The Noreside Studio in Yonkers
By Daniel Neely
A couple of things to cover this week. We’ll start with “Noreside” from the brilliant guitarist John Walsh. Known as “one of the best Celtic guitar players in America,” Walsh was born in the Bronx, but raised in Kilkenny, where he learned his craft before moving back stateside. He’s a member of groups like Jameson’s Revenge (who have recently announced they’ve eased off their schedule, see www.facebook.com/JamesonsRevenge for more) and Luther’s Boots, and has performed and toured with legends like uilleann piper Paddy Keenan and fiddler Brian Conway. He’s very active on the scene and his Yonkers-based Noreside studio (www.noresidemusic.com) is an important resource for New York’s Irish community.
This new album is Walsh’s third. Unlike “Aon Dó Trí” (2005) and “Arís” (2012), which took an instrumental focus, this new album focuses almost entirely on Walsh the singer, and he’s recommended himself well. “Noreside” includes several well-known songs, including “Arthur McBride,” “As I Roved Out,” and “The Blackthorn,” but his overall approach here is to give them a decidedly modern feel which he does by drawing from a rock and roll palette. It’s something that reveals his musical depth, especially when compared to his earlier work.
Walsh has done an excellent job here. The album will attract listeners who love Irish music but want something that goes beyond straight traditional music. The recording’s quality is also an excellent recommendation for his studio. Like two other Noreside products readers of this column will be familiar with, Gailfean's “Won't You Come Out Tonight” (www.gailfean.com) and David Power & Willie Kelly “Apples in Winter” (www.davidpowerup.com), this album reveals a technical standard that should attract others interested in making high quality recordings to the studio. Check it out!
Another new release I recently took the opportunity to listen is Ann Kirrane’s “Behind Yon Mountain.” From Bellharbour in north Clare, Kirrane grew up in an important musical family in one of the world’s finest places for Irish music. Indeed, her father, from whom she learned concertina, is famed player Chris Droney, but she grew up in the area playing with the likes of Tommy Peoples, Kitty Linnane and Paddy Mullins which made for an august musical background, to be certain.
“Behind Yon Mountain” is the follow up to “One Small Star,” Kirrane’s debut. Here, she’s joined by Garry O’Briain (piano, guitars, mandocello), Ronan Greene (fiddle), Seamie O’Dowd (mandolin, harmonica, guitar), Dermot Byrne (accordion), Padraig Stevens (percussion), Seamus McGuire (fiddle, viola), and Éamonn Cotter (flute), all of whom work together in creating lush, stately textures through which Kirrane voice finds feature.
Kirrane sings with a voice that has a classic, assertive tone and a strong vibrato which conveys a sense of wistful idealism. This quality is well suited to the repertory she’s chosen, which is in both English and Irish, and ranges in thematic area, from songs of love to meditations on the horrors of war, the Celtic Tiger, the town of Doolin, and more. Kirrane’s sense of melody and flair for phrasing is impeccable, and enliven the subject matter in a way that touch many listeners.
“Behind Yon Mountain” is an album for folks who favor expressive singing with an understanding of and deep sense of connection to an older time. Although Kiranne’s voice is definitely all her own, there are moments when I hear shades of artists like Delia Murphy, Ruthie Morrisey, and Mary Carton in her singing. At the same time, however, the modernity in her approach speaks to a far more contemporary sensibility that unmistakably represents north Clare. To learn more about Kirrane and “Behind Yon Mountain,” visit www.annkirrane.com.
