Regional styles and representative players

[mutepointe]

I play solely in the tradition of Kanawha County. I am the lead authority of this particular style. We're not interested in sharing our playing staying with people who are not willing to commit to the whole Kanawha County experience. You may try to imitate the style but you can not be the style.

[Jäger]

I play solely in the tradition of Kanawha County. I am the lead authority of this particular style. We're not interested in sharing our playing staying with people who are not willing to commit to the whole Kanawha County experience. You may try to imitate the style but you can not be the style.

What an elitist basht'rd you are!

Thanks for all the replies, it's getting... a little bit less hazy.

[benhall.1]

Yes, no doubt I may be totally wrong in placing O'Grada in "Northern Ireland", but his style does similar to Harry's. I'm mostly exposing my thoughts on the subject to be either confirmed or corrected. I'd really like to know. In the article sighted above, the author puts Harry in the "Sligo" style category, but he's not from Sligo, so I have no idea what's what. Perhaps this categorizing thing by regional style is fruitless and futile.

All of that is kind of exactly my point.

[jemtheflute]

Said it was a worm-can, didn't I?

[mutepointe]

I play solely in the tradition of Kanawha County. I am the lead authority of this particular style. We're not interested in sharing our playing staying with people who are not willing to commit to the whole Kanawha County experience. You may try to imitate the style but you can not be the style.

What an elitist basht'rd you are!

That would be the basic requirement but no more free lessons for you.

[Gabriel]

Getting back to topic...

I'd consider Harry McGowan, Colm O'Donnell and of course the late Peter Horan as typical Sligo players. You can meet Harry and Colm at the Tubbercurry week, which is warmly recommended. Also, try to get a hold of Peter Horan's and Fred Finn's "Music of Sligo" if you want to dig into that style.

[toughknot]

Something that helps a lot is to gather recordings of different players playing the same tune and listen to them in close succession.

I have wanted to suggest we start a thread where everyone could post a recording of themselves playing the same tune so we could compare individual styles,interpretation, tone etc. of the same tune. I would suggest "I'll Tell Me Ma".
I am about ready to push the submit button. I'm sure I'll regret it......I always do.

[Jäger]

Something that helps a lot is to gather recordings of different players playing the same tune and listen to them in close succession.

I have wanted to suggest we start a thread where everyone could post a recording of themselves playing the same tune so we could compare individual styles,interpretation, tone etc. of the same tune. I would suggest "I'll Tell Me Ma".
I am about ready to push the submit button. I'm sure I'll regret it......I always do.

I don't quite see why you would regret that. Sounds like a fun idea to me.

[BrendanB]

Yes, no doubt I may be totally wrong in placing O'Grada in "Northern Ireland", but his style does similar to Harry's. I'm mostly exposing my thoughts on the subject to be either confirmed or corrected. I'd really like to know. In the article sighted above, the author puts Harry in the "Sligo" style category, but he's not from Sligo, so I have no idea what's what. Perhaps this categorizing thing by regional style is fruitless and futile.

In case this helps answer your question, a common influence for both Conal and Harry's playing would be John McKenna. A lot of flute players who are associated with "Sligo/Roscommon" or "North Connaught" style draw a lot of inspiration from his playing, either directly or through that style filtering down. Whether that is Peter Horan, Patsy Hanley, Kevin Henry, Matt Molloy, Catherine McEvoy, Roger Sherlock etc. If you haven't heard McKenna's recordings, particularly his duets with James Morrison, I'd really encourage you to seek them out. His playing is amazing. Very powerful, great rhythm, interesting variations.

That said, both Conal and Harry are individuals (last time I checked at least) and they have their own unique styles of playing that draw on a lot of influences, plus the fact that they are both really creative musicians. My feeling is that for all the ways that musicians who are a part of the same 'style' have similarities, you can always find differences. Since both of them post here from time to time, I'll leave it up to them if they want to express a view.

Anyway, hope that helps answer a part of your question.

B

[lingpupa]

Good points already made. Conal O'Grada illustrates the ambiguities well. An experienced listener would tell his playing from Harry Bradley's quite easily, but it is true that they have similarities that set them apart from, say, Matt Molloy (who is quite unique in any case). So what is called the "Belfast" style, of which Harry Bradley and Michael Clarkson are said to be representative, has more to do with the leading players than the place – the place is in second place, so to speak. So if you said that Conal was a player in the Belfast style, we'd know what was meant, but a) that doesn't do justice to his own unique contribution, and b) not only is he a Corkman, but I suspect he is proud of it.

OTOH if you hear Conal O'Grada and Hammy Hamilton (who comes from the north but lives in County Cork) you can hear something in common that does, to my ears at least, fit with the pulse of Cork music. Against what I just said, I also feel that the Cork/Kerry pulse is indeed to a large extent a regional thing.

Personally I would not recommend the Obsession CDs for this purpose. I have them all, and I'd recommend them for listening, but many of the tracks lean in modern and innovative directions that are not so closely connected to the tradition. Nothing wrong with that in itself, of course, but I'm not sure that they would help with this question of regional styles.

I also would not know why HB would be categorised as Sligo, unless it's meant to refer to the John McKenna influence. I read that "Flow" artice through several times in the past, but never found the content terribly cogent. What others have said already on this thread makes more sense to me.

[Mr.Gumby]

unless it's meant to refer to the John McKenna influence.

Which would arguably place him in Leitrim/Roscommon, wouldn't it?

[Gordon]

There's a growing disconnect in this discussion between what are the regional styles and where someone currently lives, or, for that matter, where they are from originally. Regional styles certainly exist. But it is important, regarding individual players, to talk about who they learned from, or what/who was their biggest influences, including pipers and fiddlers of various regional styles. ITM is no longer - or rarely - learned at the local pub. Many of the players listed in posts above learned or perfected their craft in the pubs in London or elsewhere, and were not necessarily locked into the regional style of their birth, or they adapted their early styles to new musical ideas. When I lived in NYC, many of the local players, myself included, were influenced by a select few players from the Galway region; Rafferty, Coen, etc.. Few of us were from Galway; I've never even visited. I'm sure most of us have since added other styles to our 'base' style. I'm sure the same evolutions happens in Ireland, too, region to region.

I think to dismiss the concept of regional styles, by naming players who are hard to pin down to a specific style, or who don't actually come from that region, is somewhat silly; whether it's important to, or whether anyone really does, stay within one style these days is a different conversation altogether.

[Harry]

It's all comes down to sex, lies and plumber's tape.

Now, back to...ahhhhh...

[talasiga]

I really liked Gordon's last post here because of the points he made and the way he made them.

I think that by heeding his post we can come back to the constructive driver for this topic.
I don't feel that simply because we may not be able to irrebuttably identify significant players who are EXCLUSIVELY representative of a particular style doesn't mean that characteristic features historically associated with a regional style name can no longer be usefully flagged by the continued use of those names.

[Akiba]

It's all comes down to sex, lies and plumber's tape.

Now, back to...ahhhhh...

Thanks a lot, Harry. That was very insightful and helpful.