Okay, so if you didn’t know, Isaac Alderson (they keep misspelling it in Ireland as Issac) won first place in All-Ireland last month in Listowel on:
sr. flute
sr. pipes
sr. whistle
CCE Ireland is checking to see if any American has ever won three first place titles at a single Fleadh.
Amazing.
I’ve never heard Isaac play (I played with his teacher, Al Purcell for a time) but I imagine the fellow is good.
Great news for USA-born players!
Congrats to Alderson! That’s really, really cool.
They’ve got serious talent in Chicago these days. Of course, everyone knows about Liz Carroll, John Williams, and Laurence Nugent, but there are other great musicians as well. Others you may have heard of include Jimmy Keane, Kevin Henry, and Christy Barry.
Nate
Hi David, I’m not 100% sure, but did’nt Seamus Egan win four titles in one year as a junior? Flute, Whistle, Mandolin and Banjo.
Mac.
[ This Message was edited by: MacEachain on 2002-08-30 18:51 ]
[ This Message was edited by: MacEachain on 2002-08-30 18:52 ]
Holy $#!%!!! That’s very, very cool! I met Isaac at the Fleadh last year and not only is he an awesome musician but an awesome, awesome guy! He definately deserves those medals. As for the Alderson/Egan comparison, I think Seamus won junior titles, not senior titles. It is pretty much unheard of for Americans to win senior titles.
Anyways, this is awesome news!
Chris
P.S. - Isaac plays an Olwell.
[ This Message was edited by: ChrisLaughlin on 2002-08-30 19:06 ]
I believe Seamus did it in different years on the 4 instruments and in different age groups (there are 4 groups below the 18+ (Senior) category).
You’re right, Chris…I think the first American to win the Sr. Whistle was Joanie Madden. Expect more in coming years, though.
There’s a young fellow in Michigan (can’t recall his name) who won on pipes and whistle already (different years) and apparently is working on the mandolin now? Anyway.
I never did get to compete in Ireland, although twice took the Mid-West (which Isaac represented this year). Skip Healy competed once in Ireland. He tells the story of missing the playoff or something about being too drunk to win, or some such thing. I believe it was on miscellaneous instruments (he played the fife, i think). I’m probably wrong since I was probably too drunk to remember the night Skip told me about it.
Larry Nugent won on flute and whistle representing Chicago CCE (back-to-back years, i think, on whistle), but of course he’s native to Eire, so that’s that.
Okay, here’s the poop on Seamus (who is Pennsylvania born, but imigrated to Foxford, Co. Mayo at age 3), from an article a few years ago:
“He went on to win all-Ireland championships on four different instruments by the time he was 14”
Another source said he did all at AT age 14. Another source says he did it at 15.
Can’t find a better source yet.
now, get this about Eileen Ivers:
Eileen earned her first all-Ireland medal at 9 years old, (Banjo) and through the years has accumulated a total of 35- All-Ireland titles, combining eight solo all-Irelands titles on her fiddle, 6 for slow air playing, and the remaining medals for duets, banjo and trios playing.
Hi Folks,
on the Mad for Trad CD-ROM featuring Seamus Egan (Flute Tutorial)it says in the biog. Seamus was born 1969, moved to Mayo 5 years later, moved bask to US where he met Mick Moloney who instructed him on Banjo. Won 4 titles at 16 years of age. That would make it 1985. I checked the archives on the Comhaltas web site but they only go back to 1996. Winning 1 title is a great achivement, having seen the standard at County level,to win more than that, regardless of age group,well what can you say? its the reward for many hours spent practising regardless of natural talent and something of which the players can be proud.
Cheers. Mac
(I’m cross posting from the whistle board also…)
I got the priviledge of taking a 6 hour beginner class with Isaac at the St. Louis tionol in April. There were only 5 in the class so we got lots of personal time.
It’s obvious when you hear Isaac play that he’s spent a lot of time on the instruments and that he’s gifted as well.
Congratulations Issac on a job well done!
I’ve played many a session with Isaac and he’s always set a benchmark for me. I just try not to embarrass myself when he’s around town. There’s a reason he’s so good, besides his considerable natural talent-the guy works his ass off.
Maith thu, Isaac, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.
I could swear that Larry McCullough was the first American to win the Senior whistle championship. And while I’m on the topic, I’ll point out that John Williams (another Chicagoan) is the only American to ever win the senior concertina competition.
And David, I think the young fellow you’re talking about from Michigan would be Tyler Duncan, right? He can REALLY play. His wins were in the Junior competitions, though. I think he also won on bodhran, as well.
yep, Tyler Duncan
amazing kid
so is Mick Gavin’s boy on the flute/whistle
…he’ll be taking a few titles ofhis own in no time at all.
If you go to http://www.speedlink.net/~cara/cce/2001/0423_ceilihouse/index.html you can download an mp3 of an edition of Ceili House that was recorded in Detroit. Tyler Duncan is in the middle of it, at about the 28 minute mark. It’s a large file(6 megs) but the Duncan’s playing is more than worth it. He manages a version of the Reel Beatrice on the pipes!