You are part of group, Gormacha, could you tell us about the history of the group?
All earlier collaborations have been largely based around my own music and my interpretation of early Blues/Gospel.
Once I heard Alison McGuinness sing it was quite humbling and I remain in awe of what she can do vocally. We worked with world class percussionist Rohan Young for a number of years and recorded two albums together. Recently Alison has been joined by Kira Topalian and Kristen Hansen on vocals and Kira is a fine percussionist.
What themes or ideas do you investigate through your work and what music has influenced your writing?
I love contradictions and there are many within the music that I play. Two of the greatest players who shaped much of what we all learned from were themselves taught by artists who didn’t record. The question arises; did Henry Sloan have more to teach Charley Patton that Patton himself put down in recordings; and, was Ike Zimmerman actually better than Robert Johnson within the style that he originated and taught to Robert. Johnson certainly went from mediocracy to apparent brilliance within a short period under Ike’s tutelage.
What we now refer to as Blues only acquired that name after the General Phonograph Corporation’s (OKeh) release of 1920. It was of course Crazy Blues by Mamie Smith, which was written two years beforehand by Perry Bradford who accompanied Smith. However, the great Fred McDowell told us that he grew up referring to this music as Reels, which of course many of the tunes are by way of time signature.
There is distinction within various forms of Blues and the chosen instruments have a market impact, but there is I feel an architecture left to us by a number of musical innovators that certainly informs how I convey music and that important source of inspiration is largely lost in what is widely presented as Blues today. The words of Fred McDowell when referring to his music still resonate – ‘I don’t play no Rock and Roll. I play the Natural Blues.’
Where to now?
Gospel is a part of what we play and there may be an audience for this genre in this format. This format is true to the early Gospel Music where a solitary musician accompanied a number of voices. Listen to Fred McDowell with his wife Annie Mae and her colleagues from the Hunter Chapel Choir.
We have been asked to host what may be a monthly ‘Natural Blues’ at a new Belfast venue we will be looking for other acts to invite. We’ll be delighted to return to Omagh for the Bluegrass Festival if invited again.
Gormacha has a great deal of new material to record and we hope to return to the studio in the coming months. Libation and Reparation could do with another iteration.
