It seems as though some of the spitfire and venom of late has dissipated, so I am tentatively dipping my toes back in the discussion pool. I still lament the days when you could have good-natured slagging without people getting bent out of shape. Disagreements were heated, but never personal. Folks followed the general rule, simply asking people to "be civil". Let's hope the latest trend toward civility continues!
In a former life, my music of choice was about as far from Irish Traditional Music as possible, as I was on air at an alternative rock FM, and owned a couple of gothic/industrial nighclubs. Having gotten pretty much fed up with all aspects of commercial music, I was introduced to Irish by Zina, and quickly got hooked.
Currently, when I'm not busy being a professional geek, I find time to play a custom Ome Juggernaut Tenor Banjo with a Silverbell style resonator, a Herb Taylor Mandolin, a five course Fletcher Brock Cittern/Bouzouki, and a Martin tenor guitar, currently on loan from a luthier friend of mine.
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ITM-RELATED PRODUCTS
I have a hobby website, where I've designed tee-shirts and other products related to playing Irish Traditional Music. Most of the shirts are funny, and most are inside jokes that only your fellow player will understand, but that's kinda the point :-)
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CURRENT MUSICAL PROJECT
I have a band called Maggie's Favourite. We do a lot of Sean nós songs, as well as more modern stuff, and many tunes. The current lineup is banjo/mandolin, uilleann pipes/whistles, fiddle, harp/guitar, and bodhran.
Here's a track of ours that we call Jane's Jigs.
http://ntw.net/~reverend/MaggiesFavourite/janesjigs.mp3
The tunes are Paddy O'Brien's "Boys of Lough Gowna", "Letting the Ranch Go Fallow", written by Will CPT for our friend Jane, and Peadar O'Riada's "Spórt".
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ORIGINAL TUNES
I go through phases of authoring tunes. Sometimes they just pop out unexpectedly. As Will CPT might say: "the tune already exists, but I was the one that channeled it into this world".
Since there is a policy about putting original tunes into the database (4-5 trad tunes per original composition: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/3296/comments#comment65377), and I have yet to learn a trad tune that wasn't in the database, I decided that maybe this is a good place to share some of my compositions, along with stories about them. I have also included links to some quick and dirty little recordings of them being played, since some people have asked. (You can tell that I don't play these tunes very often by my rather mediocre playing of them) ;-)
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A tune that just popped out one afternoon. It wasn't my intention to mimic the A part of the Corner House reel, but that's what popped out in my noodling. Thus the name...
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/cornerstone.mp3
X: 1
T:Cornerstone, the
C: Reverend Pete
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:EAA ABc|edc BAG|EGG AGG|BcB AGD|
EAA ABc|edc Bcd|edc BAG|BAG A2B:|
|:cde a2a|baa bag|edB GBd|ged BAG|
cde a2a|baa bag|edc BAG|BAG A2B:|
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I have a local session at a place near my home called the Colorado Coal Company. The town I live in was originally a mining town, and as with a lot of mining towns, there were a lot of Irish people living here in years past. This tune appeared one night after I got home from a particularly rousing session at the CCC. It just came out, fully formed. The alcohol consumption that evening only greased the wheel...
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/coalcompany.mp3
X: 1
T:Coal Company, The
C: Reverend Pete
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: D
ADFe f2 ed|cdBc ADFA|BcdB ADFA|1 BAGF E2 A2:|2 FGEF D2 e2||
fdd2 gfed|cdBc ADFA|1 BcdB ADFA|agfg e3g:|2 fddz geez|faef d2 A2||
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Barkley was a great cat, she got lung cancer and had to be put to sleep at the age of 16 (probably related to the fact that I smoked for the first 10 years of her life). I was grieving her loss, and looking for a way to memorialize what she meant to me. It's a strange tune, but it still makes me smile and remember my friend.
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/barkleysjig.mp3
X:1
T:Barkley's Jig
C: Reverend Pete
M:6/8
R:jig
K:G
|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 cBG|E3 GEE|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|1 G3 G3:|2 G3 G2A|
|~B3 dBd|gba gdB|~c3 cdg|f3 fdA|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|G3 G2A|
|~B3 dBd|gba gdB|~c3 cdg|f3 fza|bgg aff|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|G3 G2E|
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A trip to Ireland for two weeks with my friend Roger Landes had me all excited. About two weeks prior to departure, I wrote this tune. We were set to fly to Dublin from Chicago - but this was a much better title than "O'Hare to Dublin".
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/midwaytodublin.mp3
X:1
T:Midway to Dublin
C: Reverend Pete
M:6/8
R:jig
K:D
|:EAd cAF|GAB A2F|GAB cdA|FGA E2D|A,DD EDD|GFE D2G|FED B,DD|EDC D2D:|
|EAd fed|fed A2f|edA Bcd|faf e2A|def aaa|baf a2g|fed Bcd|edc d2A|
|def fed|fed A2f|edA Bcd|faf e2A|def aaa|baf a2g|fed Bcd|edc d2D|
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One of the greatest nights while Roger and I were in Ireland was an evening with friends in Craughwell. There were a number of singers and players there, and our wonderful hostess made a great dinner, with an apple tart for dessert. One of the great people I met that night, Tony Callanan (formerly with Stockton's Wing), has a fantastic sense of humor. And his fondness for the apple tart was a big part of the evening fun that lasted til the wee hours. This tune is dedicated to Tony in thanks for a memorable evening. (To make it more session-friendly, it can be transposed up to D, and still works great. But I am a banjo player, and love the growly G string on this tune...) On another note, John Carty commented that he liked this tune, and that I should "put it out there", and people would play it.
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/tonysappletart.mp3
X: 1
T:Tony's Apple Tart
C: Reverend Pete
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: G
G,A,|:B,DDB, CDE2|DGFD C2B,C|DGBA GDB,2|B,CDE A,2G,A,|
B,DDB, CDE2|GFDB, C2B,C|DGBA GDB,2|1 B,CDB, G,2G,A,:|2 B,CDB, G,A,FG|
|:ADD2 FGAB|c2cB A2GA|BEE2 BAGF|G2GE D2FG|
ADD2 FGAB|c2cB A2Bc|d2dc BGGA|1 BGGF G2FG:|2 BGGF GG,|
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On a week-long trip to Montana to visit friends, I got to spend some time with trad2nz from thesession. Doug & Jane are great! At one point during a session, Doug pulls out a flask to offer some scotch to the parched banjo player. I commented that I needed to get one, because they often come in handy. Doug suggested a store in which I might find one, but I looked there and didn't see anything I liked. I told them this the day before I left, and the next day, wouldn't you know it, they had made a present of their beautiful flask! So to repay them, I wrote a tune... In G mixolydian... For a flute player... LOL (Sorry Doug!)
http://ntw.net/~reverend/tunes/hipflask.mp3
X: 1
T:Hip Flask, the
T:for trad2nz
C: Reverend Pete
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmix
|:Adc BGG|AFF AGG|Adc BGG|B,CD G^FG|
Adc BGG|Bcd AFF|Adc BGG|1 fec d2G:|2 fec d2A|
|:Bcd ~g3|ag^f g2B|Bcd fed|efe dcA|
Bcd ~g3|ag^f g2a|bag ^fed|1 cA^F AGA:|2 cA^F G2G||
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If you enjoy my tunes, drop me a line through the site, and let me know! If you hate them, then don't bother ;-)
Pete
Tunes in Reverend's tunebook: 235
| Roger Landes House Concert & Workshop | January 24th 2008 |
| John Carty And Roger Landes in concert | June 9th 2007 |
| Technology, and its role in Irish Traditional Music | May 15th 2008 |
| Need help poking fun at ITM players... | April 11th 2008 |
| Paramount banjo for sale on eBay | January 2nd 2008 |
| All things that are good... | November 9th 2007 |
| Learning tunes without ever hearing them played... | November 1st 2007 |
| Discussions | Re: Technology, and its role in Irish Traditional Music | May 15th 2008 |
| Discussions | Re: Who Knows Who? | May 15th 2008 |
| Discussions | Re: Your latest "new" or "unusual" tunes, please | May 15th 2008 |
| Discussions | Re: Technology, and its role in Irish Traditional Music | May 15th 2008 |
| Discussions | Re: Technology, and its role in Irish Traditional Music | May 15th 2008 |