Innocent Bystander wrote:
Ireland IS the country of "Deliverance". They even had duelling banjoes on the very first episode of "Father Ted". Now there is a straw in the wind.
Oh, and when folks in the pubs found out we were from Kentucky .... !
You wouldn't believe how often we were asked if we knew all the words to "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and, of course, "Kentucky Woman." And from there usually ensued much discussion of Elvis's relative merits -- I don't know why.
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy, won't you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a boy can be
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room
When I was walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis
Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And she said
"Tell me are you a Christian child?"
And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"
Walking in Memphis
Was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
I'm from Co. Kerry. When I was growing up we would hear a kind of C&W/ Trad hybrid stuff on the local radio- all of my parents generation would listen to that, and when you went to the country pubs you would most likely encounter a fella wearing a stetson hat with a drum machine and accordion. My own generation was into mostly modern rock/ pop/ dance music. But traditional music is still at the root of it all and the Fleadh Ceol festivals as well as some smaller get-together's would be a good indication of it's popularity. Irish traditional music is not at home as recorded music; I always encountered it as a live medium when I was growing up; sometimes in pubs, buskers on the streets during marts and festivals and various other social occasions. Of course recordings of trad music were around, but personally I would only hear these in tourist pubs or gift shops.
A couple years ago we were staying in a B+B in a small village way out in the sticks in Co. Kerry. We asked the landlord if there was any "real trad" music anywhere that night. "Oh sure", says he "Go to such-and-such pub. They start late, about 10, but the music is grand."
So off we go, drinking with the very local characters. The band starts to set up about 10.30. We were somewhat suspicious of the speakers and associated gear. But what the heck. We've been to good sessions that were electrified. Not our preference, but… Finally, they strike it up, and out comes… "Ring of Fhar". And so forth.
We look at each other, shrug, and Mrs. K. is asked to waltz with one of the locals.
I live in Wicklow. Most of my friends listen to a broad range of music types including ITM,but mostly not C&W. A small percentage of them would buy the occasional ITM cd. My wife who I met at Set Dancing enjoys dancing to ITM but not so much just listening to it (which seems to be typical of other people that I have met at Set Dancing). My older children (12 and 16) listen to pop, metal, rock, but I didn't get interested in ITM until my twenties so there is hope for them yet.
From what I've heard (note that word - heard - I don't know for sure), country and western is popular in the cities, but in the smaller towns, traditional music is not so unknown. I don't think you can just say that Irish people do or DON'T listen to traditional music, because as with everywhere, there is a range of tastes. Some people love the traditional stuff, some love other stuff.
Still, as a busker here in Seattle that plays ITM on the streets, I find that I fairly frequently get an Irish tourist approaching me and telling me how much they liked hearing a taste of home. I think that, even if most Irish people don't sit around listening to it on the radio, they do recognize and enjoy traditional music. It may just be that the traditional setting of ITM isn't on the radio, it's in pubs and gatherings.
I think (in my experience anyway) that Cuileann and Daleth would be closest to the mark for a reasonably accurate answer. I also think you would get the same sort of responses if you asked the question of any other country with a rich vein of traditional music. Do Croatians listen to their traditional music at home?
Italians? Greeks? Finnish or lappish?
Personally, I grew up listening to all types of music, excluding heavy metal, I like classical to ska, Beach boys to the Bridge Ceili band.
There is enough exposure in Ireland to all types of music, in clubs, pubs, radio, tv etc to keep the interest in any particular style of music topped up. I personally keep going back to my ITM CD's when I am home alone, but I may as quickly feel like sticking on My 'Bad Manners' CD!
It all depends on the mood.
toughknot wrote:When I lived in Ennis it was The BoomTown Rats !
So, the Irish don't like Mondays, either... who'd have thought? 'Course, Geldoff is Irish, isn't he?
Many of the old Irish players I've met, learned from or played with here in the States grew up listening to American C&W and bluegrass, as well as trad. music. But that was a different generation -- my grandfather, born in 1906, Russia, and grown in Brooklyn, loved country music also. Strangely, he didn't listen to ITM. And yet, all the Irish, young and old, that I've met at sessions here seem to play and listen to ITM. I know, it comes as a shock. But somehow I don't think this is an accurate poll.
Seriously, this all gets back to the other thread here, about non-Irish playing ITM -- the music is no longer limited to or contained within the Irish borders, and other music comes in just as quickly. I'm not sure we're going to have an answer here, other than "it depends."
it's country & western all the way for much of the irish populace, sugar pie! but the paradox is that even as a minority interest, there is a paradise of itm and hardcore itm devotees there...
if you go onto the Clare FM site and click on the downloads for the special series titled "The Kitchen Sessions," there is a hysterically funny interlude during the one in Tom Steele's Pub in Ennis, near the last quarter or fifth of the show. it features the legendary box player Finnbar Dwyer, scary-brilliant musician and trad composer now in his sixties, who was off the ITM scene for like 17 years while living in London and playing c&w (on electric lap steel, yet), and is now back in ireland and electrifying listeners with his box playing again. the announcer, a bouncy sort named Paula Carroll, goes, "So Finnbar, now, we understand you're liking the country music," and Finnbar goes, gravely, "I have a Gibson Les Paul." She goes, "Well, Finnbar, now, which do you like the best????" and there's a pause, and he goes, gravely, "Well, I always like country." and she bellows, "FAIR PLAY TO YA, MAN!!!! EVERYBODY, A CHEER FOR THAT!!!!" and a roar goes up. it's just hilarious.....oh, and finnbar's box playing is mesmerizing....
