan River, The
David Curry's broadcasts from the BBC studios in Belfast were eagerly awaited in my home. He broadcast many fine tunes, including this one, which Nicole Rabata and I arranged for flute and fiddle. Not having the tune's original title, I have named it…
Figuring it Out
I tried as best I could to learn this tune from a tape made in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Paddy Gavin in Balbriggan, County Dublin, almost forty years ago. The tape was damaged a little but one could hear a great session of music played that night by…
Magic Slipper, The
Flutist Nicole Rabata joins me to play 'The Magic Slipper', a polka I learned from Boston accordionist Billy Caples. Mr. Caples was a well-known musician who had his own orchestra during the Dudley Street era of music and dancing.
I'll Always Remember You
Performed by my friend Bonnie Bewick Brown on violin, along with her friends Julianne Lee on viola and Mickey Katz on cello, this tune came to me on the morning in 1988 when my mother passed on to her place of eternal joy and rest. Being away from…
North Road, The
My young friend Meghan Mette composed this reel. I was delighted that she asked me to play it with her, along with Nicole Rabata on flute and Kevin McElroy on mandolin. She tells us how the tune came about: 'I wrote this tune for Séamus first…
Rock Point Lane
'Rock Point Lane' is the name of the street in California where Sandy's parents live. One Christmas day, around 1990, when she and I were visiting them, the basic outline of this jig came to me. After working on it for a while and deciding which key…
Miss Chrysandra Walter
Writing the stories of these tunes brings back many memories. When Sandy, my late wife, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, my life was turned upside down. We were so happy together and loved doing and planning different things: places to see, friends…
Crooked Hurricane, The
My good friend Cindy Polo made this tune and dedicated it to another friend, Randy Bridgman. I enjoyed playing this tune with Cindy and Gabriel Donohue. In Cindy's own words, she tells us about 'The Crooked Hurricane': 'What else to do while the…
Ger Brooks' Polka
My next door neighbour when I was growing up in Killaloe was known to me as Mister Brooks. He loved to play the accordion, and he had many fine polkas in his repertoire. The polka I play on this track was one of his favourites. In almost sixty years…
David Grady's
I love slip jigs and I enjoy playing them. Patrick W. Joyce collected this one from David Grady, a flute player from Ardpatrick in County Limerick, but he did not get the tune's name. 'David Grady's' sounds good to me. Mr. Joyce's collection was…
Don't Get Me Anything
My friends from Winnipeg, Canada, Alice Bérubé and her sister Jeannine, visited with Sandy and me a few years ago. Both of them play fiddles and they enjoy getting together to talk, laugh, and play music. They meet once a year, as Alice lives on…
Just Because It's You
My dear friend Cindy Polo wrote this lovely tune in memory of her Dad. In her own words she tells us how it came to be: 'My first attempt at Irish fiddle playing was at a music camp in 2008, a violin novice, where I had the opportunity to learn from…
Queen of the Faeries
I learned this set dance from the playing of Larry Redican. Its first few measures seem to be related to the melody of an old tune – also a set dance – called 'The King of the Fairies'. And so, 'here's me' (an old Irish expression)…
Kilfenora Barndance, The
This tune was one of the ones that I did not know on that tape sent to me over fifty years ago by Kitty Linnane, then leader of the famous Kilfenora Céilí Band (see 'Come to the Fair'). Indeed, many of the tunes on that tape were new to…