Jewels of the Ocean

Jewels of the Ocean by Allan MacDonald

Potatisvals

Last year, I heard Frigg play at a festival in Madison, Wisconsin. What a treat! I had never heard of them, but I love Scandinavian music, so I stopped in to listen. I was blown away!

This tune is the first cut off their album, Grannen and was written by Ale Möller.

Trip to Dingle

Here's a polka composed by Alan Kelly. I've learned what I think is quite a unique version of it, from a recording of Peter Staunton and Niamh Varian-Barry.

Sevens

Here's a Liz Carroll tune! Her tunes are always top-notch.

Pat and Al's

I've been posting less frequently because I'm in the middle of preparing my master's thesis, and it's going to get worse before it gets better, so as per usual, in a stressful time I've learned a Liz Carroll tune. Here's a jig from her Lost in the Loop album.

The Golden Castle

Today I learned a tune off of sheet music, which I don't ordinarily do. I prefer to learn tunes by ear most of the time. However, there's this free collection of hundreds of tunes you can download (for free!) by following this link. I got the whole thing printed out and from time to time I like to browse it for new tunes. Anyway this hornpipe was written by Junior Crehan, a Clare fiddler.

3 Deer and a Hare

I ordered Liz and Yvonne Kane's album Side by Side recently, and it arrived in the mail yesterday. So today I learned one of Liz's compositions from this album.

Waltzing with Lilly

This is a tune written by a friend of mine, Joe Morales, who plays guitar and claw-hammer banjo.  He wrote this one for his wife.  He taught it to me today.

Dennehy Dancers

Another Liz Carroll to brighten your day.  She recorded this tune with John Doyle on their album In Play which is definitely worth purchasing.

I had a somewhat frustrating day so a Liz Carroll tune was a good way of cheering myself up.

The Potato on the Door

Here's another Liz Carroll tune. She's seriously my favorite tune-smith of all time.

Yvonne Casey's

Here's a reel called Yvonne Casey's written by Yvonne Casey that she plays on her album called Yvonne Casey.  This is a fun little album with some interesting non-trad thrown in.  She pairs this tune with Maude Millar's, which sounds great.

Valse des Poêles (100th Tune!)

Today I learned a beautiful waltz written by Simon Riopel, a quebecois fiddler.

Willow on the Lake

I learned this beautiful tune from Rayna Gellert's album "Ways of the World."

Tom Roddy's

Here's a jig that I had to learn so that I could understand it better.  It was written by Oisín Mac Diarmada, who is the fiddler in Téada.  I couldn't make heads or tails of it the first time I heard it.

The Fourth Floor

Here's a fun pipe tune written by Gordon Duncan. You'll like this one if you're crazy about syncopation and/or trebles. In Scotland, trebles are called birls. In Shetland, they're referred to by their most descriptive name, shivers. This tune has plenty of them.

MacArthur Road

E major is a scary key for lots of instruments (especially flute) so there ain't many tunes in this key.  But, here's one!  MacArthur Road is a reel written by Dave Richardson who also wrote Calliope House Jig, also in E, coincidence?

Seamus Creagh's

Today was kind of perfect.  I wrapped up this last week of working on two different research projects and taking a midterm exam and really needed a weekend.  So today I woke up late, did some laundry, and then traveled up to an abandoned farm and picked apples from a couple of neglected heirloom apple trees.  It was just what I needed.

On the Boulevard

Liz Carroll's tunes rock.

Jig For Jimmy

I learned a tune today penned by Galway fiddler Liz Kane, who I met a few years ago when she and her sister Yvonne were teaching a workshop in Takoma Park, Maryland.  They taught me a jig in C major written by Galway legend Paddy Fahy.  When I heard this tune, it reminded me so much of that jig.  It has similar arpeggios and phrases, not to mention it's in the same key and time signature.  Liz Kane wrote this tune for her grandfather.  I plan on putting it in a set with the Paddy Fahy jig in C.