The Blarney Pilgrims Podcast

Episode 27: Ciaran O'Grady (Concertina)

December 11th, 2019  |  1 hr 20 mins

ciaran o'grady, concertina, dublin, english folk, francis droney, identity, irish, luton

Growing up in Luton, meeting Francis Droney, the anatomy of the concertina, English Folk music, and many many thoughts on identity, home and what "being Irish" means.

Episode 26: Sarah Wade (Scottish Small Pipes, Recorder)

December 4th, 2019  |  54 mins 47 secs

Learning to enjoy music, and learning who you are as a musician via reeds, recorders, baroque music and Danish pipe bands.

Episode 25: Tony McTigue (Banjo)

November 27th, 2019  |  1 hr 15 mins

banjo, irish banjo music, irish music australia, irish traditional music, last jar, melbourne, tony mctigue, trad

Music is the opposite of work. Learning and re-learning how to play. And practicing as far away from the rest of your family as possible. A cracking chat with banjo player Tony McTigue. 

Episode 24: Mark Wilson (Unaccompanied singing, spoons)

November 19th, 2019  |  1 hr 10 mins

mark, spoons, unaccompanied singing, wilson

Wallpaper factories; snowy German winters; yoga gurus and music as therapy

Episode 23: Davydd McDonald (Fiddle - with Kit Joyce on accordion)

November 12th, 2019  |  58 mins 47 secs

brisbane, camp, competitive dance, davydd mcdonald, fiddle, kit joyce, line dance, liz carroll, quasitrad, riverdance

Line dance; Riverdance; competitive dance and finding the fiddle. How Davydd McDonald found the music via his feet.

Episode 22: Liz Carroll (Fiddle)

November 6th, 2019  |  1 hr 12 mins

american, carroll, creative, expectations., fiddle, fiddling, irish, liz, process; competitive, rhythm

The creative process; competitive fiddling; trying people on for size; listening for the rhythm of a session; and playing without expectations.

Episode 21: Ado Barker (Fiddle)

October 29th, 2019  |  1 hr 9 mins

ado, barker, canberra, ennis, fiddle, gerry mckeague, irish music; yehudi menuhin, learning by ear, sessions, stephane grappelli

The mystery of Irish music; Yehudi Menuhin playing the shit out of Stephane Grappelli arrangements; late night sessions in Canberra and Ennis; the fear of learning to learn a tune by ear; and Six Degrees of Gerry McKeague.

Episode 20: Jim Dalton (Mandolin, banjo)

October 22nd, 2019  |  44 mins 36 secs

Leaving Ireland, foundry work, Cardiff sessions and leaving your banjo at home. Oh, and Bush Bands, mandolins and marches.

Episode 19: Kate Burke (Guitar, singing)

October 15th, 2019  |  59 mins 43 secs

burke, canberra, ciaran o'grady, concertina, dadgad, donal og, druth, guitar, kate, luke plumb, singing, songwriter, trouble in the kitchen

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Kate Burke on late nights when the music takes over; on Bela Bartok's graphic notation; on bush fires, sneaky pints and DADGAD.

Episode 18: Tony O'Rourke (Banjo, guitar)

October 8th, 2019  |  1 hr 5 mins

banjo, guitar, johnny connolly, melodeon, melody, the monkees, tony o rourke

The consolations of melody, Johnny Connolly's melodeon, the invention of white-out and The Monkees.

Episode 17: David Game (Fiddle)

October 1st, 2019  |  50 mins 13 secs

canberra, david, donegal, fiddle, game, guildford, mandolin, sydney

'It's kind of like falling in love or something... you just gotta do something about it. So I bought a mandolin.' David Game on being smitten, rare Irish albums of the 1970s, Donegal fiddling and musicians of sessions past in Sydney and Canberra.

Episode 16: Angus Barbary (Fiddle)

September 24th, 2019  |  53 mins 30 secs

angus, banger, barbary, classical, dance, fiddle, groove, hoedown, melbourne, socio-spatial, swing, sydney, throwdown, trad

Finding the grove, making people dance and socio-spatial crossovers. Hmmm... we cover a lot in this episode. Thanks Angus.

Episode 15: Michelle Doyle and Mickey O'Donnell (Harp & fiddle)

September 17th, 2019  |  1 hr 5 mins

awareness, celtic, fiddle, harp, hike, michelle doyle, mickey o'donnell, new zealand, osteoporosis, pozible

Harps, fiddles and brittle bones. Michelle and Mickey talk to us before they head off on their great adventure - hiking and gigging their way from the tip of New Zealand to the bottom in a bid to raise awareness for Osteoporosis.

Episode 14: Paddy Fitzgerald (Accordion, gob music)

September 10th, 2019  |  1 hr 25 mins

accordion, australia, fitzgerald, galway, gob music, ireland, melbourne, paddy

One of the most respected and influential players in the traditional Irish scene here in Melbourne and internationally, Paddy Fitzgerald sits down with us for a few tunes and a chat about where it all began.

Episode 13: Sean Mathews (Unaccompanied singing)

September 3rd, 2019  |  1 hr 8 mins

The nyah, fireside values, singing unaccompanied, and so much more. Sean and Darren dig deep about what it was like growing up in Drogheda and feeling disconnected from the music.

Episode 12: John Carty (Banjo)

August 27th, 2019  |  1 hr 7 mins

banjo, carty, drogheda, fiddle, flanagan brothers' award, fleadh, ireland, irish, john, london, music, sessions, sligo, trad

Banjo in Irish music, where "the session" was born, musical accents and so much more. While in Drogheda to receive The Flanagan Brothers' Award, John Carty stopped past Darren's Mam and Dad's to sit down, chat and play us some tunes.