CELTIC BLUES

I’ve loved the Blues as far back as I can remember, and through this CD I see how beautifully traditional Irish instruments can work to express the same feeling. My first real awareness of a traditional Irish instrument was when I first saw Davy play those ethereal uilleann pipes on the Riverdance video. My exploration of Irish/Celtic music was ignited at that moment, and I can’t think of a finer uilleann pipe player in the world. He says that his time in Riverdance was a real joy for him, and if it made people aware of uilleann pipes and Celtic music, it was time well served.

However, with so many demands on him for other projects, he felt he couldn’t keep up with the heavy touring schedule and returned to make beautiful music with a variety of other musicians. Davy contributed to over half of "The Peace Within" and co-wrote two of the tracks. It also give him the chance to delve fully into the Blues/Celtic connection. He had just hinted at it on "Atlantic Bridge" and later on in "Out of the Air," an "electric blues" CD with many members of Davy’s former band "Moving Hearts" and Rory Gallagher, who was a huge musical influence on Barry. "The Emigrant" on "The Peace Within" CD is dedicated to Rory, and is one of my favorites.

Barry is as expressive on the classical guitar on this lovely instrumental as he is on the most rocking of blues tunes with his searing electric guitar. The passion and feeling comes through, complemented perfectly by Davy’s low whistle on this piece. Barry’s vocals and songwriting skills are also showcased on another of my favorite tracks, "Gotta Let It Go." This CD has a lot of variety, and all of it good! The version of Peter Green’s "Oh Well," a classic of the early Fleetwood Mac era, with Davy’s uilleann pipes added, is like icing on the cake!

Davy’s legion of fans will be pleased to hear that he is launching his own website, which will include information about his recording studio and equipment, and about the uilleann pipes that he makes and which will be offered for sale through the site.

Just as the Irish dance shows ignited worldwide interest in (even non-Irish) folks signing up in droves for Irish dance lessons, so are people buying whistles and pipes and learning how to play. See some of the links for good uilleann pipe sites, including one that has an actual diagram of each part of this amazing instrument. Davy is also producing other artists, and plans to do a follow-up to "The Peace Within" with Barry at some point. See his discography for an idea of how many great musicians he has worked with. Davy has even experimented with African rhythms to good results. Check out his contributions to the Afro-Celt Sound System. He will also being doing some work with Paul Simon, but right now one of his current projects is learning how to use the Internet and adding to www.DavySpillane.com!

Barry has toured for many years around Europe with his former band "Albatross," and they may hold the distinction of being the only band whose 3 CDs were all recorded "Live." For more information about Barry and Albatross, go to the BMC home page.

There you can also find out how to order this very special CD, and even the book that accompanies it, filled with information and pictures about the making of the "The Peace Within."

Regarding the events taking place in Northern Ireland, Barry says "I'm very happy about it and optimistic. On my CD I also refer to a solution, without wanting to tell people what to do. The only way to stop the fighting is to find inner peace. I don't give any answers. Everyone has to find peace in their own soul. I think now there's a big chance to come to a good peace agreement. I didn't pick the title The Peace Within for nothing."

My musical hero was Rory Gallagher, way and beyond anyone else. I don't have any other real heroes. The only other one who comes close is

Peter Green from the original Fleetwood Mac (not the "Rumours" Fleetwood Mac). I do have a lot of people who influenced me and whose music I like. I always listen to the whole song, not just the guitar, or the drums or whatever, so good song-writers are always top on my list.

Jackson Browne has always been one of my absolute favourites in this department. Curtis Steigers I have a lot of respect for, both as a musician and as a songwriter.

I've listened most of my life to Blues, so people like B.B. King, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ronnie Earl, Walter Trout, The Red Devils, Lightin' Slim, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, Ry Cooder, David Lindley stand out as players I like.

An Irish band who existed between 1970 & 1980 called Horslips probably influenced the whole country both in terms of putting on a great show and moving in a new direction musically. They mixed Irish music with Rock, which was quite a popular thing to do in those days. They had a #79 chart position in the American Top#100 with one of their albums which wasn't bad in those days. I got to tour the States with them working as a lighting engineer.

I have come across some great artists while touring in different countries who I really like and knocked me out with their performances. The first one that springs to mind is "Talk to a Stranger" who come from Norway. They are just great. The have a singer who would strip paint off a door from 100 yards with his voice. Incredible.

There is a harmonica player called Jean Jacques Milteau from France who plays beautiful instrumental music and is now writing a lot of film music. Carlos Nunez from Spain who plays the 'gaita' or Galician pipes makes music that I really like to listen to these days.

To be honest, growing up in Ireland and being surrounded by traditional, while only really interested in rock n roll, I wasn't a big fan at all of traditional music. To me it only got in the way of listening to Rory or the Stones or Deep Purple. I think it was when I got older and started to travel with my own band and be introduced to other cultures and their music that I started to realise what I had on my own door step. That's probably why I liked Davy's stuff as much as I did. He could play all those old melancholic airs as well as doing something new with trad. music. He had the key to help me find my way back into that world.

I'm pretty proud of a lot of our Irish artists who have made a contribution to the world stage, so names like Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Paul Brady, Clannad, The Chieftains are all names that rank in my music I like to listen to. Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) was a really great song-writer in my opinion. I think because he was in a hard rock band people didn't really listen to his songs with open ears. He was a poet actually.

  On the Celtic Blues mix of "The Peace Within"

The nice thing about our CD is that it actually shows that the Blues and traditional are pretty much one and the same.

They have such common roots if you care to go back far enough and look. I mean the Irish settlers who settled in the southern States, Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky and further South, brought their music with them obviously.

Now you don't have to be a genius to realise that if you mix that with the black population who were there at that time too, with their musical heritage, that they must have listened to each other and hence influenced each other. Blues, in its most pure form is far removed from what is commonly known as blues today.

The difference is the driving beat in it, which was actually taken over from Irish/Scottish traditional music. But with people traveling all over the world these days, and being exposed to all sorts of different cultures and music styles, not to mention TV and programmes like "World Beat," it's impossible for music not to cross pollinate. I think it's really exciting too.

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