As a serious musician I think that the journey only really begins when one’s own voicing and phrasing emerges from the years of learning from and largely copying others. Within Classical music the composition led annotation is strict and within our own Traditional music (now a worldwide phenomenon) there is a saying that it is ‘all about the tunes’. Blues and Gospel certainly has its architecture, but as with Jazz, there is more scope to improvise.
As a writer and composer the melodies always came easily, but I feel that much of what I’ve contributed to Gormaha’s Libation and Reparation Albums would have benefitted from a collaboration with others. There are several exceptions, which I’ll mention below.
I was for many years the primary carer for an aging mother and as a family we supported her wish to remain independent for as long as possible as her dementia developed. Drawn To Bins was written about a fascination that she had for different coloured plastic bins. She would call me to the window to look at these ‘wonderful’ shapes that she had never seen before and come evening she would go out and stand gently rocking the assembled bins within the small cul-de-sac where she lived.
An Irish Funeral was based upon a short chapter in Frank Roney’s biography when he wrote about his first love who had died aged 19 from TB. His father William had been first Secretary of the Carpenter’s Union in Belfast and Frank’s life had been a remarkable series of passages, all dedicated to improving the lives of his fellow man. He had been sought out by academic Ira B Cross who was researching the founding of Trades Unions in California. Cross’s encounters with Roney were documented in a wonderful book that we grew up with.
Levels of suicide have grown significantly in the current millennia with adult males accounting for most of the statistics and Belfast becoming its capital. Mother’s Lament is the heartfelt story of one such loss.
I had a copy of the Dusty Bluebells Album that accompanied David Hammond’s powerful 1971 documentary on Belfast children’s street songs. Our Street Songs was based upon the same songs that we all grew up learning to accompany ball and skipping games in an era when children actually played in the streets.
Thanks Charley Patten is a pure Blues tribute to one of the fathers of Blues. Patton has been described as the finest of all Blues singers and much of his legacy can be heard in a collection of his recordings with labels Herwin, Vocalion and Paramount.
See more from Dermot Rooney here
