There’s a certain serendipity that defines Music Network tours: the chance to see and hear musicians collaborating together, often for the first and only time. To be privy to their sense of discovery as they mine their collective musical histories. If we’re all lucky, we get to witness some very special moments where songs and tunes emerge in different shapes, thanks to these new constellations that, like shooting stars, exist momentarily and are then no more.
This Music Network tour has its own intriguing dynamics. Two west Kerry singers, one of whom is also a flute and whistle player are joined by a Leitrim fiddle player and a Dublin guitarist and singer now resident in North Carolina. Each has revealed a fearlessness in their capacity to imagine this music in extraordinarily rich and inventive ways.
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Pauline Scanlon went to school in Dingle and share a deep love of the Irish language and of our song tradition, yet each has consistently sought to explore the music that is in their bones with a sense of adventure and of curiosity that renders it anew. Nic Amhlaoibh is a founder member of the band, Danú, and has also toured extensively as a four piece with her Danú bandmate, Éamonn Doorley, Scottish singer, Julie Fowlis and guitarist, Ross Martin. She released an extraordinary collection, Róisín Reimagined in 2022, collaborating with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, with new arrangements of sean nós songs that mined the seam between traditional and classical music to wide acclaim.
For Muireann, this tour is a rare treat: a chance to delve into the nooks and crannies of songs and tunes, some of which are new to her, and others which have found fresh purchase in her repertoire, thanks to the creative sparks that fly when musicians encounter one another in new ways.
“When we got together to rehearse”, Muireann says, “what came to the fore was just how everyone has an amazing wealth of experience so there’s that shorthand. We moved quickly and it happened easily because there was no faffing about!”
Dervish’s fiddle player, Tom Morrow wears his musicianship lightly and quietly. Having toured the globe for close to 30 years with the band, it would be tempting to think that there’s little for him to learn, but nothing could be further from the truth. He’s a master of understatement but makes no secret of the challenge of embarking on collaborations with musicians whom he may know but hasn’t worked with previously.
“I think for me as a non-singer it was great to see how Pauline, John and Muireann would approach a song”, he offers, musing on the ease with which this foursome found their groove in rehearsals. “It was great to see how we would weave something in and out through the songs. I’d try and find something to play along with. I’m used to finding spaces to play without stepping across what the singer is doing. When a song is telling a story you’re trying to get out of the way but do what you can to help it along. And I think we have over 100 years of experience between us all so we’re bringing a bit of that on tour too!”
Guitarist and singer John Doyle, originally from Dublin but with strong Sligo roots, has been living in the U.S. since the early 1990s. A former member of the stellar group, Solas, he’s worked with everyone from Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny to Joan Baez, Linda Thompson, Tim O’Brien and Mary Chapin Carpenter. He’s a regular contributor to the Scottish Transatlantic Sessions. John’s solo albums reveal a musician who’s equally at home bringing a subtle scaffolding to a Sligo tune as he is weaving inside the complex melodies of American Old Timey music. He worked with Muireann on her 2006 solo album, Fáinne An Lae, so there’s a certain reacquaintance happening on this tour too.
“We’ve all been in bands before and we’re all used to finding that space, so I suppose it comes quite naturally to us”, John offers. “We were conscious that we wanted to sing together in some fashion because we all love harmony singing, so it was really fun to work on that. So, for example, I would sing a song, and Pauline and Muireann would easily fill in with each other. It was beautiful to hear the matching voices together. They’re not easy songs to harmonise, so it was great to see how voices evolve within a short time. I enjoyed that a lot.”
Having three voices in the mix promises quite a lot of choice when it comes to choosing the songs for this tour. The foursome promises a mix of sean nós, more contemporary folk and American old timey songs, some of which are original compositions by John Doyle. Muireann relishes what is for her, a luxury to have two other singers to shape and colour their repertoire.
“Pauline has an innate understanding of harmony”, she notes, “and would probably be the most experienced of us in terms of being a solo singer, and she has years of working as a harmony vocalist with Damien Dempsey, with The Whileaways and with John Spillane. Pauline is quite a high soprano so I always just say: you go high and I’ll go low! And John’s in the middle.”
John is a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, a place renowned for its rich musical heritage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his tenure in the U.S. over three decades has yielded some fine song compositions, including a raft of new songs written for his latest album, Free By Nature, released this year, to coincide with the 250th
anniversary of the American Revolution.
“Asheville is a very liberal city in a sea of Republicanism. It’s a fantastic place in a lot of ways”, John says. “Over 30% of the continental army were Irish. One third of the generals in the British army were Irish. So there’s this huge influence on the American Revolution of Irish mercenaries, but no word of it was ever mentioned, because they wanted it to be an American story - and still do. So I wanted to bring out a few songs to say that Ireland was part of this. I recorded it all myself. I played all the instruments myself, apart from the fiddle, and I brought it out myself. Myself and my wife did it all. I’m not going to make any money out of it but it’s just the way it is these days.”
Technology’s hijacking of the world of music is a challenge for all musicians. Gone are the days of the mid to late 90s and early 2000s, when record deals were there for the taking, and album sales offered a healthy living to touring bands. Career prospects have been severely hollowed out, and social media demands much of musicians who are often forced by dint of economic necessity to take on additional roles as producers, managers and promoters: adept at navigating a fast-changing social media landscape, where profile and reach are essential drivers of live performance. Muireann is sanguine about all of this, with the current state of health of the Irish language offering much to celebrate.
“There are so many younger Irish language singers who are creating joyfully in the language, without any hang ups”, she offers with a broad smile. “I think I spent a good few decades of being paralysed by the fear of ruining or polluting the tradition or singing the wrong version of something. For so long, we were being told: you’re the last ones [to carry the tradition] and that’s a big responsibility to carry.
“I know we’re in a resurgence, a renewal of the Irish language at the moment. I just hope it’s not a trend. You can have ‘fáilte’ on your doormat, but I really hope that these are positive times for the language. There are a lot of people on the ground working very hard with the songs and the language for many’s the long year so to see young people coming along, even the likes of Kneecap, it’s so important. It’s all creativity. A rising tide lifts all boats. I get very inspired by younger musicians. I wish I had had their confidence when I was their age.”
There’s much reassurance to be found too, Tom Morrow notes, in the plethora of summer schools, festivals and classes within arm’s reach of young musicians. While these musicians on this tour might struggle to adapt to the gargantuan changes in the music world, those who follow are more equipped to navigate a path, Muireann believes.
“They have different skills to us”, she insists. “They’re not backward in coming forward. They have a self-assuredness and a confidence, and they are up to date with all these new technologies. I was looking out on the sea today and thinking: imagine if I could just be an artist! Can you just imagine what that would feel like.”