A host of internationally-acclaimed musicians took to the stage in The Barn, Tyrrellspass, on Friday evening last. The beams were rising with the melodic and rhythmic sounds of fiddler Matt Crannitch and accordion player Jackie Daly. Brought to the midlands by local community group ETHOS (Everything Tyrrellspass has on show) as part of their Clare to here series, it is a group of concerts with the aim to bring nationally and internationally acclaimed traditional musicians who would ordinarily not be present on stage in the Midlands. A number songs were presented by the award-winning singer, Roisin White, who had travelled up from Clare for the occasion.
The concert was the first concert organised by the group and was made popular from announcement, resulting in a sold out event.
As part of ETHOS’s vision for education, there was a workshop held in The Barn the following morning with the duo. Jackie and Matt were greeted by an enthusiastic student audience of all ages. The duo explained the intricacies of Sliabh Luachra music with an emphasis on slides and polkas.
Their playing together at the workshop was inspirational for the students, who quickly learned two polkas and before the workshop was ended The Barn once again reverberated to the toe-tapping sound of this haunting music.
Matt emphasised the importance of bowing when playing the fiddle. Jackie played some haunting slow airs and traced their origin to the playing of the many Sliabh Luachra greats such as Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford.
Fiddles, flutes, whistles, accordions and Uilleann pipes filled The Barn with vibrant and plaintive music for two and a half hours. ETHOS plan to host a number of other concerts of a similar nature and would welcome those with an interest to follow them on Facebook www.facebook.ie/ethostp or their blog https://ethostp.wordpress.com.
