Live from Sweden, it’s JEARV! March 1, 2020 at The Ware Center in Lancaster.

Jaerv, an energetic group of five Swedish musicians who draw from jazz, pop, and other musical genres in an extroverted, vigorous, and heartfelt folk music style, comes to Central Pennsylvania for a Susquehanna Folk Music Society concert on Sunday, March 1, 2020, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ware Center’s Owen Salon, 42 N. Prince Street, Lancaster, PA.

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A Jaerv performance combines five-voice vocal blending with energetic dances and free improvisation. Members of Jaerv include Harald Nilsson on guitar and vocals; Tobias Hedlund, percussion; Anders Bergsten, double bass, myckelharpa (keyfiddle) and vocals; Markus Gustavsson, fiddle and lead vocals; and Joel Hagen, flute, whistles, soprano saxophone, EWI (electronic wind instrument), and vocals.

With so many instruments and such different musical backgrounds, Jaerv is careful to create a pleasing acoustic sound. Reviewers say the double bass, flute, soprano saxophone, fiddle, nyckelharpa, and drums create broadness and energy in their arrangements.

Concert tickets are $25 General Admission, $22 for SFMS members and $5 for students ages 3-22. Advance tickets are available at The Ware Center, by calling (717) 871-7600 or online at http://studentservicesinc.vbotickets.com/event/jaerv/36690.

For more information, visit the Susquehanna Folk Music Society website at www.sfmsfolk.org

Recently we had a chance to speak to Joel Hagen, Jaerv’s flute and saxophone player.

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FOLKMAMA: Can you describe your music? What styles do you draw from?

JOEL: Our music is best described as traditional Scandinavian folk music with influences from pop, jazz and Celtic music. We combine five voiced harmonies with traditional folk instruments such as the nyckelharpa.

FOLKMAMA: Where do you get your repertoire? Do you write it yourselves, or is it mostly traditional music?

JOEL: We usually pick traditional Swedish tunes, from a specific part of the country, and then arrange the music together as a group. About half of the repertoire is traditional music, the other half is written by someone in Jaerv. 

FOLKMAMA: Can you talk about the instruments that you play. Are the instruments traditionally used in Swedish Folk music? What about the beautiful harmony singing? is that traditional?

JOEL: The nyckelharpa would be the most traditional Swedish instrument. It is widely used in Swedish folk music and you would even find many nyckelharpa communities in the US. The harmony singing is quite common among female groups but not male groups so we are very unique in that sense.  The other instruments we have with us are all used in Swedish folk music but you would also find them in other styles and countries. However, the combination and range of the instruments we have with us is quite special for Swedish folk music.

FOLKMAMA: You played in our area just last summer, and before that a year ago in Lancaster.  What projects have you worked on since then?

JOEL: We have had many projects going on during the last year. This Christmas we did five concerts together with three different choirs. About 10 of our songs have been arranged for choir and also published and distributed to many other choirs across Sweden. We have also been working with a Japanese Koto player, both touring with her in Sweden and also recorded some music together where Jaerv sings in Japanese (!).

FOLKMAMA:  If folk music from Sweden Celtic, or does it come from different roots entirely?

JOEL: Swedish folk music would have its roots more from the southern part of Europe. Many Swedish tunes are very similar to baroque and other classical music. But you would also find Celtic influences which came later on through the trade exchange with Great Britain. 

FOLKMAMA: Your first concert for SFMS was in 2009. What changes have occurred in the band since the?

JOEL: It has been over 10 years!? Well, much has happened I hope:) Plenty of more vocals. We have added an organ, six-string guitar, Irish whistles, a tenor nyckelharpa, lots of new percussion and a much better sound! 

Interview With Irish Trio HighTime: “We Want to Bring The Audience on an Adventure.”

HighTime, a fresh new trio from the heart of the Connemara region in Ireland, will bring their mix of traditional Irish and modern folk music to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York on Sunday, February 23rd. The evening begins at 7:30 pm.  The concert is sponsored by the Susquehanna Folk Music Society.  More information can be found on the Susquehanna Folk Music Society website. Tickets are $25 General Admission, $21 for SFMS Members, and $10 for students (ages 3-22).  Tickets will be available at the door or online.

Earlier this week, band members Séamus Ó Flatharta, (Celtic Harp, whistle, bódhran drum, Irish dancing & vocals) Ciarán Bolger, (guitar and vocals) and Conall Ó Flatharta (flute, whistle & vocals) chatted with SFMS staff writer Peter Winter about the groups origins, their 2018 debut “SUNDA,” and being ambassadors of the Irish Gaelic language.

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Where does the band name come from?

Ciarán (Guitar/Vocals): The name “HighTime” came about in reference to a feeling within the band and between its members that it was long overdue (high time) that we started a band seeing as we had been playing together for so long. 

This is a widely used saying in Ireland and throughout the world. Séamus and I are more accustomed to the Gaelic version of this saying as we come from a Gaeltacht (Irish Speaking) area in Connemara in west Galway. This expression has an equivalent in the Irish/Gaelic language (thar ama – pronounced haur – awwmah).

HighTime also implies a fun, fresh and exciting experience which is what the band aims to give their audiences at each show using music, songs in the English language as well as the Irish language, dance and story.

How did the three of you all begin playing together?

Ciarán: Séamus and I have known each other since childhood. We are next door neighbours living on the same mountain face with a small cattle field separating both houses, looking out over Ardmore bay in Connemara, County Galway. For as long as we can remember, our families have been playing music together.

In 2015, Michael and I met while performing with a touring professional Irish music and dance show, Celtic Legends. Michael hails from the Irish Music hub of Manchester, England and has been living in Ireland for many years; moving over permanently to study and graduate from the highly regarded University of Limerick where he attained an Honours BA in Traditional Irish Music & Dance. 

Séamus and Michael met later in march of 2016 while performing at the Hövelhof Irish Music festival alongside Séamus’ older brother, Conall and I. This sparked a huge connection between all of us and the band, as a three piece outfit, was formed officially in late 2017. In early 2019, Michael replaced Conall as a full time member.

How did you decide on “Sunda” the title of your 2018 debut album?

Ciarán: Sunda, as an album name, came about as a play on words initially. In the Gaelic language, Sunda means Sound – the nautical term for a stretch of water between land and an island etc. There are many such sounds to be observed on the rugged west coast of Ireland where Séamus and I hail from.

However we found that it came to represent a deeper meaning within the band; the will to navigate between the tradition of Irish music and also other influences we have in music and to showcase that in our music and in the debut album. 

Two of you grew up learning Irish Gaelic, do you think the traditional language of Ireland is becoming more wide spread?

Séamus (Harp, Dance, Vocals): We certainly hope so! Wherever we go, we try and fly the flag for the language, so to speak, and generate an interest among our audiences. We feel that this a great platform to get people excited about the language. It is an exceptionally beautiful language and we feel it is our duty to showcase it during our shows and to make songs in the Irish language as well as phrases relatable to audiences of all ages and nationalities.

The more utility a language has, the stronger it is and can become. We feel that music and the arts in general can be a great way to give any language utility. Music is a true mode of expression after all! We hope that by weaving Gaelic into HighTime shows people will feel the urge to learn more about the language and take initiative to find out more.

How do the three of you balance honoring tradition but also bringing your own innovations to this music?

Séamus: I don’t think this is something we do consciously, it’s more of a natural occurrence. Because our tradition and culture has been such an integral part of our upbringing, it’s almost inevitable that it should emerge in whatever style or genre we decide to explore. 

As three very curious and open minded individuals, we are very interested in exploring different genres as a band. We have a somewhat unique and flexible approach to our musical and vocal arrangements. We thrive off drawing from different influences and inspirations, be they traditional or more contemporary, while allowing our interpretation of the music to materialize with as much time and space as we see fit. Similarly when it comes to our original compositions, our tradition, culture and language remain an integral part of the finished product.

What are some other musical acts (of any genre) that have been an influence on you three?

Michael (Flute, Whistles, Vocals): I am hugely influenced by great flute players such as Matt Molloy and Michael McGoldrick, Alan Doherty, Kieran Munnelly, etc. I listen to a range of different music from different world traditions too. I particularly enjoy backing up voices harmonically with the flute and am influenced a lot by vocal music. I think we all have a keen interest in singing and harmony singing which is why it is to the fore in our music. Ciarán, no doubt, has been influenced by the great Irish balladeers such as The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Paul Brady and Andy Irvine (the list goes on!). Yet we all have very broad musical tastes especially in the wider folk music world.

I think the areas that we grew up in also massively influenced us. It’s clear that Séamus and Ciaran are influenced by the traditions and musicians of their native Connemara area, be it Sean Nos singing or the instrumental music of the region.  Séamus would have  grown up listening to the singing of Connemara Sean Nós legends such as Bríd Ní Mhaoilchiarán, Joe John Mac an Iomaire and Josie Sheain Jeaic Mac Donnacha. In a broader sense as a harpist, the likes of Michael Rooney, Laoise Kelly and Michelle Mulcahy have been massive influences.

What do you want audiences to walk away with from a High Time show?

Michael: We hope that they walk away with a sense of joy and fun at the end of a show. There is a big sense of community in any traditional music genre and we love getting the audience involved in the show whether it be singing, clapping or dancing along.

We like to exhibit many facets of the traditions of Irish music, Irish song, language and dance throughout the show and hope that we can foster an interest for these aspects in our audiences. Irish music is full of life and as a band, we are always wanting to give the audience an uplifting experience. 

In a sense, we also want to bring the audience on an adventure. As with any adventure, there are always ups and downs and we bring these struggles and triumphs to light throughout the show. We love telling the stories that underpin the music and songs. This means navigating through history and culture; whether it be through sorrowful haunting sean nós songs as well as lively blasts of traditional tunes with Irish dancing.  Most of all though we want our audiences to walk away feeling energized (and wanting to come back and see another show)!

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Peter Winter lives in Harrisburg where he writes, teaches music, plays in the Celtic group Seasons, DJs, runs half of the record label His & Hers Records and serves on the board of the SFMS. He is on instagram

Interview with Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh fiddler and founder of Celebrated Irish Group Altan: “I’m Very Proud That The Band Has Continued And Evolved.”

Altan, one of Ireland’s foremost traditional groups, will bring its combination of tunes and songs to the Abbey Bar, located above the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg  on Thursday, February 20th. The evening begins at 7:30 pm.  The concert is sponsored by the Susquehanna Folk Music Society.  More information can be found on the Susquehanna Folk Music Society website. Tickets are $30 General Admission, $25 for SFMS Members, and $10 for students (ages 3-22).  Tickets will be available at the door or online.

Earlier this week, fiddler, vocalist, and co-founder of Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh chatted with SFMS staff writer Peter Winter via email about the musical tradition of Donegal where the band hails from, her work with the organizaion Cairdeas na bhFidléirí (Friendship of Fiddlers), and what keeps Altan exciting after 30 years!

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So much of your music is a celebration of the musical tradition of your home county of Donegal. What do you associate with the music of this region?

County Donegal is situated in the North West of Ireland. On the Western part it is dominated by the Derryveagh mountains, which divides the county between the bog land and the good farming land. This varied topography gives Donegal a distinctive style in the musical dialects of the area as a whole! It seems to lean towards Scotland in its music, where a lot of the people had to emigrate to make a living and in turn brought back songs and tunes! Today the fiddle is the main instrument in the county but all of the other instruments , flies, pipes, whistles and accordions are also in abundance.

You founded Altan in the late 80s. What about this band has kept it
exciting and fulfilling for you over the years?

Myself and my late husband Frankie Kennedy started the band together,
never planning to take it too seriously as we were both teaching at the
time. But after 30 something years of touring and life in general I’m very
proud that the band has continued and evolved. I am really excited about this latest combo and our latest album The Gap of Dreams, as I feel with Martin Tourish (accordion) and myself playing melody and Ciaran (bouzouki) and Dáithí (guitar) adding great color with their accompaniment, the music has a very special dynamic and depth.

What was behind the decision to return to Donegal for newest album
“The Gap of Dreams” (2018)?

We wanted to indulge in the atmosphere and source of our music.
It seemed that it was time to go to the hills of Donegal and play the
music of the area. It worked as when we would travel to the studio daily, we would stop and appreciate where we really were. As an artist would bring his easel and paints out to paint a picture, we would bring the images into
the studio while playing and singing! The Gap (of the title) being that space between this world and the other!

You are a founding member of Cairdeas na bhFidléirí. Could you explain a bit about what this group stands for and why it is important to you?

Cairdeas na bhFidléirí meaans the “Friendship of Fiddlers,” which was set
up in the early eighties (circa 1982) to promote and make sure that the
fiddle music and style of Donegal was preserved and passed on to future generations. Donegal fiddling is unique and very different to other Irish fiddling styles. It also has a very unusual repertoire which isn’t found anywhere else!

What do you hope audiences take away from an Altan show?

I hope everyone will enjoy the show! I also hope that listeners will take away an understanding of the deep tradition of songs, both in my native language Gaelic and English, and of course the unique fiddle music of the area.

Who are artists in traditional music that are inspiring and interesting to you right now?

I’m enjoying so many young musicians at the moment! I can’t get over the standard and integrity of the musicianship these young musicians have obtained. I love listening to a young Dublin fiddler by the name of Liam O’Connor, Another one to look out for is Iarla O’Donnell. There’s also a 12 year old Donegal fiddler by the name of Brandon Shovelin that blows me away. There are so many amazing musicians, Rebecca McCarthy Kent, Aoife Ní Bhrídín, Molly Wall….. I could go on! Recently while discussing this with one of Donegal’s veteran fiddlers Danny Meehan, he pointed out that long ago we looked to all the older musicians for inspiration; but that now its the opposite! We are looking at the younger generation for inspiration! He was so right!

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Peter Winter lives in Harrisburg where he writes, teaches music, plays in the Celtic group Seasons, DJs, runs half of the record label His & Hers Records and serves on the board of the SFMS. He is on instagram.

The Missy Raines Quartet plays in Harrisburg on Sunday, February 9

A Journey with an Upright Kay Bass, and Missy Raines

by Curtis Rockwell

            At 7:30 PM on February 9, 2020, at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, we will be welcoming the critically acclaimed Missy Raines and the Missy Raines Quartet for a Susquehanna Folk Music Society sponsored concert. 

Missy was awarded the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bass Player of the Year award for the eighth time in 2019.  Her most current album, Royal Traveller, produced by banjo wizard and veteran musician Alison Brown, was awarded the IBMA instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. 

For tickets and information visit: https://www.sfmsfolk.org/concerts/MissyRainesTrio.html

I had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about her musical journey, and about some of her current projects.  Here are some of the highlights:

What brought you to performing Bluegrass music and the upright bass?

            “As a kid my parents were already into bluegrass music.  They were going to hear live music – that’s what they did for fun and they did that before I was born.  They were seeing early country music.”

            “A few years later I came along and I grew up where there was always bluegrass on the radio.  So I started playing piano early on because music seemed like part of my life, and then I switched to guitar because I was more and more saturated with bluegrass.  My role models at the time were Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman.  But then one day my dad bought a bass, I think on a whim, and so it was in the house, and so as a kid, you know, you’re curious and you’re already showing a certain musical interest so I just started picking it up and playing it and I really liked it and just stayed with it.  That bass that he bought, turned out, is a really nice Kay and it’s the bass that I play today.”

When did you start playing publicly and professionally?

            “I was playing in bands and in bars that I wasn’t old enough to be in since I was like twelve or thirteen years old.  I played in bands in high school, every weekend so I didn’t participate in the high school football games and dances because I was always gigging somewhere, and I was very happy with that.  As soon as I graduated from high school, I left and went out on my own and started playing with bands.  I’m not saying I made quite a living that way during those days, but I’ve just always been playing.”

If I were to steal your car, what music would I find you were listening to? 

            “You might find Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Lucinda Williams, you know, Christian McBride, and lately just about anything.  I try to listen to a little bit of everything.  Yesterday I was going through my iTunes list and I was listening to Grizzly Bear, but you know I probably hadn’t listened to that in five or six years.  I really like to keep it going and I’m always trying to listen to new stuff and hear what’s being made today.  Bonnie Raitt is a perennial favorite.  That’s classic – that’ll never go away.  But I’m also getting ready to download some Billie Eilish.  I love everything.  Bluegrass is what I know best.  If I’m going to listen to bluegrass, I’m going to listen to Bill Monroe and Tony Rice and I’m going to listen to the Nashville Bluegrass Band and stuff like that.”

Can you reflect on how Bluegrass has changed or evolved over the last several decades?

            “I was first affected by traditional bluegrass which is what I’d heard, but then the evolution started as early as The Country Gentlemen.  At the time, they were considered very contemporary and very modern, and changing what bluegrass was.  Of course now they’re considered very traditional, but you have to put yourself in that place and in that time.  Then Sam Bush came along and he created things like Newgrass and that was more influenced, I think, by rock music and some jazz, but more contemporary rock for its day.  And that completely influenced and became a part of what I was interested in.  Then you’ve got folks like Tony Rice and David Grisman, both of whom had this complete traditional thing happening but they brought in jazz and various things at the time.  It became, for lack of a better term, Dawg Music – this sort of acoustic music that was influenced largely from jazz. So all of those things were hugely influential to me, because that’s what I was hearing when I was coming of age.  The way I still see them is, it wasn’t even just the music that specifically they were creating, but it was the act of the influence.  It was the fact that I started seeing this cycle.  I had been part of this my whole life.  Ever since I can remember, I’ve known who these musicians were and I could recognize how they were all different from each other, so to me, what bluegrass defined was innovation, like was supposed to be and meant to be a process of – oh – you hear this then you do this and it might not sound like what you just heard, but it will be influenced by and enriched by it, and that’s part of the process.”

            “I think the most important thing for me has been where others may seem to grasp and hold on to what they think bluegrass is supposed to be – it’s supposed to be something that happened in 1946 and didn’t change – I don’t see that.  I do love that sound – I might want to hear that and love it and relive it for what it is, but I don’t believe that’s what I’m supposed to do.  I look inside and try to pull out something that’s unique to me that represents the things that been pouring into my life and pouring into my head and what I’ve been influenced by.  That includes a whole other world of music as well.  The ones who are making a difference are the ones who are learning from the tradition, learning from the masters, and then putting their own spin on it.  They’ve all done it, but they’ve all done it differently, so there’s room for everything in my mind.”

How has the role of women in Bluegrass changed?

            “It’s definitely changing and improving, but there’s lots of room for it to get even better.  It’s changed since I’ve been playing, since I first got started, and that was better than it was twenty years before that.  It’s always evolving, but I think we have a long ways to go.  I play in a sometimes band called The First Ladies of Bluegrass.  We are the first five women to win in our instrumental categories from the International Bluegrass Music Association.  The first IBMA awards show was in, I think, 1990.  The first woman to have won in that arena was Allison Brown, and I think that was in 1992.  I didn’t win until 1998, and then I didn’t win till almost 10 years later, but what that span represents is how much faster we’re moving now as opposed to how slowly we were moving for a long time. I think honestly the internet has changed all that and made everything move faster, so we’ve got a long ways to go.  I’m proud to still be here.”

Tell me a little bit about your online program for teaching aspiring musicians to play the bass.

            “I have an online school called the Artistworks Academy of Bluegrass, School of Bass.  The Artistworks folks are amazing, it’s one of the best companies I’ve ever been associated with.  So I created a curriculum online available to subscribers where they go and the can cherry pick whatever lessons they want to and they can go at their own pace and they can loop the lessons. The other element is the video exchange which is so unique.  So folks can upload a video of themselves, so even though its online and we’re not having “Skype” lessons, they are getting actual personal interactions with me because I look at the videos and then I respond to them personally with my own video and talk about what they brought up.  It’s really rewarding because it’s allowed me to have such a broad reach all over the world and I wouldn’t ever be able to possibly teach all the students that I reach individually through this school. There just wouldn’t be enough hours in the day.”

            “I do love teaching and I try to do at least two to three music camps every year.  It’s part of what I’ve done. I started teaching seriously around 1998 and it’s something that I really do enjoy.”