Glór gig for Triúr sa Draighean

LITTLE did East Clare fiddle legend Martin Hayes know when he was out canvassing for Barrack Obama in Connecticut in the last US presidential election that he’d end up recording a reel in the new president’s honour.

Such is his admiration for President Obama, that he even organised and headlined a fundraising concert during the presidential election campaign, to raise money for Mr Obama’s election cause.
The Barrack Obama Reel is just one of the tunes that Martin Hayes, along with Peadar Ó Riada and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh will be playing for an audience in Glór next Friday night, at their Triúr sa Draighean concert.
Triúr is an album of 16 with 19 new compositions composed by Peadar Ó Riada, recorded in Peadar’s home, An Draighean, (Blackthorn) in Cúl Aodha, in County Cork. The title Triúr refers to the three musicians involved, Peadar on concertina, with Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Martin Hayes on fiddles. All three have individually made their own mark playing Irish music and now collectively have created a new inheritance for future generations.
Martin explained that the recording process was simple  – all three just played.
“We didn’t overly concern ourselves with technical details. We were in the moment, operating on instinct and feeling. We decided not to make any attempt to edit or manipulate any of the tracks recorded. What you hear is exactly what happened in the room. Whatever little flaws or mistakes that occurred remain. All of the tunes are relatively new compositions, not necessarily heard before. They are all very interesting pieces. We recorded the tunes even before we were sure that we’d bring them out on CD. To be honest, we weren’t even sure how it would sound but I think they sound great,” he remarked.
The project took root after Peadar and Martin spoke at length at the 2008 TG4 Music Awards where each were recipients, Peadar for composition and Martin as musician of the year. The conversation continued when they met up at the annual gathering of traditional musicians at the Willie Clancy Festival, where they recruited Caoimhín on the spot. Finally a year ago last April, they gathered in Peadar’s house and commenced a musical journey together. Now, a year later, the recording simply titled Triúr sa Draighean can be regarded as a vital and major contribution to Irish music.
There are jigs and hornpipes, reels and slides, even a polka named in honour of Martin Hayes. The one song, Trathann an Taoide (track 5) is beautifully haunting, with the addition of the Indian Tambura and the drone like sound of Peadar’s voice.
Martin continued, “Most of the tunes are fairly straight up traditional pieces of music. They all evoke a nice feeling – they are typical but kind of not typical also. They are all really great pieces of music, I think.”
He acknowledges that his main objective in playing music, be it in the comfort of his own home, or in a performance, is to evoke feeling.
“I’ve developed my own style over the years. I’m kind of out of step with mainstream traditional music. I constantly look for the expression in the melodies and try to make my music full of passion. People would say I’m quite animated in my performances. Basically, it comes down to me seeing something that I think is beautiful in the music. My intent is to get that beauty across to people through my music, so fundamentally, it’s a very simple idea,” he said.
He is currently living in Connecticut in the USA, and is working on a recording with Iarla Ó Lionaird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Thomas Bartlett and Dennis Cahill.
Asked about his introduction to music growing up in Feakle, Martin is quick to clarify that he is actually from Killanena. “Feakle is the closest village to my homeplace but the farm is partly in Feakle, partly in Tulla and partly in Killanena, so they all claim me but to be really correct, I am from Killanena,” Martin joked.
He started playing fiddle at the age of seven. “I was surrounded by music from the word go, mainly through my father [P Joe]. There were loads of musicians coming to our house always. I played with Tulla Céilí Band for years and still do from time to time. Many Clare musicians were regulars in my life, including Peter O’Loughlin and Tommy Potts.
“I suppose I’m kind of self-taught. My father taught me to play a bunch of tunes early on. Then I plugged away at it, with my dad mentoring me as such. We talked about music a lot and he made one point very clearly over and over again – music with no feeling isn’t worth playing.
“My brother, Pat, did play music a bit too as a child but for him looking on at me playing, I suppose it looked like hard work,” Martin added.
Over the years, he has collaborated with a number of different musicians. “One which was certainly a bit different was with Bill Frissell about two years ago. He’s a jazz guitarist and we came together for a one-off tour. I’d imagine we will probably try something together again. He is one of the best improvisers in the world. It was really interesting to go on stage not knowing where the piece of music would go. I do a bit of improvisation myself too and often don’t know where a particular set will go. Improvisation certainly gives a bit of insight into a performer’s character. For me, music is about reaching a balance in terms of mood portrayal. It needs a mix of melancholy, joy, quietness, reflection and fun.”
On the side, Martin has also developed a very strong interest in politics. Not surprising really given that his brother, Pat, is a Clare county councillor. Martin himself toyed with the idea at one stage but felt he wouldn’t be disciplined enough to stick to it.
“I flirted with the idea of getting into local politics at some stage but I’m not exactly your mainstream kind of guy. However, I am very interested in politics, even more so here in the States. I went out to canvass for Barrack Obama and I even did a fundraiser for his campaign. Personally, I think he’s doing very well. He has a difficult task to find a balance, a middle ground but he is doing his job very well in a reasonable manner. He is quite impressive. On the Triúr sa Draighean album, there’s Barrack Obama’s reel, which Peadar wrote. There’s a small bit of an American influence in it, mainly in the way it’s played. I got a great kick out of Peadar writing a reel in tribute to Barrack Obama, as I’m such a supporter of his,” he said.
Martin, though, is not about to make the leap from music to politics at this stage. “There’s no way I’d trade playing music for that but I could see myself always advocating causes. I’m a strong believer in the need for a cleaner, greener environment and I’m very much about reducing our carbon footprint. I also strongly believe in equality and not just by paying lip service to it. Cultural diversity is a big thing in the States and there’s so much to be gained by treating different groups equally. I think President Obama’s election is going to do a lot to improve the lot of many different minority groups in the State and I really want that to happen,” he said.
Triúr sa Draighean at Glór on Friday, April 30. Tickets are available from the box office at 065 6843103 or from info@glor.ie.