Eachann mac Bodach
Some of my tunes:
Yellow Car No Return (Reel) May 2011
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/11213
The Water Slide (Slide) April 2011
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/11185
249 to Wigton (Jig) January 2011
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/10999
Burst Pipes (March/Slow Reel) December 2010
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/10891
Dawn's Mandolin (Reel) November 2010
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/10889
Storm Cloud (Jig) November 2006
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/6516
The Dragonfly (Jig) August 2005
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4850
The Laughing Seagull (Jig) August 2005
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4834
Time Has Not Been Kind (Jig) August 2005
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4832
Rattle His Bones (Reel) July 2005
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4722
Blencathra (Jig) March 2005
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4342
Potted Biography
I had violin and piano lessons as a child so can read music. I waited for years for the job of Lead Guitarist with Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd have the to come up but was held back by lack of talent and the stubborness of both of Jimmy Page and Dave Gilmour in not making way for me! Many years passed.
Around 2002, I stumbled into Scottish and Irish traditional music. On an impulse I bought a mandolin. Early in 2003 I joined the now defunct Carlisle Session Club and started learning traditional tunes in the twice monthly 'workshops'
We established a session at the Near Boot in Carlisle (which is still running eight years later)).
In July 2003 (and again in 2004) I attended Colm O'Rua's Mandolin/Banjo course at Sabhal Mor Ostaig (the Gaelic College) Skye. This was important in helping me understand how to play traditional music - rather than just reading it or copying others. Also, it inspired me to try writing tunes myself
In January 2004 I got a piano accordion as a 'challenge' - it still is - there's something about playing a keyboard that you can hardly see, sideways, that I still struggle with - and 72 buttons for the other hand was probably a little over ambitious.
In April 2004 I become re-united with the violin (now apparently called the 'fiddle') after a few decades of neglect. I have just about managed to reprogramme by brain from classical to folk - now I just have paranoid phases about not being able to play in tune (it's maybe a shame that a few others - I'm sure we all can think of an example - seem immune from such self doubt :) )
In August 2004 I saw the group Lunasa for the first time and some mystical force led me to buy a Low D Whistle. One day I hope to get a wooden flute as well.
In June 2006 Dave Freshwater finally finished building me an Octave Mandola (This was a saga in itself). If I'm ever rich I will buy even more mandola's and bouzoukis as they are great instruments. Do they still make mandocellos? :)
Recently I gave up trying to get my mandriola to stay on tune, took off the bass strings, glued bits back together, put on a new tailpiece and strings and....ended up with a nice sounding mandolin- with a little more finger room
I've just bought a tenor banjo on eBay - called Lucky Joe - it has a long neck and I am just starting to geto to grips with stretches an alternative finering. If I can master this one i will save up for a top notch banjo one day.
I'm also condering trying to make instruments out of bits of old wood and pipe etc
My main likes (vary frequently but) currently include, in the traditional area: Altan, Lunasa, Shooglenifty, the Bothy Band, Croft No.5, Afro Celts, Flook, Michael McGoldrick, and anything else that Kevin Burke does in all his various manifestations
Having been weaned on classical notation, I am very impressed by the simplicty and economy of the ABC system for notation and I think the ABC Navigator 2 software package is brilliant - and it's free!
My partner Dawn is also a musician. In 2009 she decided to learn clog dancing and joined a group at Caldbeck. I go along often to join in with the musicians playing the tunes, This is good fun - and it reunites dance music tunes with the actual process of dancing - which is probably how it should be. It also provides a relaxing contrast to the frenetic 'velocity at all costs' session approach which so often turns nice tunes into unplayable mush - for me at least..
Tunes in Eachann mac Bodach's tunebook: 36