Ireland 2007-2008 Part II: Portstewart
Portstewart: Dec. 31 and Jan 1
On December 31, 2007, we left Dun Luiche with our friends Paul Marshall and Rob Forkner and headed for Portstewart, Co. Derry. Our mission was to record some tracks to benefit the Paul Phillips Scholarship.
A bit of background before we move on. The world unfortunately and very unexpectedly lost Paul Phillips last September 16. Paul was a phenomenal bodhran player and teacher and was just a class act in general. At laster year’s Irish Fest, I think it was Rob who said something along the lines that if Clare musicians were to accept any bodhran player, it would be Paul Phillips: his style was rhythmic, melodic, driving, and sensitive. It was an tremendous pleasure being able to be in Paul’s company last summer as he came to Wisconsin for the Irish Fest Summer School, starting with athas’ jaunt up to the La Crosse Irish Fest and ending up with the final session in the Park East to finish Irish Fest week. Fondest memory: quoting Kelly’s Heroes with Paul at Ma Fischer’s.
So it was up to Portstewart with us on New Year’s Eve, but we made a brief detour to the home of Roy Arbuckle in Derry. I’d spent a day in Derry back in 2005 during my last visit to Ireland, but this was a much more fun experience. Roy is the singer/guitarist for Different Drums of Ireland, and it was great fun hanging out with Roy, his wife, his in-laws, and his children for a few hours. We played tunes in the living room and were blessed with a couple songs from his father-in-law. Good stuff!
We arrived at the Marshall’s Portstewart home early in the evening. We retired to the upstairs lounge, since it was the fastest room to warm up. Here we watched some videos, played tunes, and rang in the New Year in the company of some great friends. Good times!
The next morning Paul treated us to an Ulster Fry. Talk about great food! I didn’t think I’d be able to ever eat again. The Ulster Fry is a traditional Ulster breakfast, complete with every kind of breakfast type meat you can imagine, eggs, black pudding, and other assorted goodies. Mmmmm.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around (and for me, trying to recover from my cold so I wouldn’t be coughing during the recording process). Later that night we began playing through some tunes and doing recording checks with our engineer, Tom Newman.
Tom is an amazing engineer and a joy to work with. He has an terrific ear and spirit, and he certainly made the recording process comfortable and enjoyable for everyone. Plus, the man has a great sense of humour and the best accent! And for me, it was a treat not having to worry about sound gear and recording and just to be able to focus on making some music.
Recording: January 2nd and 3rd
Again, these days went by in a great blur. All told, we recorded a total of 11 tracks to benefit the Paul Phillips Scholarship. Some of the other musicians we played with and became fast friends with include:
Patricia Daly: a wonderful harpist who played with Paul Phillips in a group called The Spanish Lady
Micheal Sands: phenomenal guitar player. A great treat for me to play with such a great backer–really got some ideas brewing for myself!
Catherine Sands: Micheal’s wife and a brilliant flute player. It was a real joy recording Maid in the Meadows/Humours of Trim/Lilting Banshee on flute along side Catherine. I hear she’s a great box player as well, so hopefully next time we meet she’ll bring the accordion out as well.
Kevin Sharkey: former drummer for Different Drums. Kevin played the high tech pizza box on a couple tracks and contributed some fancy mooing to “Shady Grove.”
Roy Arbuckle: Roy came over and recorded bass on a couple tracks (go bottom end!) as well as a new song that he recently wrote. Great stuff!
Some highlights:
Paul P: his spirit guiding the energy of the sessions
Insominia: spending one restless night from my cold listening to the soundtrack to Once which led to the grove behind the Jessica’s Polka/Banshee set.
Engrish.com
Gollum: Tom yelling “IT’S MINE ALL MINE!!”
Tank Commander: Heather’s brilliant new slip jig coming to life to honor Big Paul.
Where’s the Cat?: brilliant set of slides coming together with Patricia, Micheal, and Catherine.
We finished the recording sessions early in the afternoon of January 3rd and began packing up all the equipment. Next stop: Belfast, more specifically Bangor, the home of Paul Marshall.