Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Craobh Rua play live in Little Rock.
They played as awesome show. These guys don’t play flashy pyrotechnics (although technically they are flawless); they just play dance tunes with a powerful drive, very clean playing that makes you stomp your feet and clap your hands in time. Also some fine songs, “The Belfast Mountains” in particular brought tears to my wife’s eyes, and a particular treat for me was flutist Brendan Mulholland’s lovely rendition of a slow air…it raised all the hair on the back of my neck. I wish I remembered the name of the air, but last night’s beers have driven it from my mind. I’ll ask Weesa or Kevin; they’ll remember.
I met Brendan for the first time between sets, a very nice young man with a massive amount of talent and a deep respect for the music and the way it binds people together. After we talked and they played their second set, they dedicated the last set of their performance to my wife Shannon and I, an unexpected pleasure.
After the sets, they sessioned with some of our local folks, and it was great fun. Good stuff! Brendan and I traded flutes for a few sets and he was really making my Hamilton sing and ring, making me appreciate the power and the elegance of that flute all over again. I played his Grinter, which is a lovely responsive flute, though I still prefer my Hammy over all the flutes I’ve tried so far.
As we were closing down the evening I had a wonderful long talk with Brendan…he is a thoroughly nice fella, if you ever get a chance to meet him take it, he’s a wonderful person. We spoke about the music and about flutes and even about Chiff and Fipple—he’s online here, though not a frequent poster, he has been known to post from time to time, and he does keep an eye on the boards.
If you ever get a chance to see these guys, do it! They play one helluva show, and they are some of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.
They didn’t have a piper with them; Patrick Davey is notated on the CD that I bought, "If Ida Been Here, Ida Been There as playing both flute and pipes, but Brendan Mulholland was playing flutes and low whistle last night.
I did miss seeing the pipes, but they gave an incredible performance even without them.
Thanks for the kind words and the craic the other night, we all had a blast although it was a bit rough getting up the next morning. The slow air is called Dobbins flowery vale, and it sort of linked to the wee village where i live ( Glenavy ). The great Frankie Kennedy learnt it there as a kid by a local framer I think called Robert Cinamon, so the musicians in that area are claiming it as theres but I was told in a session one night just outside Glenavy, that in fact it is an old song from Co. Armagh. But I think I will stick to playing on the flute because my signing doesnt sound right untill Ive had at least ten pints of the black stuff… HA HA
Wha?!?
