for its excellence in information on this subject for its excellence in information on this subject "I play triplets with the three fingers of my right hand. I got it from listening to Tony McManus (required listening for any Celtic player) not having seen him I assumed he played all his triplets that way. When I saw his videos it was a surprise to see that he only uses his fingers on the E and B strings and uses his thumb for everything else. So I am trying to get that down and it is really hard!
The way I do triplets with the fingers is a lot like drumming your 3 fingers on a table starting with your third finger, transfer that motion to the guitar. The key is to start every triplet with your third finger. My right hand floats over the strings like a classical player so that tells you the angle I attack the strings at. I got it going by just playing straight triplets on the E string, then by working it into simple melodies. It really is an almost invaluable device to have especially in Celtic music as it really sounds like a fiddlers bowing and it spices up a melody line. Be careful, I almost blew my right hand apart learning how to do it! "
John: "I suppose that my obscurity is due to typical reasons...album distribution, promotion and touring. Where do I play? Throughout the eighties I had regular gigs in California and some tours in the eastern US. I resumed a day job in 1988, and since then have toured in Europe fifteen times or so. With some good agents over there I am able to do very compact and fruitful three week tours. I lived in Boston from 1994 to 1997...thoroughly enjoying that acoustic scene and playing nearly every weekend.
I won't bore you with why I traded New England for a return to California, where the good gigs are rarer. I still return to Kentucky and Europe, but haven't been East for over a year now. I miss it.
I am currently shedding my cocoon and diving into fulltime guitar playing again. Please wish me well. I would like to focus more on various regions of the States soon.
The tunings I used on those two CDs are standard, DADGAD and dropped D.
I have alot of tunes written in my simple guitar tab. Maybe someday I will make them more presentable. I have shared some of these with interested folks.
Most questions I hear about guitar techniques are usually answered with whatever my left hand is up to. Trills, hammerons, pulloffs, phantom notes etc. (I like the phantom notes one)
My CDs are available on the website mcormickjohn.com
Or by mail: John McCormick, P.O.Box 935, Daly City, CA 94017"
-HOW DO I DESCRIBE MY STYLE
All my life I've been dealing with the intersection of two obsessions: one
is the acoustic guitar and the other is traditional music and song. The
first thing
to be aware of as an acoustic guitarist is that this music, while it may
suit the instrument to some degree, evolved independently of it. Even in
terms of accompanyment, the usual instrument was the piano and often not
even that. So my approach has been to apply one obsession to the other- I've
tried, often subconciously, to bring what I have absorbed in listening to
fiddlers and pipers and singers and flute players and so on... to bear on
what I do as a guitarist. So the way I ornament single line melodies is
often a direct result of how a fiddler would play a roll or a grace note or
how a piper would play a cran (on Irish pipes) or a burl (on Highland
pipes). In arranging tunes for guitar I don't try so much to turn them into
guitar music, since on the whole they are not 'instrument specific' to begin
with. Rather, my aim is to bring my music within the fold of the tradition
as a whole. So, I flatpick the guitar a lot of the time but, it's probably
more like tenor banjo playing than it is like, say, bluegrass guitar.
Likewise, when I fingerpick, I'm often inspired by the sound of an ensemble
of lead and rythm players, rather than by Travis picking or any other style
of guitar playing. This is just a result of the chronology of what I was
listening to as my playing developed. I listened to the great bands back in
the seventies- Planxty, The Bothy Band, The Chieftains- then, later, I
encountered Scottish music- Ossian, Silly Wizard etc. and THEN, later still,
I heard John Renbourn and Bert Jansch and Martin Simpson and the whole body
of acoustic guitar music.
TUNINGS, GUITARS AND SETUPS
I actually don't use all that many tunings.
I came upon Dropped D tuning myself (DADGBE- it's hardly rocket science if
you know standard!) around age
12 and thought it was wonderful. With the tonal centre of much Irish music
being D it was great to have that big sound in the bass. I still use this
tuning for most accompanyment of tune players or if I sit in at a session-
which I don't do enough of these days.
Then, a few yaers later, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't figure out
Dick Gaughan's playing at all. As well as having one of the finest voices in
captivity, I was amazed at Gaughan's guitar style. Then, on seeing him live
and listening to him tune up, I got a clue as to why I couldn't figure any
of it out- DADGAD. Immediately, I started playing in this tuning constantly
and discovered that it is very forgiving- pick a shape, any shape, and it's
a chord- simple! It is also quite easy to be boring in DADGAD, as I also
discovered, for the same reason! I still use the tuning for a lot of solo
arrangements and the odd bit of backing. I got CGCGCD from Martin Simpson,
and a bunch of others as well. This tuning works well for some highland pipe
tunes, capoed up 2, and also for some songs. I also use CGDGCD occasionally-
for Bidh Clan Uillaidh on the album with Alasdair Fraser, for example. It's
another one from Martin- I love the whole musical journey involved in a guy
from Scunthorpe, England coming up with this guitar tuning to play
Appalatian style banjo tunes (with afro-american origns) and then having it
pinched by a Scotsman because it really suits this Gaelic song from the Isle
of Lewis. The strangest tuning is probably DAAEAE, where the two A's are in
unison like Hgihland bagpipe drones. In this tuning the pipe scale all sits
comfortably in first position on the top two strings (except the low G on
the third string) so those become melody strings and the fourth and fifth
mainly drone in A while the low D on the open bottom is great for chord
changes. Those are the main ones I use.
GUITARS
My main guitar is a 000-size instrument made by Bill Kelday- a brilliant
luthier from Orkney, though now living in Campsie Glen about 15 miles north
of Glasgow. I first played it in 1993 in Bill's workshop and totally fell in
love with it. Gradually I got the money together and I've barely let it out
of my sight since. It has a spruce deck and cocobolo back and sides. The
cocobolo is highly figured and looks for all the world like Brazilian
rosewood. Despite the small body (and 12 fret neck) , it sounds huge. Bill
also made me a baritone- this time from Brazilian and spruce- which is just
beautiful. It gets tuned roughly a fifth below concert and, by god, does it
growl. The strings are 18 to 85 I think, and made by Malcolm Newton of
Newtone Strings- a small firm in Derbyshire, England which custom makes sets
of strings of any and every guage.
In 95 I bought an O5 Larrivee ( spruce/mahogany w/ebony f'board) which was a
peach of a guitar untill the lower joint decided to split and Larrivee
decided not to bother honouring their warranty. Its now a $1500 ornament!
I have a fairly basic cedar/mahogany Lowden which is nice for absent minded
doodling- it lives in my mothers house!
I have a guitar by Davy Stuart from Christchurch, New Zealand which I keep
high strung for when I'm in a Nashville frame of mind.
In January I got a guitar from Rodger Bucknall of Fylde guitars- the
antithesis of the Kelday- a huge bodied Magician Custom with a cedar top and
walnut back and sides, a wide ebony fingerboard and a five piece laminated
neck. It is very new and the sound will change but I like it a lot.
There are some pictures of most of these guitars on my website
Tony's website
The Kelday 000 has a condensor mic/magnetic pickup combination made by Mike
Vanden- another fine luthier (check out Martin Taylor's acoustic). The
signal goes to an EMG super-jack and I plug a stereo cable from the guitar
into a splitter box and the two signals go off independently to the desk.
MIke sold the patent to Fishman who now market the thing as the "Rare Earth
Blend".
The baritone has no pickup whatsoever and reduces grown soundmen to tears.
The Larrivee has a Fishman under-saddle pickup which is now gathering dust
along with the guitar.
The Fylde has a new pickup from a company in England called Headway. I don't
know much about them except that they are very good.
Strings are D'Addario medium guage (13,17,26,34,45,56) on all but the
Baritone and the high strung guitar.
Nails by Mother Nature!
TRIPLETS
This is one of the most common ornaments in traditional music. A triplet is
simply three notes for the value of one. In flatpicking guitar it is simply
a question of moving the pick up and down fast enough! But finger style it's
a bit more tricky. The first person I heard doing it well (brilliantly in
fact!) was Tony Cuffe and after listening to him solidly for an eternity I
managed to get something approaching his sound. The breakthrough was
changing the position of my right hand. It now looks as if the heel of my
hand is resting on the bridge of the guitar (in fact it rarely does). This
has the effect of changing the angle of attack on the string and finally I
got what I was looking for. Except that if you try this on the wound strings
you get a horrible rasping sound as your nail scrapes along the string. So!
Into the picture comes the thumb. The triplets on the wound strings are
obtained by using the thumb like you would a flatpick- ie. down-UP-down all
with the thumb.
It can all be seen slowed right down on the two volumes of video lessons
which are now out on Stefan Grossmans Guitar Workshop see www.guitarvideos.com for more details.
NEW PROJECTS
I'm lucky enough to work with a variety of musicians all over the world so I
get to indulge my love of travel as well.
Was a fine singer/guitarist in the Scots tradition. Tony explained his playing style and where his music can be found when we talked in 1999.
"My tuning is dadadf#, which is basically open c (cgcgce) cranked up a tone. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but it works on my guitar (short scale length)and it has been in this tuning for most of the last twenty two years without exploding (touch wood). The guitar itself is an S. Yairi clone of a Martin New Yorker which I bought in Edinburgh in 1978 and I still haven't found anything that I like a whole lot better. In answer to your other questions: "Caledonia" is Iona 011. Iona is now a branch of Lismor Recordings The rest of my guitar instrumentals are splashed over various group albums, beginning with the now out of print "Alba" on Rubber Records 1976(vinyl only) All of these tracks feature other instruments, but the guitar does take the melody at various points in all of them. Guitar tracks on the Alba record are: The blacksmith's reel/The star of Munster Drummond Castle/ Paddy's Leather Britches.
Jock Tamson's Bairns (Temple Records 1978) (reissued on cd as A' Jock Tamson's Bairns , a compilation of both Bairns' albums Greentrax Records cd trax 112) has: The Mullindubh (the black mill) (part of the Hieland Soldier track) Mrs. McDougall (part of the Hills of Perth track) Each of the Ossian albums has something guitarish on it: Seal Song 1981(IR 002) has: Coilsfield House, A Fisherman's Song for Attracting Seals/Lieutenant Maguire Lude's Supper, Mull of the Mountains Dove Across the Water 1982(IR004)has: Drunk at Night, Dry in the Morning, and The Cunning Workmen (a march of my own composition) Borders 1984(IR 007)(my favourite) has: John macdonald's/The Sandpit, The Ewe wi' the crookit horn (part of the New House set) Rory Dall's sister's Lament Light on a Distant Shore 1986(IR 009 )has: Far from Home ( part of the Johnny Todd track), Harris Dance (part of the Mrs.Stewart set) Another out of print vinyl album is "Fergusson's Auld Reikie" an album of 18th c. Edinburgh poetry, music and song 1981(Iona Records IR003). Guitar tracks are: The Yellow Haired Laddie, The Birks of Invermay William Jackson's Wellpark Suite and St. Mungo (Mill Records) also feature some guitar solos There's also a best of Ossian cd on Iona which has many of the above tracks.
Portland America Distributing is a good source for Scottish recordings in N.America
I was turned on to Canadian Bob MacLean by a recent visitor to this site. Bob lives in Guelph, Ontario and hails from Cape Breton Island. He sent me his first CD "Dancing On A String" which is a fine album. A collection of traditional melodies and some self-penned music.
Here's the tune list for the album with tunings and capo positions.
Bob is an excellent player. His guitar has a very nice bright, crisp, almost playful sound, very and the album is ver well recorded. Here's an email interview we did.
Bob: "Tks for the kind words about the cd project. To preface the info below, I played R&R for many years until I was about 22, then took an interest in classical guitar and got a B.Mus in guitar and Music Ed. Then spent may years making ends meet through teaching as well as other non-music jobs. In 1995 I was at a career cross-roads and happento attend a Barra McNeils trad musicworkshop and was "bitten by the bug" the idea of taking a tune and having the freedom to play and arrange it as I saw fit - rather than how the composer saw it, was very alluring and I have not looked back. This is a unique sound I get from my Lowden - fairly large body, spruce-mahogany - which really add to the bright, crispness you hear,
Art: "There were several times I heard some Martin Simpson riffs.
Bob: " Yes, if I were to pick a major influence in the celtic guitar area, Martin would be it! I particular resonate with some of his CGCGCD stuff.
Art: What got you interested in Celtic music?
Bob: "Just taking a look at my roots in Cape Breton, also, able to apply 20 years of classical playing but with complete freedom to innovate and arrange as I wish. The Barra McNeils trad workshop referred to above,
Art: Guitar heroes?
Bob: "Martin Simpson, Duck Baker, Don Ross, Bruce Cockburn, Michael Hedges"
Art: Who do you listen to?
Bob: " Above artists + Chieftains, Altan, Clannad, Dick Goeghen, Bothy Band, Archie Fisher, Dougie MacLean, Rankins, Figgie Duff,
Art: Guitars?
Bob: Lowden O12, Larrivee L-09 (brand new this fall - wonderful rosewood instrument- will use it for warmer arrangements - it also has phenomenal intonation! )"
Art: What tunings do you use?
Bob: "Lots of DADGAD, CGDGBD and CGCGCD as well as drp D and conventional. These are my most common. Am also using AAAEAE, Open A, Open D, DADGAC, DADEAD, BADF#AD- when last counted it was 21 different tunings - very expensive on strings though - the Elixir people must like me!"
Art: How do you choose the tunes you decide to learn? (the trad tunes)
Bob: " I listen to trad performers as well as fiddle (O'Neills book), harp, song books, collections and see whatever fits - this is a very intuitive process - a combination of work, luck and inspiration!"
Art: How do people order (and cost) of CD?
Bob: Contact me via email or send $20 CDN or $15 US to Bob MacLean - 46 Elora Street, Guelph Ontario, Canada. N1H 2X8
Martin Solomon is an English guitarist. What makes his first recording interesting is that its a mixture of Celtic and Klezmer. And what is Klezmer? you ask. Simply put, its music from the East European Jews. It has traces of the Gypsy sound as well as some Middle Eastern scales. The primary instruments used in Klezmer melody have been the violin and clarinet and occasionally the mandolin (listen to Andy Statman for some tasty examples.) Virtually no other guitarists, I have heard play this music other than as a rhythm instrument. Solomon includes eight Klezmer cuts in DADGAD on his recently released "Solo Guitar- From Celtic To Klezmer." You can find Martin at his web site .
Recently he wrote me to explain his first CD project. "I used my beloved old Takamine - it's an EN30-C with a slotted headstock. It's true what they say about guitars maturing - it was only an average guitar when I bought it 10 years ago (I bought it mainly for the built-in pickup). However, something magical and inexplicable has happened to it in the past couple of years since I have been playing a lot of DADGAD on it - the vibrations seem to have given it a special resoanance and tone - I think also that one learns to play one's own instrument and develops a special relationship with it. "
" The recording technique was (due to budget restraints) very simple - one vocal mike. I found that miking it very close to the sound-hole gave the warm, intimate, close sound that I wanted. I'm not sure if there is too much presence on some of it as you can hear a lot of breathing noises and string squeaks!
" Interesting that you say, ' Also it appears you have a classical background' - I wonder how you got that impression as I'm completely self-taught. But I'm quite pleased if that's the impression I give! If I have a philosophy and an ideal sound for which I'm aiming it's that I want to give the steel guitar some of the feel, warmth and atmoshere of classical nylon strung guitar. I found in the mixdown stage that most of the available studio effects just seemed to obscure the sound I wanted to achieve, so I stuck to the principle "if in doubt, keep it simple" - hence there is only a touch of reverb and echo on some of the tracks. My interest in Klezmer stems from my ethnic roots, and adapting it for guitar was an obvious step to take as a solo guitarist. "
There are so very few women playing Celtic Fingerstyle guitar that when you find one as good as Eileen you want to give her some notice.
I've had Eileen's CD "Mad Grace" for a while. Its a fine album which shows off DADGAD tuning at its best. Eileen's a died in the wool DADGADer. Recently she wrote me to say she is online. I asked her to tell me something about herself and her music. Here's what she wrote:
" It was 1963, and my best friend was playing a lot of Carter Family stuff. Sounded much different from the Irish music I had heard all my life...intriguing. Went to the Denver Folklore Center and signed up for guitar lessons. I didn't like to sing, so after the basics, I went to the guys who were in the blues boom. Learned a LOT of Delta blues and some ragtime. I still love Skip James very much.
" Started performing a lot. Still going to Ireland every few years to visit relatives, but saw NO guitars, except the Clancys, who were not musically challenging. And by then, guitar and I had wed for life. Got back to Irish music on mandolin and then heard Pres de Paris.(by Pierre ben Susan) Also Skara Brae (early Irish group with Micheal O"Domhnaill and Daithe Sproule), Clannad and Bothy Band. Found there was indeed room for guitar in Irish music.
"Took to DADGAD in 1979 and never looked back. Micheal O'Domhnaill came to town w/ Kevin Burke in 1980 and did a DADGAD workshop at my house. Gave me structure. I played in duo w/ a guy who played metal-strung harp (what a lovely sound combination) for about 6 years. He sang in Gaelic, and we did lots of what is still weird repertoire--and very little O'Carolan. When he ditched, I started playing a lot of backup w/ the local ceili band and played a lot for the dancers w/ my fiddle friend, John Nielson. There was no one here who played either DADGAD or Irish music on guitar, so I learned on my own from the Irish players on vinyl. My greatest musical influence is Liam O'Flynn. I would say that I have listened to him much more than any other musician or group. Something about trying to transfer the "feel" of those pipes to guitar.
So, I am an Irish musician who plays guitar, as opposed to a guitarist who plays Irish or Celtic music. I put out MAD GRACE in a fit of pique over my musical isolation here, but still continued to play lots of backup and no solo gigs. When El McMeen first came to town, he convinced me that I could just concentrate on my fingerstyle and leave the backup gigs behind. I had been playing the Lowden, which was big and loud (lowd?) and perfect for backup but was giving me arm problems because of its girth. El sold me one of his guitars, an old Bourgeois OM, which is perfect for fingerstyle and is narrow enough to ease the arm ache.
"Why DADGAD? It just grabbed me. Sent me to the land of no rules, no standard repertoire, total freedom. (Does anyone really want to be the 5,347,289th person to learn Windy & Warm?) I am never bored w/ it, and I keep finding new voices in it. I am currently in cross-picking heaven (or hell), which allows me to play lots of notes in one octave and have them ring like harp strings.
How I arrange...I need to have the melody in my head before I start playing it. Fortunately, I've listened to so much that the tune hard drive has lots of files. I usually figure out the melody on the top three strings, ideally w/ middle, ring and pinky, which leaves me the index and thumb for harmonies or bass lines. However, this method is definitely subject to change w/ each tune. After I can pick out the melody in first position, I start looking around up the neck for the harmonics and higher-register melodies and harmonies. I tend to hum the melodies (in the car works best) and make up variations and ornaments away from the guitar--thus, I hope, not being too quick to use the obvious guitar licks. However, this can lead to some pretty humbling experiences when I'm trying to figure out how the hell to play them on guitar. But this is a challenge I love to face.
" I have opened for the Fureys, Brian McNeill & Tony McManus (who DOES have the fastest thumb in the world. He can do triplets either w/ thumb or m,r,p at will. We had a great time playing a marathon Carolan's Draught, trading leads and styles and syncopations. I NEVER get to do that enough. And I opened for God, Liam O'Flynn, who had Arty McGlynn w/ him, another guitar pal I see too seldom. Other than that, the Irish fest here, and my yearly trips to Virginia. Even though I may end up being the oldest unknown guitarist, I am at peace Currently I have an every Sunday morning gig at a local coffeehouse. Two hours of practice while we all wake up, which keeps the old stuff from getting rusty. ...I have also just ended my participation in the Mother Folkers, a group of female acoustic players that has been doing a lot of practicing for 6 months each year, ending in 2 or 3 big concerts. We started 25 years ago when I was a blues player. They have finally gotten used to my "weird" tuning and Irish obsession. Each member (11 this year) picks a tune or song and selects from among the group for other players. We have everything from sax and harmonica to piano, fiddle, mandolin, percussion, banjo, guitars, of course, and even accordion (no, not Irish). There are singer/songwriters and classical, new age, pop, cajun and reggae playersand singers, so the mix has really stretched my knowledge of DADGAD, having to play on James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, bluegrass, and weird originals. My mantra for that is "notes is notes," so they have to be there somewhere. MoFo alumnae who are nationally known include Mary Flower, blues empress, Mollie O'Brien (who sings better than her brother, Tim) Katy Moffatt, Lynn Morris, and Carla Sciaky. Right now, I feel like I'm going through another creative leap and am unwilling to do another release til I have more fruits from this particular vine. El is still a great influence in my life.
Interested person can order
Jim Earp recently sent me his album Rosewood. He's a fine player using a variety of tunings including my favorites, DADGAD and DGDGBD, hel also plays in CGCGCE which Scottish guitarist Tony Cuffe also plays in as does Martin Simpson on occasion. Now Jim doesn't play Celtic music, although I suppose he could, he's an excellent guitarist. I commented on the fact that I want to be able to hum the melody, which is why I like Celtic music so much, its so very melodic. Here's Jim's reply, which I think is a very good answer to the "why don't you play melody instead of guitar riffs?" question.
Reply from Jim Earp:
"Dear Art;
Thank you so much for the feedback on my CD- glad you are enjoying it!
I wanted to respond about the difficulty of translating "defineable"
melodies on solo guitar, because for the most part I agree with you.
I will candidly admit that I view myself as a player easily lacking
the chops of say, Doyle Dykes or Pierre Bensusan, so I've always
relied on simple themes and song structure to deliver my pieces;
usually verse-verse-chorus-verse or a variation of the standard "pop
song" format. Pat Kirtley wrote me a while back after hearing
Rosewood and commented specifically on the melodic content and
complexity of my compositions- so I know that each listener will have
a subjective feeling about any given individual artist- and so I
welcome your impressions of my music just as I welcome Pat's. I can
tell you that the trouble with an emphasis on technique, especially
with solo guitar, is that it can obfuscate melody to a degree. Celtic
music doesn't often seem to have this problem, because most of the
beautiful O'Carolan melodies and such are first and foremost vocally
based, timeless and familiar- and usually in Celtic ensemble music,
the melody is delivered on pipe, whistle, fiddle, or voice, with the
guitar providing harmonic support. Straightforward, with little
variation on the theme; simple, beautiful, linear, and uncluttered.
When you translate those wonderful melodies to guitar, the pieces seem to work best when they retain their straightforwardness with little embellishment (Martin Simpson's "Leaves of Life" comes to mind). Most non-Celtic players however, are not subjugating modern non-traditional techniques and playing styles to traditional, vocal-based melodies; they are using these new techniques and approaches to create new, guitar-based melodies, ideas, and moods. That is why it gets to be so hard for so many of us "contemporary" guitarists to find things that are hummable- frankly we aren't working from a "vocal" perspective! When a guitarist is employing the rhythmic funk of Leo Kottke and the percussive slap of Michael Hedges, he or she just isn't likely going to get the same kind of "vocal quality" melody of a classical Irish harpist or a traditional Spanish dance. The melodic line may be more harmonically intricate- such as a jazz player's- or modal or idiomatic, such as some of Billy McLaughlin's work. I think that the best way to deliver melodies on guitar is first to possess them, obviously; and then to stay with a simple, non-technical and traditional approach to the arrangement of the melody. Albeit, it can make for "quiet" solo guitar- but more often than not, this is where Celtic music shines.
Ultimately the bottom line, Art, is that your heart shines through whatever it is you are doing, whether you are a disciplined traditionalist or some avant-garde two-handed tapping "new age" player. Each type of music has different expectations- and limitations- but it is the musicality of what is being done that matters. It really is about heart. With no heart, there is no music- and even the most beautiful melody sounds strained and tired when it is delivered dispassionately. BB King once said that "playin' guitar is like tellin' the truth". I have to agree...
Well put Jim...thanks
Junji's solo self-produced album "Sally Gardens" JS101, is a gem.
He plays guitar and 5-string and 4 string banjo. His style is smooth,
sophisticated, with tasteful arrangments and mature use of guitaristic
embellishments. A very satisfying album.
Junji plays a Lowden LSE 11 guitar tuned DADGAD. His background in Japan
was Bluegrass guitar and banjo. He moved to the US in 1986 and took up Irish
music just four years ago.
Junji is also the guitarist in the group "Jody's Heaven" along with fiddler supreme Dale Russ, and flutist/concertina player Jack Gilder.
They have one album, "Jody's Heaven" on Foxglove Records (FG9603CD) phone is 503-223-4958 e-mail Foxglove . Junji plays backup here, flatpicking mostly but does an occassional fingerstyle part. Still, an excellent CD with many session tunes. A great way to learn backup guitar in DADGAD.
To e-mail Junji Shirota
Here's a guy who never performs out! He's a psychiatrist in Ontario, Canada and he contacted me about his CD "Walter The Penniless" on Dadyeen Records. (His album wins wierdest title of the month award).
Just one listen was all I needed. Paul, drop the Prozac pills, sell the couch, forget about the super-ego and the ID and start performing!! A simply great album that is available from Elderly Instruments I'm told.
Paul uses some very original tunings on this album that he said he made up. They are: DGDGBbF, EAEF#AE, DADGDF#, EAC#F#BF, BbADGCF, EG#BEBE.
Here's some information Paul sent me.
" Glad you like the CD. The guitar i used was a little parlour size
guitar made in St. Catherines Ont. by J. d. McKenzie. I bought the guitar
in the early 80's at Ring Music in Toronto. I tried to relocate the builder
in the 90's. A guy at Ring Music told me he died in the 80's.The guitar
prospered in Nfld. but the weather extremes of the London area didit in,
that coupled with my carelessness in regard London humidity conditions.
Never had to worry about that living on an island in the Atlantic. Marc
Beneteau made me another guitar incorporating some of the faetures of the
Mckenzie. He made me a fine instrument. I recorded Carolyn's draught with
the Beneteau on the CD. I was not used to the new instrument and didn't
really understand how to get the most out of it. The rest was with the
Mckenzie. All the tunes are solo except the jig at the end. I used extra
light strings on the Mckenzie such that I could get a nice and tinkly sound
with the bare fingertips.
" I was born and raised in NFLD. and started playing at age 19. I moved to Ontario in1991. My wife's family is here. I'm a psychiatrist by trade. Yes the tunings do lend a lot to the sound.I arrived at them Through lots of trial and error. Ive started a new CD. 'Bout halfway throgh Same sort of deal. Don Walsh produced the album . I play mostly at home when my kids are in bed. I play best if I have a good cup of tea on hand Cheers, Paul.
I've heard of Tom Long for quite a while but could never find his albums. Recently Tom contacted me and we held a e-mail interview. His two albums are Satis Verborum (1992) and Monkeys Violate the Heaven Place (1995). Here's our e-mail conversation:
AE: I received your two CDs and was very impressed. I hear some Bensusan,
Kottke, lots of Tom Long and generally a very strong player. So why aren't
you better known?
TL: Hi Art. I get that question a lot but haven't developed a suitable answer.
AE: I also like your aggressive approach, at least that's how it sounds. No
namby pamby playing here. I thought your approach to learning Irish music
(point a finger in O'Neills and learn the tune ) was unique. I tend to learn what I already know
from my mandolin playing. I thought opening "Monkeys" with Jerusalem Ridge took balls, interesting arrangement.
Bill Monroe might argue it with you if he was still around.
TL:I was going for more of a "trance music" approach. Repressed white boy listens to North African music, etc. I'm certainly not a red-hot mandolin picker. I enjoy slapping that dombek.
AE:So Tom, I would like to know a bit more about you for my web page.
Do you have a web site of your own?
TL: Yes click here
AE:What are your tunings, (especially on the Celtic stuff?) I remember the Cunla from Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine but don't
have the magazine any longer. Was that DADGAD?
TL:Yes all the Irish stuff I play right now is DADGAD.
AE:What other tunings?
TL:DADEAD, DADFAD, DADGBE.
Still using the Lowdens (O22C) great tone on the guitar, very
intimate recording, i hear your breathing!!
TL: I'm very happy with my Lowdens, they're wonderful guitars. I make a lot of noise when I breath because my nose is a mess, I broken it more times than I care to think about. I'm lucky that it's still roughly centered in my face.
Ian, is a Scot who now lives in Berlin, Germany. He's a very facile player who uses Lowden guitars. He has several CDs. His latest is the all-Scottish music, "A Scottish Legacy". You can contact Ian at his web site
Other guitarists who have recorded the odd Celtic Fingerstyle piece include Dick Gaughan, Zan McLeod on the Ring Sessions album from Claddagh come to mind. Others play lots of Celtic music with a plectrum, again Gaughan, Daithi Sproule, Arty McGlynn come to mind.
I'm always looking for new players of this style. Did I miss anyone?
Send me a message.