| Islands of Song |
| At the hotel, I waited for Val's call. We were supposed to leave for Ballycotton between 1 and 2 PM. I waited in vain for her call. I called several places trying to get in touch with her. Eventually we noticed a blinking light on the phone - a message. No voice mail showed up so we called the desk to see if there had been any messages for us while we were out sightseeing. "Did you look on the TV?" asked the person at the desk. TV? Messages? I had no idea what she was talking about. We hadn't even looked at the TV yet. Well, lo and behold! You could do all sorts of things using the television! They even had a keyboard that you could use to get on the Internet! (Lillian would warn us later that it took AGES to get anywhere on the Net.) Finally figuring out how to collect the message, we were disappointed to find out Val had to cancel the trip. Turns out she had gotten involved in stuff for the festival and didn't have time to go home and back again. I resigned myself to taking a nap. No argument from myself there! I really needed the sleep. And it would come in handy for the late night to come. We left with Jim and Lillian in the taxi to go to the Triskel to see what promised to be a superb night of music. Ron Hynes was scheduled to perform with Hugh Scott and Ger Wolfe. I didn't know anything about Ger but I knew Ron's and Hugh's music to be some of the best I'd heard in Newfoundland and environs. I'd add Ger's music to that comment before the night was over. |
| Then I got a surprise. Hugh played "Between the Jigs and Reels!" I had heard this on a compilation album a few years ago. I didn't realize it was his song! It's a great song about a musician being home between gigs. "Save me a dance on this Saturday night somewhere between the jigs and the reels." Later in the evening I heard most of the musicians present tell him they really identified with that song. He saved the best for last with "Theresa Maria." Hugh used to work for the Chandler's Office in St. John's and spent his time delivering stuff to fishing boats in St. John's Harbour. He said he didn't envy their going out in the North Atlantic in February. The Theresa Maria was one of those that went out into a storm one day. "Trust in the hands there to guide you, I've faith in the Captain and you." That one was for Vic, Hugh just didn't know it. But as Jim says, there are no coincidences. |
| After Hugh came Ger Wolfe. Ger's manner reminded me of the guy who played the Son of the Pink Panther. Remember how gentle and soft-spoken he was? I have mentioned this to several people - they looked at me as if I had two heads. So - maybe you should take that statement with a grain of salt. He began his set with "a tune I wrote for a small young fellow." Forgive me, I didn't get the name written down. What I did notice was that Ger sings with quite the Irish accent. You could cut his accent with a butcher knife, it was so thick. This was definitely part of his charm though. The rest of his charm was an innocence and a genuineness and a gentleness about him. Meeting and talking to him would make an impression on anyone. The next song was titled, "Call Me Down" and I'd love to know the particulars about it. As the last line was "the singing moon is wearing now a ragged crown, for Cork City is the palace of a paper clown." Following that, a song took hold of everyone there and wormed its way into our psyches, never letting go. It was the one song you'd be humming all weekend when you weren't doing anything else. A magical journey down a road in the summertime in Ireland. What I didn't know then, but found out later, was that this particular song had been recorded several times by other people in Ireland! It is called "The Curra Road" and is a most amazing song. "There is music in the river, listen to it dancing, underneath the bridge...In the summer we'll go laughing, hand in hand together, down the Curra Road." I'm also delighted to learn that Jim and company are recording this wonderful song for Jim's soon-to-be- released album, "RIVERS AND ROVERS." I'll be sure to report in on that one also. |
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| Hugh Scott opened the night's festivities with "Two Friends." It was almost like he picked my brain about our friendship with Jim and Lillian. Wow. Powerful thought. I enjoyed that so much. The evening of music worked differently than the previous night. Instead of each artist doing 2 songs alone, then each one with the band, then all together, Hugh sang all his songs in one fell swoop. "Peter Caravan" came next. I had heard him do it at Erin's in St. John's, I think, one late evening last summer with Jim. He explained it as a Newfoundland song, about being free from the pressmen. He sang about the Southern Shore and about the Butterpot. I have been both places - definitely Newfoundland related. Hugh's guitar skills were superb in the song too. Bellevue Bonfire was written "about a time with the guitar." I love the way Newfoundlanders put things! The "lovely and talented Rory" accompanied him on piano. |
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| Ger Wolfe - Songsmith |
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