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Back to the Starry Lane

by Fintan Vallely and Mark Simos

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Re-mastered, re-mixed and upgraded version of the 1992 album 'The Starry Lane to Monaghan'. The tune order is rearranged also for balanced listening and album integrity.

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about

Back to The Starry Lane
Fintan Vallely and Mark Simos
Very old and new selections of music from and in the Irish and Scottish traditions, on flute and guitar, re-mastered from the original 1991 DAT masters.

The music
This is a collection of old and new, Irish and Scottish Traditional music, a personal selection of Fintan's which arose out of his playing in Scotland with singer Tim Lyons in the 1980s. The music looks both backwards and forwards - beginning in the 18th century Scottish composition period which had tunes that we still play as Traditional music today. Included too are items of the more standard twentieth century Irish piping repertoire, some from Co. Clare, branching into 1950s-onward new composition. The old Scottish material comes from the 1765 Neil Stewart Collection of Scottish Music. Fintan had a privileged glimpse of Sutherland fiddler Charlie Menzies’ copy of the manuscript - the only one in existence outside of the George V Library in Edinburgh - while on tour with Daithí Sproule in 1989. These tunes were chosen for their similarity in style and 'feel' to Irish music, something which suggests that older Irish and Scottish music were once stylistically closer than they are today. A pointer to this is The Duke of Atholl's Rant which has been played in Ireland all through the 1900s as The Humours of Ballyconnell, as is the shorter variant of it Miss Betty Plummer's, which has been played by Co. Antrim bands, and the second part of Miss Chalmers', which is close to the B parts of The Starry Lane to Monaghan and older 4/4 tunes such as The Ships are Sailing, The Connemara Stockings and The Ebb Tide.

credits

released January 26, 2021

Fintan Vallely is from Co. Armagh, in Ulster. He brought out the first ever Irish flute tutor in 1986 (new edition 2011), was The Irish Times and Sunday Tribune critic for Irish music in the 1990s, and compiled the A-Z Companion to Irish Traditional Music (1999, 2011, 2021). Other writings are Sing Up! - Irish Comic Songs and Satires, and Tuned Out - Traditional Music and identity in Northern Ireland. His debut LP album Irish Traditional Music was by Shanachie, New Jersey, in 1979 (CD in 2008), and has a CD of satirical song with Tim Lyons - Big Guns & Hairy Drums (2000) [imusic.ie]. Compánach – music from all the counties of the island of Ireland – has Fintan in collaboration with uilleann piper Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn and fiddle-player Gerry O’Connor in a double CD, to be released with its original concert images as Turas – Virtual Ireland in Music, in early 2021. His most recent album is Merrijig Creek, an album with mostly his own compositions, on which he plays along with his sister Sheena Vallely, also on flute; Caoimhín Vallely (North Cregg); Liz Doherty; Gerry O’Connor (Lá Lugh, Skylark); and Brian Morrissey.

Mark Simos began playing rock music in Los Angeles, evolving into Irish Traditional with Knock na Shee, then as a fiddler songwriter and tunesmith played Old-time, New England, Quebecois, Bluegrass and Klezmer. An accompanist on many albums, his four solo CDs feature original song and old-time-style fiddle tunes. Alison Krauss and Union Station, the Del McCoury Band, Kate Brislin and Jody Stecher have recorded his work. He played on Fintan's 1979 album, but this one arises from a chance encounter in Valpolicella, Italy in 1990. Mark is a songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music, Boston [devachan.com].

Recorded and mixed at Spring Studios in Rostrevor, Co. Down by Colum Sands in March, 1992, issued as cassette by Whinstone, Dublin. Digitised by George Brennan, 2008; corrected & re-mastered by Red Box studios, Belfast 2019. Sleeve notes by Fintan Vallely; design by Martin Gaffney (designworks.ie). Original material © the named composers. All Trad. Arr. arrangements of guitar and flute © Fintan Vallely & Mark Simos. Produced by Whinstone, Dublin (www.whinstone.net). Email - suas@imusic.ie.

Thanks
Grateful thanks to Evelyn Conlon for patience and encouragement; to Andi Ross, Lizzie MacDougall and especially Rita Hunter for the Scottish opportunities; to Colin Douglas for the intro to Scots and Iain Hardie's music, to the wonderful Iain Campbell for the Black Isle hospitality and to Andy Mitchell for the crack; to Charlie Menzies and Pam for hospitality and 'the look at the book'; to Brian Gibson for his colonial roots; to PJ Howell for placing Touch Me if You Dare; to Mick Flynn for his singing, and above all to Iain Hardie, Liz Carroll and the Reavey family for their tunes; to Julian Vignoles, Renée Lawless, Ezio Vaccari, Paul Brady and Hamish Moore for the critical ears and encouragement; to Colum and Barbara Sands for direction; to George Brennan for the earlier CD, and to Dónal O’Connor for remastering; to Niall and Una Vallely for hospitality, to JB Vallely for the original cover, Derek Spiers for photography, and Martin Gaffney for design.

license

Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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about

Fintan Vallely Dublin, Ireland

Performer on flute, Ireland and world-wide since 1967
Workshop teacher on flute - Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy since 1986, Cruinniú na Bhfliúit Ballyvourney, and Tocane, France; and Friday Harbor, Minneapolis and Catskills, USA.
• Five CD albums of solo and group music
• Written /edited 16 books
• Hundreds of reviews
• Three major conferences organised
• Scores of conference papers and articles
... more

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