I’m excited to be part of what I consider to be one of the most remarkable collection of fiddle tunes I’ve heard in recent years. In an effort to let more people know about it and encourage exposure, I’m providing the liner notes, and other information. I personally think it would be impossible to resist buying the CD set after reading Skip’s liner notes, so we’ve provided an opportunity to do so (the link connects to Skip’s PayPal account).
~ Gordon Peery

 Celtic Fiddle Rambles

Liner notes from Skip Gorman

Eight years ago I sat in New Hampshire with my good friend and pianist Gordon Peery as we shared a lovely Scottish air, ‘Auchenblae’, which I had picked up while playing the Stonehaven Festival on the east coast of Scotland. Gordon’s playing was so delightful that I asked him to record the tune with me. While we were at it, we decided to lay down some other tracks at the studio of my friend Gerry Putnam. I had done several recordings at Cedar House Sound before, and this had the feeling of another CD in the making. Little did I think then that the project would snowball into enough material to fill four discs, or that for the next eight years I would be joined in the studio by an array of dear friends who are stellar musicians and accompanists. The project was later transferred to Mill Pond Studios in Portsmouth, owned by guitarist Jim Prendergast, because Jim and other great musicians from that neck of the Maine woods (the inimitable David Surette, Chris Murphy, and Nick Appollonio) were willing to join me in recording these tunes. Most of the accompanists on these recordings, with the exception of two fabulous Canadians, Christine Hanson and Kimberley Holmes, are local to New England. Above all, I look upon these recordings as a celebration with great musician friends.

For years I’ve asked myself: Why on earth would a mandolin-picking singer of traditional cowboy songs want to take on the formidable task of recording a 4-CD set of over a hundred and forty Celtic fiddle tunes when in today’s world of music there are so many technically adept Celtic fiddlers all around the globe (many of whom are classically trained from a young age and raised by parents who have seen the joy that can be gained by playing folk rather than classical music, some even believing it is possible to make a viable living from it)? I think the answer lies in my many years of travel in folk music, and in my abiding love of melody and reverence for the traditions. I firmly believe that unless an artist is truly one of the most gifted people on the planet, he or she should first savor the work of the masters before venturing out on their own; and in the savoring, gain an understanding of the origins of the music they play. If I have learned anything over the past fifty years as a bluegrass mandolin picker and cowboy singer, it is that those genres of music didn’t originate in Nashville or Hollywood. They have deep roots in the Celtic lands, in Europe, Africa, Mexico, and beyond. As my longtime friend Aly Bain told me years ago, having invited me to travel with him during some gigs he was playing with Tom Anderson and Willie Johnson in the Scottish Highlands: “In order for a tune to stand the test of time, to endure over the years, it first has to have the makings of a good melody.” And to this day, Aly and Phil Cunningham continue to compose and perform tunes with exceptional melodies. I think about this often, and about how with most of the old tunes I’ve learned I usually walk away humming a catchy melody... one that arouses my passions, whether it is evocative of joy or of despondency. It’s not about speed, groove, and flash, or the ability to guzzle hundreds of tunes. For me, it’s about a sweet melody that tickles me enough to stick in my craw, to live in my soul.

I first witnessed the power and beauty of Celtic fiddle music in 1963 when I saw Jean Carignan of Quebec perform at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Up until that moment, old-time Southern dance music and early bluegrass had consumed me musically. By the time I was nine, Jimmie Rodgers, the Yodeling Brakeman, had become my inspiration. At the age of twelve I met Bill Monroe at a workshop at Newport and was wowed by his powerful mandolin style and his lonesome voice. I became a child of the Folk Revival. At Newport for several years running, I witnessed the beguiling presence and voice of Joan Baez and watched as Bob Dylan was booed for plugging in during his evening concert. At Newport I was also charmed by the likes of Maybelle Carter, the Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Muddy Waters, and Texas fiddler Eck Robertson. I attended the first ever bluegrass festival at Fincastle, Virginia in 1965. Later, at Berryville and Reidsville, I was privileged to play a bit with Kenny Baker, Tommy Jarrell, and other American fiddle masters. But Jean Carignan, who had been influenced by Irish fiddle masters James Morrison and Michael Coleman, had a commanding rhythm on the fiddle that was different... masterful and ancient-sounding. His playing transported me immediately to what I recognized even then as the deep roots of southern Appalachian music. After all, there was a time when fiddlers sounded like where they came from, like the very ground on which they stood.

As a college student in Providence, I drove down to the University of Rhode Island to check out the Eisteddfod (Welsh for “festival of the arts”), begun there in 1971 by collector and folklorist Howard Glasser. There I met notable British ballad singers Norman Kennedy and Lou Killen, and delighted in hearing a young Shetland fiddler named Aly Bain before he formed the Celtic group, the Boys of the Lough. His tone was sweet and his repertoire of tunes sounded ancient to my ear. Of all the Celtic fiddlers I’ve run across during the last 50 years, Aly Bain (Shetland), along with Sean Maguire (Ireland) and Winston Scotty Fitzgerald (Cape Breton), have had the biggest influence on my fiddle repertoire. Their music was and remains seminal to me.

Touched deeply by this primordial sound, I began to listen to other Celtic fiddle masters, copying to tape many of Howard Glasser’s LPs . I drove up to O’Byrne Dewit’s Travel Agency in Boston to purchase hard-to-find LPs of fiddlers like Paddy Cronin, Seamus Connolly, Martin Byrnes, and J. Scott Skinner, and of the very few traditional Celtic music groups whose recordings were available in the States in the late 1960’s: the Chieftains, the Boys of the Lough, and Na Fili. On college breaks I drove up to Cape Breton with college buddies Tom Carter and Hal Cannon to hear the old heldover Scottish fiddle style from the source. We camped on the property of the gracious family of John Allan and Alec Beaton at Broad Cove Marsh, Inverness. Photos by Tom Carter: I later became friends with the wonderful Cape Breton fiddler Joe Cormier, who was at that time living in Waltham, Massachusetts.

In the summer of 1973, fresh out of college, I finally booked a flight to Shannon and, with nothing but a fiddle, a toothbrush, and a rain poncho, spent a month thumbing around Ireland. These were formative years for the folk revival in Ireland as well as America. It was total magic! At O’Donoghue's Pub in Dublin, I met Tommy Peoples. And thanks to Pat Sky, an American folksinger who was there learning the pipes, I was invited to stay at the home of the legendary piper Seamus Ennis, along with Liam O’Flynn who was traveling with his newly formed group, Planxty. I attended the Fleadh in Listowell and played some with Paddy Glackin and Paddy Cronin. I hitched a ride up to Donegal where I listened to master Belfast fiddler Sean Maguire and accordionist Joe Burke at the Central Hotel in Donegal town. And it was Tony Byrne, gentleman fiddler and schoolmaster summering in Glencolumkille, who kindly mentored me and drove me to sessions with Peter Horan and Fred Finn in Sligo and Donegal. Tony, cousin of famed Donegal fiddler James Byrne, thus formalized my education in traditional Irish music and culture. The pièce de résistance of this trip, thanks to Joe Burke’s recommendation, was getting to spend a few days in Glenties with legendary Donegal fiddler and tinker Johnny Doherty.

Working my way down the west coast to the seaside town of Spiddal in Galway, I met a young musician named Alec Finn. The following year, he would become a founding member of the group Dé Danann; but at that time he was working as caretaker for the late Olympic Committee president Michael Morris, the 3rd Baron Killanin. I was invited to stay in the gatehouse of the estate, and for nearly a week took part in music sessions every night. ..and at Hughes Bar at a craicin’ 8:00 on a Sunday morning. My first trip to the Emerald Isle was capped off when, after catching a nasty virus, I spent three days in a hospital ward in Ennis with nine other blokes. Some of them drank Guinness after the lights were switched out in the evenings, and one old fellow in the bed next to me sang a lovely ‘Galway Rambler’ while slowly passing away during a blood transfusion. My last recollection of that first trip to Ireland is of fiddling ‘Cowboy Waltz’ for a lovely young nurse and a brain tumor patient in his pajamas as they waltzed around the ward shortly before his death.

I often think that had it not been for my immersion in the music of my Celtic ancestors, I would not be able to fully appreciate the roots of the traditional American music I hold so dear. To this day (at least up until the global pandemic of 2020) I’ve kept up my Celtic fiddle rambles in Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and Australia, and of course New England. I’ve continued to make music with New England legends Randy and Rod Miller, Bob McQuillen, Gordon Peery, Sarah Bauhan, Roger Kahle, Jane Orzechowsky, and Dudley Laufman. I’ve performed at the Lunenburg Folk Fest in Nova Scotia and at the Shetland Folk Festival. And in Scotland I’ve played the Stonehaven Festival and Blazing in Buley Fests. There have been delightful sessions with Dave Richardson, Iain MacFarlane, Bruce MacGregor, Jenna Reid, Paul Anderson, Margaret Bennett, Dougie Pincock, Neil MacRae, Jack Evans, Gordon Gunn, Wilfur Matheson, Seamus O’Boyle, Kevin McCann, Patsy Seddon and Mike Lean, Brian MacKay, Chris Grace, Lesley Thompson, and Sara Jane Summers, and dear seafaring friends Peter Murray and Jim and Nicola Hendry. In Ireland, I’ve performed at the Cup of Tea Festival and the Beehive Bar in Ardara, McGrory’s Pub in Culdaff, and the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh. I’m charmed to have been invited repeatedly to World Fiddle Day in Scartaglin, County Kerry, and I’ve haunted the Cobblestone in Dublin and Leap Castle in Roscrea, Tipperary. I’ve reveled in sessions with Brid Harper and Kevin Griffin at the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna, with Mary Shannon and Mary Staunton in Kinvara, and with Noel Donoghue, Orla McGovern, and Claudine Langille at Gus O’Connor’s Pub in Doolin. And thanks to my great friends Declan and Maria McGrath, I’ve played in several venues in Dungannon with pianist Patsy McCabe and with American western music pards Ron Kane and Connie Dover. Of huge importance to me is that in 2013 I was able to locate the homestead (on right) of my great-great-grandfather Charley Gorman in Ballygorman, County Donegal, from whence he emigrated to Boston in 1839. I feel blessed to have enjoyed music in these magical parts of Scotland and Ireland with the finest friends and the most artful people on earth.

I sincerely hope you enjoy these tunes and how skillfully they are rendered by the wonderful artists playing with me. Thank you to Jim, Gerry, David, Gordon, Roger, Christine, Jane, Chris, Dedo, Randy, Nick, Tory, and Kimberley. In the notes to my recent CD, The Donegal Cowboy, I mention feeling like a cowboy who has experienced the deep joys of homecoming. That feeling is even more profound where these recordings are concerned.

Yours in melody, Skip Gorman Grafton, NH May 2022

This album is dedicated to the memory of dear friend David Surette, master of music and kind inspiration to so many.

The Musicians

Skip Gorman: fiddle, all tracks; accompanied by:
Christine Hanson: cello
Chris Murphy: bodhran
David Surette: cittern, guitar
Dedo Norris: piano
Gordon Peery: piano
Jane Orzechowski: harmony fiddle,
Jim Prendergast: guitar
Kimberley Holmes: piano
Nick Apollonio: cittern
Randy Miller: harmony fiddle
Roger Kahle: guitar
Tory Brillhart: guitar

The Tunes

1. Cowboy Jig/Brendan Tonra’s (B. Tonra)
2. Hei Tutti Tetti/Bridge of Inver (J. MacIntosh)/Isle of Skye/Juanita/Arthur Seat (W. Marshall)
3. For Ireland, I’ll Not Tell Her Name/Cronin’s Fancy/Shanvaghera (Ed Reavy)/ Jackie Coleman’s (J. Coleman)
4. Ode to Ballygorman (S. Gorman)/Collier’s
5. Bluemont Waltz (Rodney Miller)
6. Boys of Ballysadare/The Robin
7. John MacColl’s Favorite (J. MacColl)/Cape Breton Fiddlers Welcome to Shetland (W. Hunter/V. Tulloch)
8. Mrs. Crawford’s Favorite (R. Petrie)
9. Munster Buttermilk/Padraig O’Keeffe’s (J. Clifford)
10. Houghton House (J. Mitchell)/Alec Menzies (A. Menzies)
11. The Northern Lass (James Oswald Collection)/Johnny in the Nether Mains (Gow Collection)
12. Thursday Night in the Cali (A. Henderson)/Kerry Jig/Jig in A
13. Bear Island (Finbar Dwyer)/The Galway Reel (L. Redican)
14. The Diamond (B. McComiskey)
15. Archie Neil Chisholm (B. Stubbert)/The Boys of the Girls (S. Gorman)
16. Hallowe’en Hornpipe (S. Gorman)
17. Inisheer (T. Walsh)
18. Sixpenny Money/Road to Skye
19. The Black Isle (K. Murphy)
20. McQuillen’s Reel (A. Bain)/Janine’s Reel (J. Sutherland)/The Arizona Reel (B. Tracy)
21. Jennie’s Welcome to Charlie
22. Auchenblae (D. Rennie)
23. Francis Bert MacDonald (E. Briand)/The Royal Circus (Gow Collection)/ Miss Gordon of Park (W. Marshall)
24. Andowin at the Bow/Hills of Finnegarth/CBC’s Glen and Carl (J. Holland)
25. Michael Turner’s Waltz (Mozart)/A Midwinter’s Waltz (Holst/Richardson)
26. Music in the Glen/The Boys of the Lough (M. Coleman)/Maid of Castlebar
27. The Old Favorite/The Pullet
28. Glen Cottage Polka/The Dark Girl Dressed in Blue
29. Conlon’s Dream/The Dairy Maid
30. Da Slockit Light (T. Anderson)
31. Gigue du Lac/Reel Garneau (J-M Virret)
32. Jug o’ Punch/Julia Delaney
33. New Century Hornpipe/Ballyoran Hornpipe (S. Ryan)
34. Fair Haired Child/Bucks of Oranmore/Cedars of Lebanon (S. Ryan)
35. The Princess Royal/Johnny Cope
36. The Old Resting Chair (T. Anderson)
37. Calum’s Road (D. Shaw)/The Sweetness of Mary (J. MacDonald Bowes)
38. The International (Maguire/Donnelly)/The Jetta (K. Beaton)
39. The Roses of No Man’s Land (B. Douglas)/John Howet (H. Dunlap)/Martyn O’Connor’s (P. Cunningham)
40. Shaalds o’ Foula/Garster’s Dream/Da Brig
41. Coilsfield House (Gow Collection)
42. Splendid Isolation (Brendan McGlinchey)/The Whistler of Rosslea (E. Reavy)
43. Oliver Jack/The Merry Boys of Greenland/Villafjord (T. Anderson)
44. Madame Bonaparte/Galway Bay
45. Eleanor of Usan (P. Cunningham)
46. Archie Menzies (J. Lowe)/The Moving Cloud (N. Boyle)
47. Over the Muir Amang the Heather (Thompson Collection)
48. O’Beirne’s Hornpipe (E. Reavy)/Master Shanley (M. Lennon)
49. Scottish March/Trip to Windsor (D.R. MacDonald)
50. The Cradle Song (J. Scott Skinner)
51. Russell’s Jig (J. Taggart)/Mrs. O’Sullivan
52. My Cape Breton Home (J. Holland)
53. The Gramsay/Portland Fancy
54. Rannie MacClellan (B. Stubbert)/Larry Redican’s Bow (L. Redican)/Farewell to Ireland
55. Sitting in the Stern of a Boat (W. MacLeod)/Tammy Sullivan (J.P. Cormier)
56. The Pandemic Jig (S. Gorman)/Fox in the Thatch (J. Dwyer)
57. Grafton House/Angle Iron Strathspey/Mrs. Stewart/Broad Cove Marsh/ Salute to Cape Breton (S. Gorman, with the exception of Mrs. Stewart)
58. Young Catherine (T. O’Carolan)/Duncan Johnstone (D. MacLeod)/Timor the Tartar (Lowe Collection)
59. Wild Swans at Cooley (E. Reavy)/Wheels of the World/The Girl That Broke My Heart
60. Josefin’s Waltz (R. Tallroth)
61. Miss Lyle/Paddy Ryan’s Dream/The Oak Tree
62. Cooley’s Hornpipe (P. O’Brien)/Ballyoran
63. Eibhlin Gheal Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill/Twilight in Portroe (S. Ryan)/The Silver Spear
64. John Dwyer’s (J. Dwyer)/The Ten Pound Float
65. Derwentwater’s Farewell/Lad O’Beirne’s Reel (L. O’Beirne)/Ornette’s Trip to Belfast (M. McGoldrick)/Virginia Reel
66. An Londubh Agus An Cheirseach/Green Fields of Glentown (T. Peoples)
67. Leaving Lordenshaw (R. Matthews)