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I first met fiddler Kevin Burke and accordion player Jackie Daly on a Minneapolis staircase. They were about to leave a post-folk festival party but asked me to sing them a song. I obliged right there on the third step from the bottom. A few years later they came through Denver with the newly formed Patrick Street. On a mid-show break backstage, they asked if I knew how to fix sound systems, so I turned up the bass, they drank some wine, and everything seemed better. The next time I saw the boys in concert, my friend Willy and I were asked to leave. I guess we were talking too loudly. That night we got to the backstage wine well before Patrick Street. Of course, they sounded brilliant from back-stage, and I told them so, though I'll never be able to prove it.
The fact is, Patrick Street always sounds great. These are veterans of Planxty, the Bothy Band, De Dannan, and more, who together represent the distillation of a crucial new strain that emerged in traditional Irish music some twenty-five years ago. Always innovative, they continue to freshen the genre with diverse elements drawn from the deep roots and newer branches of Celtic music. For instance, Andy Irvine writes great new songs, but he just as importantly reinterprets fine old ones. He also must bear more than a passing responsibility for the popularity of the bouzouki in Irish music. Adding Balkan rhythms and more adventurous harmony, he eventually mapped a new approach to tune accompaniment that today seems very traditional. Back in 1972, Andy, Kevin, and Jackie were all bravely blazing new trails, and while ( to quote Groucho Marx) , "the future ain't what it used to be," it's still remarkably similar. Maybe I'm showing my age in saying it, but that's reassuring.
The group formed in the mid-1980s, and though the guitar position has changed over the years, ( Arty McGlynn, Gerry O'Beirne, and the current and longest standing Ged Foley) , the lineup has otherwise remained constant. Surveying Patrick Street's output over the past fifteen years, this CD is packed with the kind of great performances we've come to expect from them. Look for them in a concert venue or staircase near you.
Tim O'Brien
Walsh's Polkas — Three tunes from Jackie's immense store of polkas and slides.
Jenny Picking Cockles, An Gabhran & Jack Keane's Reel — Arty's Telecaster makes a welcome appearance on this medley. Patrick Street Plugged?
The Dream & Indiana — A tale of immigration but here the hero decides that even though Indiana, where he has raised his family, has given him a good life for so long, he wants to go back to his native home for his few remaining years.
White Petticoat, The Kerry Jigs & Katy is Waiting — This set of jigs was one of Patrick Street's first collaborations with Ged.
Stewball and the Monaghan Grey Mare — Knowing the result of this famous horse race never seems to diminish its excitement.
Rainbow 'Mid the Willows — Andy combined the lyrics from a traditional song found in the Ozark Mountains with a traditional melody from Hungary
Newmarket Polkas — The town of Newmarket in Co. Cork gives its name to these tunes, which Jackie brought to the band. "This recording was made on a tour of Britain and Ireland in 1999.
William Taylor — " … was a brisk young sailor." But not for long! His girlfriend dressed up as a sailor and followed him after he had been "pressed" into service on their wedding day. When she caught up with him, a long voyage later, she found that the bold William bad teamed up with another woman. Enraged at his infidelity, she shot him dead. The ire and bloodlust of this emotional tale is only slightly tempered by the fine elegance of the silver pistols she used for the murder.
The Set & La Cardeuse — When Jackie and I ( Kevin) first heard these tunes, they were played by Lisa Ornstein and Denis Pepin, a great fiddle and accordion duo from Quebec. We thought we'd like to give them a try, rearranged them a little and this is what we came up with.
Brackagh Hill — A song of emigration — almost. After making the short journey from Ulster to Scotland, the hero of this song decides travelling is not for him so he turns round and goes back home to marry the sweetheart he left behind the day before. He never again embarked on any travels but he was for ever more referred to by the locals as the "Marco Polo of Brackagh Hill".
Killanin's Fancy, The Dash to Portobello & Anna Maculeen — A live version of 3 reels first recorded on Corner Boys.
Lintheads & Lawrence Common — Two songs about the lives of mill workers on either side of the Atlantic. The linking instrumental was written by Andy.
Loftus Jones — From the music of Turlough O'Carolan, the famous 18th century blind itinerant harpist, here is a stately tune in honour of one of his patrons.
Music for a Found Harmonium — This piece of music should probably be granted honorary "Irish Traditional" status, it has become so popular since Patrick Street first recorded it.
