With the news that the Irish Voice is to stop printing, I want to start this week by congratulating my colleague Paul Keating who for many, many years wrote the Voice’s exceptional traditional music column “From the Hob.” In it, Keating not only covered all aspects of traditional music and dance but he also conveyed his deep love and profound respect for the individuals involved in keeping the flame of traditional culture lit. Keating, who currently serves as the artistic director of the Catskills Irish Arts Week , will surely find a new outlet for his writing, but the absence of his written voice is a real blow to the music and dance community. Go raibh maith agat, Paul! All the best on your path forward!
In the media player this week is “When You Weren’t Looking,” the debut from the Consequences, a hot new band from the east coast that is comprised of Jake James (fiddle), Lexie Boatright (concertina, harp), Ryan Ward (piano, piano accordion), and Cara Wildman (bodhrán). It’s a great bunch. I saw the group perform at the New York Irish Center back in January and was impressed both with their fine musicianship and also the creativity of their arrangements. But will this new album replicate the success I heard earlier in the year? Let’s have a listen and find out!
Before we do that, though, let’s take a quick look at the band’s members to get a better sense of their musical bona fides. This is a strong bunch of players. In addition to having impressive performance resumés – everyone in the group has played and toured with well-known bands and musicians – each of the group’s members has won at least one All-Ireland on their respective instrument. Boatright, who is the executive director of the Baltimore-Washington Academy of Irish Culture and who mentors its student céilí band and grúpa cheoil (see here), has won multiple; James, who is also a superb bodhrán player and dancer, is a two-time All-Ireland fiddle champion (https://www.jakedjames.com/); Wildman, who earned a master’s degree in Irish Traditional Music Performance from the University of Limerick, has one; and Ward, who readers might know through the Feis circuit, currently stands as the reigning Senior All-Ireland accompaniment champion.
And the answer is yes, “When You Weren’t Looking” does an excellent job capturing the energy of the band’s live performance. “The Rookery / The Jolly Tinker / The Old Wooden Bridge,” a trio of tunes, two of which were composed by Vincent Broderick, starts us off with a bang. The music on this track is high energy with fabulous playing from James and Boatright, who sound very well together. But as nice as the playing is here, I think it’s the arrangement that helps draw out the fine lift in their music. The transition from the first to the second tune teases out a bit of drama, making the bodhrán and piano particularly important elements and they drive the rhythm and give color to James and Boatright’s kinetic playing. “Beare Island / Road to Glountane” has a similar energy.
There are good few high octane tracks here, but the album has very nice variety throughout. “Heidi's Dream / Chapel Street,” for example, reflects a completely different mood. This pair of gorgeous, atmospheric tunes are played at a deliberate tempo. Boatright’s harp playing is at the fore of the first (a Colin Farrell composition) and it's enhanced by Ward’s expressive piano accordion backing. When James’s fiddle enters, it introduces a bit of change to the arrangement’s nature that arrives more fully with the change in tune (this one, a Michael Rooney composition). It’s a lovely shift.
The following track, “Maureen Berry’s / Plenty Davis,” has a similar tone. James takes centerstage on the first tune, a composition that the late New York City fiddle player Keith O’Neill wrote for the Teelin School of Irish Dance’s Maureen Berry. James’s playing really brings O’Neill’s gorgeous melody to life. The second tune, a set dance, proves a very nice companion and the band comes together beautifully on it.
A track that mixes moods is “Aware of the Morning / Trip to Manila.” Boatright composed the first of the pair, a languid tune they play at a relaxed tempo. Ward’s piano playing gives the tune a reflective mood that is enhanced by the addition of a string section. (For that aspect of the arrangement, the band is joined by violin player Brooke Morgan, a friend of Boatright’s from her music school days.). This tone changes abruptly with a jaunty tip of Wildman’s bodhrán as “Manila,” a playful sort of tune, bounds in. It’s a very different tune that takes the track happily off in a completely unexpected direction.
“When You Weren’t Looking” is a strong debut from an extremely talented group of musicians. The tunes – a fine mix of old and new – are well chosen and the arrangements outstanding. It's clear they’ve made a serious effort to find their own sound and it’s one I think lots of readers will appreciate and enjoy. Give it a listen and check them out live if they come to a venue in your neck of the woods. Tour dates are on their website, to learn more and buy their album (and merch!), visit the band's website here.
