Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) - 'America's greatest composer'

Born in New York to 'prosperous Scotch-Irish parents' (Thomas MacDowell and Frances Knapp MacDowell), Edward Alexander MacDowell was said to be 'a direct descendant of an old Scotch-Irish Quaker family which came to America in the early eighteenth century'. This 1915 biography is more precise, stating that his grandfather, Alexander MacDowell, was born in Belfast; he emigrated to America in the early 1800s and there married an Ulsterwoman called Sarah Thompson. They were both Quakers.

MacDowell showed musical talent early in life and aged 16 his parents sent him to Paris for advanced study. Here is his Wikipedia entry. In 1896 Edward MacDowell and his wife Marian established the MacDowell Art Colony in New Hampshire, a centre for creative arts, which is still running today (website here). He died aged just 46.

Below is Julian Lloyd Webber playing one of MacDowell's most famous compositions - To A Wild Rose.

The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes (from Atlanta, Georgia USA) were one of the bands I discovered when in my late teens and early 20s. I've seen them in concert in Belfast at least once (maybe twice, memory's a bit rough nowadays). I remember reading an early interview with the core of the band, brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, in Kerrang! magazine in which they described their parents as 'Scotch Irish mountain folks'. Here are some clips from YouTube that some of you might enjoy. The Black Crowes are currently on a 'hiatus'.

"...Corporate sponsorship is just representative of the enemy, in the eyes of Robinson. "We are a band that has a problem with authority," he said. "For whatever reason - Scotch-Irish descent or Southern.." (full interview from 1993 here)









And here is Chris Robinson talking about the connection between the Scotch-Irish and alcohol:

"...My family are, like, Scotch-Irish mountain people, from Tennessee. It's sort of like a thing in the South when you're a kid - you want a drink? Then here. Hah! And you ******' drink, man, and then you throw up. It's like a dumb macho thing..." (from this 1994 article)

So here it is, merry Christmas

Something to get you in the mood; a new arrangement of the original tune of Away in a Manger by (I think Scotsman) James Murray, and a fresh take on 'O Come All Ye Faithful" - both by The Lower Lights.

The Lower Lights: Come Let Us Adore Him from The Lower Lights on Vimeo.

"...but that's the price we have to pay..." - The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, new CD release

> Buy it here on Amazon.co.uk
> Review here

Gillian Welch, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Friday 18th November 2011

Thanks to Billy Kerr fae Irvine in Ayrshire for alerting me to this! Tickets are £27.50 which is far from cheap, but as all those shampoo adverts say, it's "because she's worth it". (Now if she changed her surname to 'Scotch-Irish' then we'd be getting somewhere!). The surname is similar to this great Ulster-Scots minister of Templepatrick. Just listen to this...

The greatest Lutheran bar band ever - The Jayhawks "Mockingbird Time"

So says theology & culture website Mockingbird about the wonderful Jayhawks. Or what about "jangly God-haunted Midwestern country-folk with fuzz guitars and harmonies that redefine the words “sandpaper-and-honey.” Mockingbird Time is The Jayhawks' new album. I remember around 1993 driving a carload of friends to Dublin one night to see them play, and I think we drove straight back home again after the show was over, getting back to Belfast as the sun was rising around 5am. Back then it was a hairy enough trip... Not many men can get away with wearing a cardigan over a checked waistcoat, but Mark Olson does. The vocal harmonies of Olson and Gary Louris can be beautiful - imperfect perfection.



One new video below of Mark Olson and Gary Louris playing live and simple for RollingStone.com, posted there just yesterday with five other clips and a short interview. Enjoy.

European Pipe Band Championships, Belfast, 30 July 2011

A few years ago I was involved with some efforts to attract major pipe band events to Northern Ireland. We wanted to bring the RSPBA World Pipe Band Championships across the water from Scotland, but were just pipped at the post by Glasgow City Council (who retained the event for the umpteenth year). However, later that same year Belfast City Council did manage to secure the European Pipe Band Championships for three years running from 2010 - 2012. Last year's event at Stormont Estate was a good start to the series, and this year's looks like a much bigger affair.

> Belfast City Council web page about the Championships: click here
> Piping is Class Festival: click here

I can't go this year as I'm leading another Ulster-Scots historical bus tour of the Ards and North Down on the same day, but I'd definitely recommend anyone to go to the Europeans (and any of the pipe band contests), it's a great day out. For those stuck at home but close to a computer, there's always the live online stream being arranged through the multimedia department of Lurgan Junior High School- more info on the RSPBA website here. (school has obviously changed a lot since my day!).

The Worlds is being held on Glasgow Green on Saturday 13th. Let's hope the Ulster bands romp home with a truckload of wins - Worlds website here.

Ralph Stanley - A Mother's Prayer

Ralph Stanley: A Mother's Prayer Video Preview from Rebel Records on Vimeo.

A soundtrack for Easter Sunday

A beautiful rendition from Red Mountain Music of an old English hymn from the 1780s. Just superb.

"...“It is finished,” O what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford..."

Full lyrics (and chords) available here.

An easy life?

'Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win their prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?'
- Isaac Watts, 1721

Recorded by The Carter Family as 'On the Sea of Galilee':

Something different - Truth & Salvage Co. - 'Pure Mountain Angel'

Try this - some of the music, the singing, and the camerawork is brilliant.

They don't make 'em like they used to

Here's a pic of a 1917 Gibson mandobass. Or else here's a photo of a very wee man. From Buffalo Brothers.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Seeing as today is a Green Day (I know, terrible pun)... here's one of their songs, but played by the legendary Glen Campbell and his band.

'Reviving an archaic artform'

Of course a phrase like that would make me sit up! So begins this article about Bifrost Arts. A lot of the article really rings true for me, but of course they're all accomplished musicians whereas Graeme and I are just plooterin' aboot. But when someone thinks the same way you do yourself, it draws you in. I hadn't heard of Bifrost until a few weeks ago, but I like what I've seen so far: "...we’d play hymns — unmiked — and pass out songbooks and teach the audience how to sing harmonies. It’s crazy, but the idea of people really getting together to sing has become a novel concept in today’s society... there’s an instant community that forms when people join their voices together...”. Much like what Red Mountain Music are doing, Bifrost eschews schmaltzy, stage-based, spectated, commercial 'gospel' music. It's about community, about being together, about being involved. The video below will tell you more. Their website is here.

Bifrost Arts from josh franer on Vimeo.

Old-time Ulster music: The Harmony Trio, Newtownards, 1930s

When you hear or read of the old-time stringed music of the early 20th Century, it is of course the American artists that spring to mind. They were recorded and popularised on 78s and in the early days of radio - the record companies became professionalised and their musicians quickly became "golden geese" who were marketed, photographed and written about with care - selling millions of records and becoming multi-million dollar moneyspinners.

Over here on our side of the Atlantic there were many, but sadly now forgotten, musical groups. One of these was The Harmony Trio, who were three men from Newtownards and Belfast:

• Sandy McDonald (hammer dulcimer)
• Willie Gamble (1897-1985; hammer dulcimer and mandolin)
• Jack Noble (accordion)

In 1932 and 1933 they played on BBC Radio on a late night slot between 9pm - 10pm. Willie Gamble also made two dulcimers; during WW2 the Gambles were evacuated from Belfast to Newtownards, but upon their return to Belfast the dulcimers had become the home for an infestation of woodworm, and so were thrown out. However, the hammers have survived and are still with the family. The BBC Archive at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum doesn't hold any recordings of The Harmony Trio, so apart from photographs, clippings and memories that the families still have, nothing remains.

(Thanks to the family for the information above which they gave me many years ago. Previous blog post about the famous Co Antrim dulcimer player John Rea, 1915-1983, available here)

Josh Wilson - It is Well with my Soul

The first half of this is great, and then it all gets a bit Snow Patrol-y before going back to normal. Superb.

"True Grit" and "Protestant Hymns"

This interview with the Coen Brothers on Telegraph.co.uk about their acclaimed remake of True Grit has an interesting excerpt:

'...The film is underscored by four different 19th-century Protestant hymns, the most notable of which, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, builds slowly throughout the movie, rising in prominence as the story hurtles towards its action-packed conclusion, and the main characters learn to depend on each other. “Choosing that hymn was important,” says Ethan, “because that Protestant attitude is such a part of who Mattie is. The music speaks of faith and certitude, and that she has in spades.”...'

The film also includes What A Friend We Have in Jesus (written by Ulsterman Joseph Scriven of Banbridge), Hold On To God's Unchanging Hand and The Gloryland Way. It's good to see that even mega-famous directors have a regard for transatlantic evangelical culture. If you know the hymns already, then the style of the score on this clip will move you. (True Grit opens here in the UK on Feb 11th)

RIP Charlie Louvin (1927 - 2011)

Charlie Louvin has passed away in Tennessee. He was one of the renowned Louvin Brothers. His brother, mandolin player Ira Louvin, died in the 1960s. Like many traditional country artists of the early 20th century, a large proportion of their repertoire was gospel music. Here are a few rare clips of them in their heyday:

"But now life's evening sun for me is setting, I have reached the ending of my way"...

The Red Fox Chasers / Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner

Xtranormal.com - traditional meets modern, mandolin style

On Xtranormal.com, it says "if you can type, you can make movies". Here are two examples for any mandolin nerds out there, or for those of you who are amused by people who are constantly trying to prove they're more authentic than everybody else. Somebody could have a field day on Xtranormal with Ulster-Scots...

"Irish music all sounds alike, how can you tell the tunes apart?". "By the titles".