IT'S NOT often I get to brag about attending three gigs in one at the Barrowland Ballroom during Celtic Connections, but I did, and I will. The night kick started with Four Men and a Dog and finished off with an explosion by Mec Lir, sandwiched suitably in between with all-female line up, Kinnaris Quintet.
Four Men and a Dog (above), the Irish trad group have been together since the 1990s, and I know them well—at least their music anyway! And the wealth of talent encased comes from Cathal Hayden, Kevin Doherty, Gino Lupari, Gerry O’Connor and Donal Murphy. Five incredibly talented men who play Irish trad with a difference, mixing it up with a variety of genres, namely jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock, swing and salsa thrown into the mix. They’ve been making music and albums since 1991’s, Barking Mad, up to 2016, with And the Band Played On, and five others in between, and to say I’m a huge fan would be an understatement.
I’ve seen these guys perform from Donegal to Derry, Glasgow—several times—and to say the Barrowland gig was floor bouncingly brilliant wouldn’t do it justice. The ballroom was pulsating, alive with bodies jiggin’ in sync, beer splashing, hookin’ and chookin’ and foot stompin’ galore. And I wasn’t just lucky enough to be in the heart of it, but I was even luckier to get a chance to meet Donal Murphy afterwards.
You opened the gig at Barrowlands Ballroom, one of oldest and most iconic venues in Glasgow. How did it feel playing there?
It really was a wonderful feeling for us all to take the stage at the iconic Barrowlands. We had heard so much about this gorgeous venue and it was even better than we could have imagined, the atmosphere on the night was electric. The place was packed and the energy among the crowd was amazing. Definitely one of the most enjoyable concerts we have played in quite some time. We cant wait to do it all again.
If you were to choose one of your favourite bands to open for you at Barrowlands, who would it be?
Bela Fleck, My Bluegrass Heart including Bryan Sutton, Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull and so on.
You’ve been together for a long time, what keeps you all motivated to continue playing?
Four Men and a Dog have been on the road for 35 years now. We really enjoy the buzz of the live performances and thankfully we have remained close friends throughout all these years. We all love performing and putting new sets together as well as re-inventing some of the older material from the well-known debut album Barking Mad.
Your last album was in 2016. Are there any plans afoot for another?
Yes, its been a while since we recorded our last album, all the members of the band also perform in various other bands and everyone has been pretty busy over the last while but there’s plans to get back into the studio again before the end of this year or maybe even go for a live album, we have loads of new material ready to go so hopefully all will come to fruition before long.
Do you still gig as much as you used to and is it still enjoyable?
As a band, Four Men and a Dog don’t tour that much anymore due to various other commitments, but we’re still happy to play at as many festivals as we can throughout the year. We really enjoy the travels, venues, haut cuisine, meeting and hanging out with other bands and generally just getting out there performing. There are definitely no plans to retire any time soon. As they say ‘there’s plenty of life in the dogs yet.’ We still have quite a big following and just love to get together and play tunes and songs for those faithful fan base. We’re playing two nights at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith London on March 15 and 16 and we’re looking forward to that. There are plenty of other smaller festivals in Ireland throughout the summer too.
We all had a wonderful time at Celtic Connections this year with The Barrowlands concert followed by a spot at the Late Night Sessions venue. We agreed to meet up with the Mec Lir lads and some of the Kinnaris gang and a few Shetland fiddlers at the lovely Ben Nevis pub on Saturday afternoon, that really was rocking too. All in all very enjoyable, genuinely we can’t wait to get back to Glasgow. Long live Celtic Connections, onwards and upwards.
THE Kinnaris Quintet (above) comprises of an all-female foundation, strong enough in attitude and talent to hold their own stage at any gig. The quintet are Jenn Butterworth on guitar, Aileen Reid fiddle, Laura-Beth Salter, mandolin/tenor, Fiona MacAskill, fiddle and Laura Wilkie on fiddle. Their unique flavour and mix of traditional Irish and Scottish folk music blew the crowd away, not to mention their style. They brought such glamour and glitz to the stage I thought Sister Sledge had entered the building! The crowd surged like a colony of ants being carried away with reels and jigs and a vibrancy of sheer joy that it was easy to see why they’re asked repeatedly to return to Celtic Connections. This was my first time seeing them live, so me being me I had a quite a few questions for them.
The name Kinnaris is a Southeast Asian mythological creature renowned for dance songs and poetry. What prompted the name?
The other names had too many connotations that could have been dodgy. One of my favourite tunes growing up was by the wonderful Turlough O’Carolan, a tune called Fanny Power, but that got vetoed. Then there was the consideration of Space Ghettos—say ‘Space Ghettos’ in an American accent and its sounds like a Glaswegian ‘Spice Girls’—but another band had that name and we weren't flush enough to get sued. We liked the idea of something being representative of all aspects of music and arts, something bird-like that represented spreading our wings and taking flight...not least because we're aw burds!
How do you feel to be playing a key role as part of Celtic Connections line up once again? And how does this festival differ from others you’ve performed at?
It’s a privilege we have never taken for granted—nor will ever if we’re lucky enough to be asked again—and quite honestly every year it’s been a ‘pinch me’ moment on any stage we’ve been given at Celtic Connections.
Without being biased and proud as punch of our glorious Glasgow hometown, this festival differs in so many ways to others primarily because of the sheer scale, the choice, the atmosphere, the community, and the abundance of indoor venues hosting events. There’s a special place in everyone’s heart for Celtic Connections, whether it’s excitement and anticipation for an upcoming gig, or a memory of something years gone by. It has always catered for everyone in some way or another, whether it’s a one-off collaboration with some high-brow international artists you’d only dreamed of coming to Glasgow, or a dingy basement with the most exciting and memorable sessions you’ve ever heard with musical heroes galore.
There’s an unmatched buzz for Glasgow in January for every age group and that's pretty special. Celtic Connections has become a lifeline to many—artists, crew, venue cleaners, publicans and chefs alike, who all depend on the ticket sales for each event to earn a living, particularly now after so many years of events being cancelled. Celtic Connections is also a lifeline for audience members who seek something to look forward to after a long, dark winter.
Aside from hard work, what is the secret ingredient required to making a good band work?
Musically I’d say leaving egos at the door, listening to each other when playing, making things move together and showing up. Performance-wise I’d say you need to make the audience feel safe. There’s a fine line between being confident and cocky, but do anything with confidence and people will believe you.
Ultimately though I’d say the success of any band comes down to two things: being sound, and having a product people can relate to—something people want to invest in and support, whether that’s the music, the members, the politics or the lyrics behind it. To make a go of anything in music you need to be a pro at many things now and have a very clued-up business head on you. You can’t just be a good live band, you need to be good recording musicians, social media experts, video creators and content creators, agents, admin managers, budget experts, travel agents, band managers—and that’s all before we even start on streaming platforms destroying music for artists!
Is it difficult to collaborate creatively having a strong all female group, particularly if at times you have differing inspirations and ideas?
If you listened to our individual likes/dislikes/styles you would definitely question how we collaborate, but fortunately making music together has always been the easiest part of the band. That part has always—thankfully—happened and developed very organically.
We’re five self-employed women who have a career in music, so there’s stubbornness, fierceness, emotion and integrity in us all. We’re five women though, so there’s no escaping the fact that we don’t have as much freedom as we once did now that we have children of various ages between us. We’ve also been in labour, breastfeeding, had pregnancies and miscarriages, so our desire and necessity to collaborate at times has had to be altered in order for the rest of the band to earn and continue. We all have other commitments too as KQ income doesn’t pay the bills, so it’s a juggle for everyone and there’s endless compromising required. Like with any other artists, we need to release music and perform in order to earn an income, as we don’t get paid for any time off.
We have always toyed with the idea of production being bigger and that’s probably where our wings perhaps feel clipped, but we ultimately agree that it’s a never-ending spiral that can go out of control when it comes to adding more and more to a sound—live or recorded. The disappointment of a live gig not being as good as the recorded version is such a let down, so we compromised on recording live so we can perform live, no extras—we do exactly what it says on the tin.
You’ve been together now for almost eight years and have produced two albums. Have you any plans afoot for another album?
Yes, we would love to release more music. Album releasing has really changed in recent years though with streaming, it almost doesn’t make sense to spend time making a full album anymore. The costs of making albums are easily upwards of £40,000, so unless there's funding, an abundance of merchandise sales and well paid gigs, there's no hope really for making full albums without crippling yourself financially. We have some exciting plans afoot to record in the summer in a live studio, so we’ve been busy behind the scenes writing ideas for that.
This year’s gig sees you sharing the Barrowland stage with Four Men and a Dog and Mec Lir. Would you consider collaborating with either of these bands in the future?
How do I seem cool, calm and collected in saying a big fat yes please? Only two of the best bands in the entire world, who happen to be my two favourite bands in the whole wide world ever! I’d say I know their changeovers better than they do given the amount I've listened to their music. Backstage we were all blethering away throughout the day—Tom and I mostly slabbering over the Haydens—music had been written or heard that made us think of various bands, and sure enough there might just be some nice ideas from it. If it does happen, I’ll be asking you to pinch me forevermore!
THE final band on stage were Mec Lir (above) from both Glasgow and the Isle of Man, who’ve been wowing audiences with their unique, trad euphoria, or new age folk sound as its been described since 2014. Their Barrowland gig seemed the perfect venue to showcase not just their music, but a lighting extravaganza the likes of which I’ve never witnessed at a trad concert before. The energy these guys created with their mix of electric guitar, synthesizer, fiddles, drums and button accordion was different level. It was like School of Rock trad style. I kept waiting for Tom or Paddy to fly off the stage for a crowd surf.
The main line-up is Tom Callister (fiddle), Adam Rhodes (bazouki and guitar), David Kilgallon (keyboard) and Greg Barry (drummer), got together originally as an outlet and to have some craic. I think it’s safe to say they’ve taken this to a whole other level now judging by their rapport with the audience and how well they were received. They’re joined on recordings by Paddy Callaghan, renowned button accordion player, Calum Stewart on whistle and Davie Dunsmuir on electric guitar, while Paddy also takes to the stage for gigs, as well as electric guitar player Lyle Watt also from Glasgow. I explored their unique sound a bit more with Paddy and Tom post-gig.
The band have been described as supercharged trad. Personally I felt like I was at a trad/rock concert. So how much does performing with Mec Lir differ from playing in regular trad sessions?
(Paddy and Tom): It doesn’t at all, for me anyways, in terms of playing the tunes, thats basically what we’re doing, when you strip all the other stuff away from Mec Lir’s music, at the heart and centre of it is trad tunes—played pretty fast, but it’s very much trad music based, so from that aspect, it’s not much change. You can add whatever you like to it, but the band for me will always be like a trad session just a bit wild and rocky, but the main focus is trad.
Did the sound created by the band come about organically, or was it a very deliberate decision to create something different and utilise the variety of instruments that were available to you?
(Tom): The sound of the band was completely organic, the band were put together to perform at the Lorient international festival, and I started playing tunes, and the other lads put stuff in behind it and we built it from there, it wasn’t really designed to be anything other that a lot of fun and thats not changed, its actually grown, as we’ve added more and developed more, fun is always what we aim for.
(Paddy): For me it’s just an honour to get to play with the lads. Mec Lir are literally my favourite band, so getting the chance to perform with them is hard to put in to words. But whilst it looks like we’re rocking out, for me, I’m just getting to play great tunes with people that I enjoy playing with. Yes it’s a bit funky in places, but that side of it comes from the other instruments—with exception to the cowbell!
I understand that you and Tom met at Celtic Connections Festival Club? What was it about eachother that fused you together and led to your collaboration?
(Tom): I’d seen Paddy play in feolta videos and that was a vibe I really liked so thought, I might move to Glasgow. I met Paddy at the club during Celtic Connections and introduced myself, and since then we’ve gone on to have a really strong connection in music and as people too. Its very rare that you find someone that you are so in sync with musically—have the same musical interests and always going in the same direction
(Paddy): Yeah I was quite embarrassed by that first meeting, as I asked him if he played music at all? Then the next day I had the pleasure of seeing him play and already at that stage as a very young guy he was clearly in the top handful of fiddlers worldwide, so that definitely left me with my tail between my legs. Very soon after though, we were playing a lot in sessions and had done a few tours, and it was clear to me that I was playing with someone who musically is on the same vibe as me, to the point where we often finish off each other’s variations—it can be quite creepy at times!
Now I must ask you about the band’s look. Whose idea was it to get the colourful sateen bomber jackets?
(Tom): Hahaha that was me. I think despite the quite colourful arrangements and music, deep down we’re all quiet guys, and we’d be more than happy to go out with a black t-shirt on, but at the end of the day, its about having fun, so I thought it would be good fun to do something different—seems that it was picked up on anyways! It’s just about having a bit of of a laugh. The jackets were part of that, as were the neon lights up glasses.
The lighting for the show was quite something and so in time with the music. You clearly have experts in the field employed to create such a spectacle?
(Paddy): Yeah I guess its sort of the nature of the gig, you could go to the Barrowlands and do the show you’d do in a much smaller venue, but you wouldn’t really do it justice. For this gig we worked with an incredibly talented lighting designer, Gary Ebdy, who we’ve worked with several times in the past, and having been given a brief of the overall look the band were looking for, he delivered the goods. The talent is dreaming up the setup and equipment required, and then being able to match it to what is happening on stage, and thats something he is amazing at doing.
How did the Barrowlands compare with other gigs you’ve performed? Does it have a special something?
(Paddy): Ah it was very special. As a Glaswegian, I know its a venue with so much history, and I’ve been there countless times to see gigs, never thinking I’d ever get the chance to perform on it. It was an added bonus the venue was so full and the atmosphere was one I will remember for a long time.
(Tom): Even for the guys who aren’t from Glasgow originally, it’s special. You always look for that connection between the band and the audience, but in the Barrowlands that was so much more than you would normally get.
Trad heaven is how I’d describe the night. My only complaint? I wanted more, and maybe an encore of all three bands together. Mind you, the stage probably wouldn’t accommodate them all. So lads, when you read this, Aileen of Kinnaris has you on a pedestal. You are her favourite bands in the whole wide world. So what’s stopping you? I feel a big fat trad collaboration coming on!
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