Episode 16: Angus Barbary (Fiddle)

The National Museum of Australia video where Angus plays his great-great grandfather's violin can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nGGPf_ZXdA

Angus plays fiddle with Caity Brennan, Connor Hoy and Rhys Crimmin in the band Austral which we caught up with in a previous episode. It's a banger, and definitely worth checking out. You'll find it here when you're ready: https://blarneypilgrims.fireside.fm/7

To Follow Angus on social go here:
https://www.facebook.com/australmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/gus.barnaby

To buy Austral's music, including "Hoedown Throwdown" go here: https://australtradmusic.bandcamp.com/

Again, thanks so much for your time Angus.

...

Now, here's Dom's notes.

Angus’ first tune, The Musical Priest, is one of the first tunes I ever learned. Me and Tony Murray used to play it as a whistle two-fer, with little fragments of harmony wound in and around the main strands of the melody. It’s a session staple, anchored around the B natural that gives it a sort of wintry quality, I always think. But as Angus plays it, it has a warmth to it and, as he says himself, a swing.

Anyway, when I was 16 or 17 that was a tune we’d play in The House Of McDonnell, more usually known as ‘Tom’s’ after the owner, Tom O’Neill. Our first regular gig as a band, in the tiny back room that’d regularly be crammed – and I mean crammed – with people down from Belfast for the holidays, or from Corrymeela (a sort of retreat center outside town where Catholic young people from troubled parts of the north could get together with Protestant young people from troubled parts of the north for cross-community groping sessions. Heavy petting for peace. ‘See? We ARE actually all the same after all!’) One of the youth workers accompanying them one night wore a mini skirt made from a black bin liner, and black leggings. I was entranced and frightened in equal measure. ‘So THAT’S why mum and dad are always talking about how dangerous it is in Belfast...’

Then for some reason I can’t remember, that gig ended. I was distraught, in a teenage kind of a way. And as was my habit in those days, I’d dive headfirst into my grief by lying on the dining room floor of our house with my head between the speakers of the ITT stereo system we’d inherited from Mrs Buntane, a friend of my dad’s. On the first Friday night after we no longer had a gig, in the throes of my despair, I was listening to Barclay James Harvest Live in Berlin (probably the most embarrassing thing I have yet admitted to in these notes to date) when I got a phone call to say we’d been asked to play in the Boyd Arms instead. Seriously? I was ecstatic.

In the Boyd Arms’ front room with its curved wall behind us, beside the fireplace, we played quiet Friday nights when a few punters would stick their heads around the door then head into the main bar, and other nights where you could hardly move for the people. It was great. Without that chance to play every Friday night, and the other gigs that came from it, I have no idea how I’d have spent my teenage Friday nights. Oh, wait, yes I do. Listening to Barclay James Harvest Live in Berlin.

Anyway, me and Darren often talk about having the chance to listen to players at close quarters and how cool that is. And that’s true – there’s something very unique about having the opportunity to really listen to a player working through a tune on their own. It’s dramatically different from the habitat of a session – it’s exposed and honest, a human being articulating what a tune is about for them, in that moment.

Thanks again, Angus Barbary.

...

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Darren & Dom

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Om Podcasten

The Blarney Pilgrims Podcast is a weekly journey to the heart of Irish music. We interview players of Irish music about how they first came to the music and the place it occupies in their lives now. We use the word ‘heart’ intentionally, because heart is what this music, and the people who play it, are all about. It’s a funny, warm and often unexpected journey – and the tunes are crackin' too. NOTE: Hey there - it's Darren and Dom here. So...we want to let you know that last week was the last episode (Ep 94) of the Blarney Pilgrims Podcast for now. We've come to a point where we've both decided to take a long pause and focus on a few other things. Knowing how much the podcast means to you all, it's a decision we've been really reluctant to take. What we DO know is how massively grateful we are for every text, every thumbs up, every raised eyebrow of support we've had over the past two years. You are all legends, and we're forever in your debt. Thanks especially to everyone who's become a Patron Saint and supported us through the toughest of economic times, and thanks most especially to the musicians. To those who have been so generous to share their tunes and stories with us, and to those who've welcomed us into pub sessions and festival gatherings and house sessions and campsite sessions. Wherever in the world we've chatted with players of the music, we've been made to feel like lifelong pals. It's a testament to the open heartedness of the communities who keep the music going wherever they are, and we can't thank you all enough. We hope this archive will remain of use to people even as we're taking a pause. So - please do stay in touch, don't be a stranger, and if you see us out and about, do say hello. And we'll see you when we see you. Dom and Darren.