NEARLY 60 years ago, in 1966, the Armagh Pipers Club was established, providing classes in a wide range of traditional instruments and in singing, with Brian and Eithne Vallely always at its’ core. The powerfully nostalgic artwork by Lorcan Vallely, The Three Whistlers, which adorns the cover of Brian Finnegan’s new album, points to how the club has enriched the lives of thousands of young musicians and singers, notably providing a safe haven during the long period of the troubles. In his heartfelt sleeve notes flute and whistle player, and founding member of the band Flook, Finnegan says of the Vallelys: “I never felt safer than under their care; yes they were teachers, but in the broken world and times I grew up in, they were shepherds.”
Finbarr Dwyer’s very fine reel The Holly Bush starts off the first set of four tunes, all reels, Finnegan playing lively, fluent whistle, accompanied by the album’s co-producer Seán Óg Graham on equally sprightly guitar, with added verve on the fourth reel, The Flooded Road To Glenties, from Finnegan’s son Ollin playing handpan. While Finnegan is a top-notch composer of tunes, here he mostly plays tunes that inspired him as a young learner, in his words: “the tunes that defined pivotal moments in time, the tunes that revealed the way when the way was uncertain and the tunes that helped me fall in love with the mystery of it all and aspire to composing tunes of my own one day.”
There are plenty of consummately played jigs, including Junior Creehan’s The Mist On The Mountain (which Matt Molloy recorded on his first solo album), Charlie Lennon’s The Kings Of Inishbofin and the popular, traditional The Humours Of Ballylaughlin. Creehan’s The Luachrachan’s is played in a set with John Carty’s great tune Seanamhac Tube Station. Dobbins Flowery Vale/Bánchnoic Éireann Ó are a couple of slow polkas, beautifully played on flute and guitar. A gorgeous, similarly paced waltz - Ar Éireann Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí – is played at first by Óg Graham on cavaquinho, a small four string Portuguese guitar-like instrument, before, a couple of minutes in, Finnegan picks up the tune on flute. The tune is paired with an unhurried Cait’s Jig, written by Liam O’Brien, the cavaquinho and flute making for an enchanting combination.
Ton Bale Ar Pont/Geezer’s Orange Wall/Not Safe With A Razor is a marvellously varied set, Finnegan’s playing, on what sounds like low whistle, brilliant throughout. The first tune, composed by Breton guitarist Roland Conq, features Óg Graham on guitar, the second, a nod to the manager of the Armagh GAA team, is Finnegan’s only composition on the album, and the last a reel written by Larry E Mc Cullough.
Armagh Pipers Club has produced a remarkable number of exceptional professional musicians, including, besides Finnegan, Ríoghnach Connolly, Jarlath Henderson, Barry Kerr, and Brian and Eithne‘s three sons, Cillian, Caoimhín and Niall. The album is dedicated to Brian and Eithne Vallely, and Finnegan describes how their teaching philosophy “was never about the transmission of content, it was feeding the soul and celebrating the spirit, empowering children to be culturally and musically literate.” Shepherds is an outstanding, enriching musical testimony to that approach.
Album available here
See More: Armagh, Irish Music, Traditional Music
