michael sam wild

For those interested in Squeezed Irish traditional music Claddagh have in stock a 2 CD and 44 page booklet on PJ Conlon the melodeon/accordion player from Milltown Galway who located in America in the 1920s. (OTR 1040 TR105). His old 78s have been remastered. He was very influential and we've discussed elsewhere why the concertina didn't catch on or stay in common use in America as the 'Box' did. William Mullally on Angloseems to have had success but not as much as the box players.

Glad you are improving. It made me sit up because I'd become a bit complacent having got quite fit in treating Type 2 Diabetes and having good blood sugar and cholesteroll by diet and exercise . I stopped taking the blood pressure tablets and statins rregularly. Just recently, having had my 73rd birthday last week I was getting bad headaches etc and bought a blood pressure meter which scared me! I visited the surgery and now I am back on the pills and the rreadings are coming down. I had been feeling muzzy and less coordinated and became aware of what a stroke might do to me. So thanks Geoff and Chris for your wise words. Merry Christmas and here's to a New Year!

Interesting resurrection! I returned to The Old Bush (Granny's Fanny as my friend calls it, this is England ) on anothe rrainy day earlier in the Autumn. It's also called Captain Rock, and The Long Hills of Mourne It was played on a Michael Coleman 78 with Tom Morrison and is in O'Neill. I like it in Amin or D min. You can play it 'old style' along the rows but In prefer across the rows as it can use F,F#, C, C# in places. It seems to move around 'Cneutral' on Tommy Potts version on The Liffey Banks record.(Track 14) in Brethneach the source is Sean Potts, piper. Played slower it feels like another reel does, Castkle Kelly and makes a satisfying air. I still wonder if there was a New Bush with which it was compared.

On The Session Tunes , and Mudcat I put a piece up on this tune. It is often attributed to Carolan but it's not O'Sullivan's book. My mate Mike Lydiat and I play it and looked up some information. We found an on line song manuscript in the National Library of Ireland and the first lines of the song from the opera Poor Soldier by William Shield an English composer (originally a boat builder from the NE and later a composer fror Drury Lane) is Tho' Leixlip is proud of its close shady bowers.' The tune is about the same as the one O'Neill put in his book and it could be that he interpreted Tho' Leixlip as Thomas Leixlip . The opera was set in Ireland and the singer is Pat, the Poor Soldier whi singing in Praise of his beloved Norah,dear Norah. The tune is also similar to The Humours of Glynn or The Sligo Rambler so it could have original traditional links. It was played by Willie Clancy and Paddy Tuohy the pipers and can be a jig or nice air. I reckon a lot of Baroque influenced tunes were around in Britain and Ireland which were socially and economically linked at the time and may often have been attributed to Carolan. Tunes travel and were lifted and adapted freely. Burns has a song linked to it. Any info welcome

stick to C/G. Check out Bertram Levy's new CD and his tutor book on Old Timey Amercan music. He has a Stagi he likes.

Great news Geoff!. Glad you are getting better.

I have a set you can PM me. I find that if they are flat it is quite a job to round them off. In one case a friend replaced them with metal ended buttons which i understand use the metal ends from Biro pens. They work great and have a bush to reduce clatter! i'd be interested to hear how people approach rounding off flat ended bone buttons. On one of my Anglos some have been roughly filed a bit to round them .

Mine is a PC laptop and I just can't find a place to get on the Guest Book input, hope you can help

Very nicw website and lovely concertina playing! Hope you let us now how you are going on

Hi Mike ,I always enjoy the links you send by email . Is there anywhere I can read about the background principles to it all in layman's terms ?

I'll be going. I'd be very grateful for a PM recommending a good B&B or hotel in or near the town.Thanks

dave elliott came round yesterday and we compared metal endded and wooden ended wheatstone ECs , I said why is that louder he said metal ends. They were different models so not conclusive

I remember a concertina throwing contest outside a pub in Manchester in the l950s, they were also holding piano smashing contests. Linda is just dying to hurl my Anglo!

Nice one I will appropriate that! When I was a kid my job was to tear newspapers into small sqares for the toilet and hang them on a nail, how can you hang an iPad ..

Seemples!

There have been some theses by people like Tim Collins, Geraoid ohallhmurain (excuse spelling) etc See refs in dan Worrall's two books. Dan has a web page . Goggle him

It wasn't Prof Maccann on the run was it? The stave of C would be a hidden joke ( Nice idea for a novel?)

A great CD Frank. I was impressed that you used the accordion reed models. They could have fooled me! Lovely sound, I liked the Bb/F sound. If anyone would like to get in touch with me by PM about a communal order I would be pleased to arrange it for UK. Bank transactions to Canada and US are expensive

GavDav is advertising a converted Jeffries Duet to Anglo on Buy and Sell £4000 insured for £8,500

Geoff's explanation was very helpful and I ish we coud all adopt it, for a three row , middle row first

It is a lovely instrument I can attest

I think we need to get clear whether G middle row, D inner row which are quite common for Morris etc or D middle. G inner I am looking at modifying a C/G Lachenal to D/A to do a Mullally( see other previous posts). It would be possible to just do the middle row to D and leave the G inner. I understand it need not mean filing reeds and we are looking at the swopping around method.

Frank's book is an excellent tutor (there's a DVD too) He was influenced by Chris Droney who plays 'left handed' ie mainly along the G row but going to other rows for D and A. Chris Sherburn also plays that way essentially. Most of the old timers played along the rows and there is a lot to persuade us that Willy Mullally who made the first recordings of concertina in the 1920s played a D/A concertina along the middle D row. Mick Bramich has a useful cross row tutor .. I'd get familiar along the rows then progress via Bertram Levy and the more 'tricky' ' two handed' players who cross rows eg John Williams DVD and see various post on conc.net on Noel Hill's method . But if you keep an open mind you will go for the notes where you need them I woud always remember that the chords on the left and the tune on the right is a good discipline, used by John Kirkpatrick, Brian Peters et al and now being developed by Irish players too who like the pipes influence. G/D will get you a long way but I'd still plug away at C/G as it is so versatile and the tone is great for Irish Music

What have people found to be the best method?

Good luck to our c.net members in the eastern United States and Canada, hope all are safe and sound.