| Islands of Song |
| Saturday
Not wanting the breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we walked to LA Bagel and got ourselves breakfast sandwiches about 10 AM. We took them back to the hotel and enjoyed the glimpses of the stiltwalking clowns and Peter photographing them outside the hotel. Later, Jim had to go to rehearsal for his show tonight and we dropped him off at the Triskel and went shopping at the Tourist store. We had a late lunch at Ky's Kafe and Bistro on Patrick Street and went back to the hotel with Jim and Lillian for a bit. I arranged for a taxi on Sunday morning at 5:30 AM. It was the only time we could leave from Cork and be back at a reasonable hour in New York for Heather to pick us up. It's a two hour drive home from New York's JFK Airport. We'd have a three hour layover in London, but that might be just enough should anything happen to delay us here. We figured we'd have a little time to get breakfast in London at least. I spent some quality time with Jim and Lillian and then it was off to the Triskel for Jim's soundcheck. The Newfoundlanders were hanging outside at the sidewalk tables and Vic and I mulled around a bit waiting for them to open the doors after soundcheck. Wrote out some postcards that were not going to be mailed in Cork. I chatted a bit with Peter again and Niall told me he was coming to New York City in June to play at the Living Room. Guess we'll be taking a trip to NYC in June! Jim told me not to make any plans after the show because he'd be sitting in with the band at the Tiki doing his reggae thing. Cool! I was up for it! A bittersweet night - I knew this was the last one here in Cork, the last one spent with friends, the last one to hear this wonderful music fusion of Newfoundland and Irish songwriters, the last night to buy CDs. I had most of the Newfoundlanders CDs and needed to get the others. The house was full as Ken Cotter began his set. His voice is incredibly clear and he has a great range. No problem understanding what he was singing at all. I believe the first selection was called Steel Canal. Rory accompanied him on the guitar. It was a good song to begin with; everyone was paying attention. The next one I liked a lot. It was called Red Bottle, and had a phrase "shattered life and shattered glass, a flash of bright light and a deafening past" - that really got to me. These Irish songwriters are deep! Non-violence was a theme that ran through the week. Ken's "And Again" was relevant to me as it came from a religious bend. "I live in a life of whispered Hail Marys, a world without end." You began to wonder whether the whispered prayers were a comfort or not. Made me think about the relevance of prayer in my life. Prayer is definitely a big part of my life but not in a prescribed prayer way. Mom taught me that I should speak to God as if he were standing right there with me. Say what's on your mind, what you need help with, forgiveness for and thank Him in advance. I must say, though, I've done some whispered Our Fathers in my time. Pamela Morgan came out to join Ken for the next song and I was a happy camper. I had only gotten to speak to Pamela, not hear her sing. Her night was the one we were in transit. She was on her way to London and Denmark and had agreed to do this gig on the way. She has the loveliest of female voices - ethereal. The song was called "The Gig's Never Over" and I wondered who was feeling that way tonight. Ken's last song was "River Valley Road". Ken thanked Jim and Lillian, the artists, engineers and Moray Bresnihan. Mark Greville was next to perform. He was billed as "Underground Irish Hero" his music described as "Acoustic Alternative Pop Rock - A cross between Radioheads 'The Bends', James Browns 'Sex Machine' with a hint of 60s pop thrown in." Mark's publicity photo was scary but he's not intimidating in person. Intensity is present in his voice as well as his guitar. He has a great tenor voice, too. His first song was called "Select a High". Some impressive guitar work here! The next was called either "Oppression" or "Depression." I didn't think it was either oppressive or depressive, just a darn good song. Ken and Mark had written a song together and that was next on the docket. It was called "Voices in the Stream" and they handed off the vocals to each other and overlapped vocals. Very, very nice! "All I Could See" was about people trying to step on your "guile." Now this was totally strange. The only people prior to this that I had heard use the word 'guile' in a song were Newfoundlanders. I know the people who live on the Avalon are mainly of Irish ancestry, but that is just too weird. But as Jim says - no coincidence. Mark's last song was called "Names." You know, the things that won't hurt you when sticks and stones can break your bones. It was a song about school. Talk about angst! Surprise at the end when Mark began to 'scat!" This man really surprised me. When I had seen his bio up on the site I figured I wouldn't like his music. Hmmm. Just goes to show you should never judge a book by its cover. He is good! Ken came back out to announce intermission. He exhorted people to stick around for Jim Fidler from NewfoundLAND. Wow! Finally! Someone said it correctly! He credited Jim for teaching him the right way to say Newfoundland. "Something to do with 'Understand Newfoundland!'" That was tough this week, listening to everyone say the word incorrectly. The thing the Irishmen found curious was why don't the Newfoundlanders introduce themselves as being Canadian? It was explained that Newfoundland was the last province to join Canada and that vote was by a very slim margin. That it had once been a country all to itself and the British Empire had sort of ignored it after the war. Newfoundland had never identified itself with Canada but was firmly entrenched in the British culture. Britain didn't know what to do with it and they didn't want Newfoundland associated with the USA, so the push was to join Canada. Many of these musicians were the first generation of "Canadians" in their households. The Irishmen said they had noticed the "Newfoundland Liberation Army" and the "Free NFLD" T-shirts and had wondered about them. We mentioned we had seen "People's Republic of Cork" tees in town that afternoon. Knowing smiles greeted us then and a bit of an understanding. Jim's first song after the intermission was Rising of the Moon. Good choice. Written a dozen years ago, it was something the Irish people could identify with plus, it's just good music. I don't know how he makes one guitar sound like 2 or 3 when playing live! Jim called on Ken to accompany him on the bodhran for Rhythm of the Goat. Jim spoke about writing the song after trying to learn to play the bodhran and suddenly having a breakthrough. "Everyone tries to get those triplets - they tell you just stroke her nice and throw in the top part of the stick. But it just wasn't happening. I was playing and playing and as soon as I forgot about making the triplets, I was able to do them. But it wasn't me - it was the Rhythm of the Goat!" This was the first Jim Fidler song I ever heard and it's still one of my favorites! Jim has a knack of making playing the guitar look so simple. This was one of those times along with Rising of the Moon where his fingers just flowed over the frets and sounded so good! Up That River is one of my current favorites. It's a song about not being content with "having those upstream making decisions for you." A call to do what is right, not what is popular or sanctioned. SO upbeat, so uplifting, such a call to revolution! Jim explained he'd been singing this next song for a really long time - that he'd be dragged out to the living room to sing this one. I can't imagine him being dragged out. More likely he volunteered! LOL! As soon as I heard Jim began to sing O'Reilly's Daughter I knew the audience was in for a treat. This is one version of the traditional song you've NEVER heard before! This was the song that had needed the Paul Simon riff. It's quite the feat Jim does, putting pop music in a trad tune! Surprising, but delightful. And Alan knew the riff! And Darrell Power came out to play bodhran! We then heard Jacamo ( also known as Iko Iko) from Jim's last CD, Musa�k - In This World. The audience came right in on the echo part. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. Some of the songs had been very deep this week and here was everyone having an obviously good time. Something to be said for the music taking you away to a happy place. The Newfoundland song I's da B'y crept in there as well as the Jim's own reggae song Dub Illusion. What a fun time! It'd get better when the entire clan came up on stage to do Downtown Girl - Jim's signature song. All hands on deck played whatever they could get their hands on, percussion wise, and sang along. It was great fun to watch and to sing along to! What a great collection of musicians on stage, all having fun! It was an experience, I am sure for each of the musicians. It was certainly a worthwhile experience for the audience. During that last song, everyone was together, having fun. And I hope looking forward to part 2 in St. John's, Newfoundland this June. Can't wait to hear the collaborations that take place then?! That last night was worth the price of the flight. I was so glad that Jim and Ken got these songwriters together for Islands of Song. After the show Jim, Lillian, Ron, Hugh, Alan, Derek, Rory and myself made our way over to the Tiki Club where Jim was supposed to stand in for a bit with the reggae band, Downtown Crossing. The leader of Downtown Crossing was the DJ from the night before. This was the quaint scene which greeted me outside the club. Inside the club there was a sign I was meant to be there that evening. A painting of a violin was on the wall behind the band in this teeny club. About 50 people were crammed into the upstairs room enjoying the live reggae music. A trombonist, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist and two drummers rounded out the band. The guy in the hat was the creative '60's dancer from the night before. He played a darn good drum in addition to the guiro. Lillian and I would get a chance to play the guiro later in the evening. The band leader had no idea who Jim was when he agreed to allow him to sing with the band. Heh. Jim's first love is reggae. His "Dub Illusion" brought down the house in the small room. There was a lot of hootin' and hollerin' when it was over. The band members had as good a time as Jim did singing. I think Ron and Hugh were surprised too. I had seen Jim in action with Dub Illusion last summer. and knew everyone would love it! Everyone there had a great time listening and grooving to the music. Reggae is so energetically relaxing . The band leader had a turn at the mic, too. After the song was over, he asked Jim in surprise, "Where did you say you were from?" Jim told him with a wink, "St. John's." Just so happens that St. John's is the capital of Antigua as well as the province of Newfoundland! Flat Stanley got into the act before the night ended. He liked the drums best. |
 |
 |