Newmarket Polka

Another polka!

I have two yellow goats

Happy tune! Also, listen to this version by Oarla O'Lionair.

Where Lilies Bloom

Here's a fun polka I learned from a Cheiftains album. Thanks to Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh for convincing me that Polkas are actually cool.

Sonny Riordan's

My friend and bandmate Colin has been studying Irish traditional music at the University of Limerick for the past year or so and he occasionally sends me tunes he's learning. Here's a polka he sent me recently.

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.

Cutting Ferns

Here's a polka I learned from some recordings a friend sent me who is currently a masters student of traditional Irish music at the University of Limerick.

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.

Jimmy Doyle's

Yesterday I learned a pretty technical, notey tune.  Today I needed a bit of a mental break so I learned a tune off of Deadly Buzz, an album I've listened to so much since I downloaded it that I practically have the whole thing memorized.  This album is of course Mick O'Brien and Caoimhìn Ò Raghallaigh, whose first album, Kitty Lie Over, I've already obsessively memorized.  This one is a polka from their new album, which you can order here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mickobriencaoimhinoragha.

Knocknabowl

So.  I just spent the last 3 days in our car driving 2200 miles!  Yay!  It was actually really cool.  And we have a system down for sleeping in the car at rest-stops along the highway so we weren't totally uncomfortable.  We took turns driving in 3-hour shifts.  Anyway, today we've been getting situated here in our new place and I'm a little exhausted.  So when I recorded the polka I learned today, things got a little silly.

Tolka Polka

This is a fun tune.  I don't know that many polkas, being more of a jig and reel girl myself.  But there are a few fiddlers that make them sound so beautiful.  I learned this polka off of a youtube video of Kevin Burke.  The tune itself was written by Donàl Lunny.  There are three parts to the tune, and the 2nd and 3rd parts have some jazzy syncopation to them.