Feature by Kenny Mathieson
Altan
2 May 2004 in Music
Gaelic music stars team up for Tune Up
As Irish band Altan prepare to launch a tour with Cliar on both sides of the Irish Sea, KENNY MATHIESON charts their recovery from the tragic loss of a founder member to remain at the forefront of Irish music
THE TOUR THAT will take Altan and Cliar around small venues in the Highlands and Islands this month is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year. Altan were last seen in these parts in the main auditorium at the Eden Court Theatre, and it is only the funding made available by a combination of the Scottish Arts Council’s Tune Up scheme and The Columba Initiative in Ireland that has made the project remotely possible in venues of this size.
Cliar’s Mary Ann Kennedy has been fundamental in pulling the tour together. The idea went back to discussions when the two bands met during filming for a Gaelic television programme in Stornoway several years ago, but always seemed a pipedream until the Tune Up scheme suddenly opened a door.
A subsequent application to The Columba Initiative in Ireland allowed the two bands to add a full week of additional dates on both sides of the Irish border to their schedule, as well as an imaginative outreach project in which four young professional musicians (two Scots and two Irish) will visit schools and community locations ahead of the main bands, supported by additional aid from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Iomairt Cholm Cille and Live Music Now!
The chance to catch Altan in such intimate settings is a mouth-watering prospect. They been one of the leading forces in Irish traditional music for well over a decade now, and survived the tragic loss of their co-founder, flautist Frankie Kennedy, who died from bone cancer in 1994.
“I’m so glad we did keep going, because I think it helped us all get through what was a very hard time. I think we all took strength from carrying on his work, and anything else would have been an insult to his memory.”
They emerged from that grief with renewed strength and purpose. Frankie formed the band with his wife, singer and fiddler Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, in the late 1980s. The pair met as teenagers when the Belfast-born flautist was a regular visitor to musical gatherings in her native Donegal. They trained together as teachers, but eventually were able to concentrate on the band, which had grown from their original duo into a five or six-piece line up, led by the twin fiddles of Mairéad and Ciarán Tourish, sometimes augmented by a third fiddler, Paul O Shaughnessy.
The combination of the fiddles with Frankie’s flute gave the band a highly distinctive sound, as did the northern bias in their material, drawn from both sides of the border. They were riding high when his illness was diagnosed. He continued playing whenever possible while undergoing treatment, but eventually was unable to carry on. He died in Belfast in 1994, and was buried in Donegal. I asked Mairéad if the band had considered anything other than carrying on at that low point.
“No, there was no thought about that. It was an unsaid thing, but I don’t think any of us considered stopping, and I think if we had it would have been a betrayal of what Frankie put into the band. I’m so glad we did keep going, because I think it helped us all get through what was a very hard time. I think we all took strength from carrying on his work, and anything else would have been an insult to his memory.”
Altan took their name from a lake in the shadow of Mount Errigal, near Mairéad’s home in Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore). She comes from a family rich in music. Her father is a fine fiddler in the Donegal style, her mother plays accordion, and her grandparents were also musicians.
The current line-up of the band still reflects their strong Donegal roots. Accordionist Dermot Byrne (now married to Mairéad) and fiddler Ciarán Tourish are also from the county, while bouzouki player Ciarán Curran hails from nearby Fermanagh. Guitarist Dáithí Sproule is originally from just across the border in Derry, but has been based in the USA for many years, and the other guitarist, Mark Kelly is a Dubliner.
“It’s very spontaneous, and I think it keeps it exciting.”
Their repertoire is a characteristic mix of traditional tunes and their own material, instrumental sets and Mairéad’s lovely singing. The interplay of the two fiddles remains central to Altan’s sound. Mairéad and Ciarán Tourish have developed their own distinctive approach, but the idea is very much rooted in the tradition.
“That was very definitely part of the Donegal tradition,” she confirmed, “and also in Kerry. It was mainly a solo tradition, but two fiddles were used to augment the sound and complement the main fiddle, but one of the fiddles would always play harmony, or octave. What we do is basically a variation on that idea, where the second fiddle will play around a bit more with the melody. It’s very spontaneous, and I think it keeps it exciting.
“We had the three fiddles when Paul O Shaughnessy was in the band, but Paul had a job and a young family, and wasn’t able to tour when we started going to the USA and so on. He still plays quite a bit, and if he is in the audience, we always have him up. Mind you, we can’t just do that with anybody – Paul knows exactly how to play with us, and he knows the nuances of the music.”
The band are eagerly looking forward to this unique visit to Scotland. Playing these small Highland venues is a long-cherished aim, and a far cry from venues like the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Altan’s visits to Scotland have not been as frequent as they (or we) would like in recent years, but the band are fully occupied on the world circuit, playing frequently in Europe, the USA, and Japan.
“There has been a huge interest in Celtic music in Japan in recent years. We’ve been over a good few times now, and it felt like the audience had doubled each time we went. We were told they wouldn’t react that much, but we found them like any other audience we play for. I think when they like something they really take it to heart, and go full blast on it!”
Altan and Cliar play the following dates in the Highlands and Islands:
- Farr Hall, Strathnairn, Wednesday 26 May 2004
- Southend Hall, Daliburgh, South Uist, Thursday 27 May 2004
- Talla Shomhairle @ Aros, Portree, Isle of Skye, Friday 28 May 2004
- Aros Hall, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Saturday 29 May 2004
- Bowmore Hall, Bowmore, Isle of Islay, Tuesday 1 June 2004
- Arainn Shuaineirt, Ardnamurchan High School, Strontian, Wednesday 2 June 2004
© Kenny Mathieson, 2004
