[.ca] Feadoga Stain 2

Queen Mary of the Tin Whistle:
Failte Romhat! (Greetings). Feadoga Stain number one was seriously handicapped by the music recording technology of that time period (or lack thereof). However, don't dare to criticize the playing unless you can play along and keep pace. The tin whistle and the bodhran are the best of the best. It is a classic to savor, along side Sean Potts and Paddy Moloney's album "Tin Whistles" recorded in 1973. The second recording is not as handicapped for recording technology, and is their second gem of Celtic Music history. What is a Tin Whistle? It has been, is and probably will ever be a very simple and inexpensive instrument. You can even take sections of plumbing materials and make one. Mary is in an elite group of musicians that includes Paddy Moloney, Joannie Madden, Laurence Nugent, and Joe McKenna. It is traditional to play fast paced reels, jigs and hornpipes on the Tin Whistle accompanied by the Irish Drum, the Bodhran (Boe-rahn or Bow-rahn). Johnny McDonagh like Mary is one of the real pioneers of Celtic Music. The word "Bodhran" is related to "Bodhar," or to deafen, such as a few thousand ancient Celtic warriors pounding on bodhran like shields to discourage the enemy. Crossbars on the back were handy for a shield, or up until the 1930's to stand, dance and play the bodhran for wakes, parades or outside demonstrations with Irish dancing. Thanks to Johnny pioneering the technique, players have removed the crossbars on the back and use a backslide movement to alter the pitch of the drum while playing. Thanks to Johnny, rim strokes are used to accent transitions. Johnny can also be heard playing two drum sticks (tippers) on each other. Johnny is in an elite group of Bodhran players that include Tommy Hayes, Kevin Conneff(Cheiftains), Frank Torpey(Nomos) and Donnchadh Gough(Danu). Mary and Johnny together have a set of jigs and reels here that can be said to be the prototype of fine Irish music for these instruments over the last three decades. How about a reunion album? Feodoga Stain 3? Wherever you are now, Sonas Ort! (happiness unto you). Ceol de Eire go Brach! (Music of Ireland forever!).

Feadoga Stain was a washout, but FS2 is a winner.:
I find Mary Bergin to be phenomenal. There is simply no other word for it. Her playing provokes the same reaction that Scruggs's banjo-picking did: where'd all those notes come from? If you like tin whistle, buy this disc. Don't bother to buy the original Feadoga Stain -- sadly, it was ruined by bad production. But FS2 rescues her. And if you think there's some studio trickery involved, there isn't. Listen to her live in concert. Amazing. And she makes it look easy.

• Rileanna/Reels: The Flogging Reel/The Ivy Leaf/Trim the Velvet
• Poirt/Jigs: The Maid on the Green/The Mooncoin Jig
• Rileanna/Reels: Eileen Curran/Lomanach Cross/Billy Brocker's/Miss ...
• Fonn Mall/Air: Aisling Gheal
• Polcai/Polkas: Julia Clifford's/Jenny Lind's Polka/The Mountain ...
• Cornphiopai/Hornpipes: The Humours of Ballyconnell/Father ...
• Rigaudon/Ril/Reel: The Cameronian
• Rileanna/Reels: Richard Dwyer's/Miss McDonald
• Poirt/Jigs: Sliabh Russell/Kitty's Rambles/Padraig O'Keeffe's
• Rileanna/Reels: Dulaman Na Binne Bui/A Stor, a Stor, a Ghara/The ...
• Rileanna/Reels: Gus Jordan's/Big Pat's Reel/Sweeney's Dream/Eddie ...
• Fonn Mall/Air: Seolfaimid Araon Na Geanna Romhainn
• Rileanna/Reels: The Galtee Rangers/The Gneevgullia Reel/Paddy Kelly's
• Cornphiopai/Hornpipes: O'Callaghan's/Cooley's
• Rileanna/Reels: Micho Russell's Reel/The Laurel Tree/The Woman of ...