The Tune Makers – sharing tunes on LiveTrad.com
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| Cover of Liz Carroll |
First, let’s introduce the band. The Tune Makers is made up of Liz Carroll (fiddle), Máirtín O’Connor (accordion) & Dave Flynn (guitar) and for this live streamed concert they’ll be joined on stage by special guest Charlie Lennon. The ensemble came together ‘to showcase the artistry of Irish tune composers’, and what will make this interesting is that the group will combine personal compositions with music from other composers from this era and from bygone ones. An added feature is the addition of a well known musician (local to each venue they’ll play), who will add variety as well as a bit of local colour to the event.
Prolific composers as well as being accomplished musicians, The Tune Makers will probably draw as many musicians as regular fans to their gigs, and when you look at their past achievements, it’s easy to see why.
Liz Carroll was a junior and senior All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, and has toured as a solo artist and with the Greenfields of America, Trian, String Sisters, and with John Doyle. In 2009 she became the first Irish- American musician nominated for a Grammy. Máirtín O’Connor was one of the main musical forces behind Riverdance, and is also known for his work with De Dannan, Midnight Well, Skylark and as a solo artist. Dave Flynn is an award-winning composer whose music has been performed by artists including the Smith Quartet and the ConTempo Quartet, Prague and Irish Chamber Orchestras and Martin Hayes at festivals including Summergarden, New York & Prague Premieres.
They will also be paying tribute to many other composers not performing, including deceased composers like O’Carolan, Ed Reavy, Paddy O’Brien, Seán Ryan and Junior Crehan and living peers like the Dwyer brothers and Paddy Fahey.
It’s a rare and welcome opportunity to focus our attention on how the tradition is being developed through new tunes, and on the skills of those contributing to that process. (It is interesting that the tour is happening in the same year that Tommy Peoples became only the second traditional musician ever to be elected to Aosdána.)
From the unmistakable American inflection of many Liz Carroll’s tunes, to the more classically-influenced form of Dave Flynn’s compositions, to the ecumenical good-humoured feel of Máirtín O’Connor music, the concerts will surely give a sense of the wide range of influences being brought to bear on the tradition as we have received it.
The Tune Makers – sharing tunes on LiveTrad.com
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