Pub Session • Casey Driessen, Blackie O'Connell & Cyril O'Donoghue • [Otherlands: Ireland]

This recording is the seventh in a new multi-episode project by Casey Driessen titled - OTHERLANDS: A Global Music Exploration.

LOCATION: Doolin, Ireland
DATE: November 19, 2019

CREDITS
Song: Musical Priest / Toss the Feathers / Lucy Campbell's (All traditional)
Music Arranged by: Casey Driessen, Blackie O'Connell & Cyril O'Donoghue
Uilleann Pipes: Blackie O'Connell
Bouzouki: Cyril O'Donoghue
Fiddle & Audio/Video: Casey Driessen
Production Assistant: Molly Nagel
Additional Musical Excerpts: The Frieze Britches / The Miller's Maggot (Intro, traditional); Red Haired Boy (Outro, traditional)

EQUIPMENT
The following Shure microphone was used in the making of this collaboration. If you’re interested in learning more and/or purchasing one, please use the link below. This helps to support the music I make. Thank you.

Shure MV88+ [stereo video mic] (https://amzn.to/3bftnZ5)
ABOUT THIS COLLABORATION
*To hear more of Blackie O’Connell and Cyril O’Donoghue, check out their group, Dubhlinn: (https://www.dubhlinnband.com/).*

Six years ago, I was traveling down the western coast of Ireland with my mother, and we stopped for a night in Doolin. I inquired about local places to hear music, and we landed at McGann's Pub for the evening. Playing that night were Blackie O'Connell on uilleann pipes and Cyril O'Donoghue on bouzouki. I brought my fiddle with me and they took this stranger in for a few tunes. It was a special night on that trip that I've always remembered.

Fast forward to present day. I'm staying outside of Galway, and every local I'm talking to asks if I'm going to the Ennis Trad Fest. Looking at the festival program when I arrive, the name of a session catches my eye and I make a point to check it out first: "Piper Heaven / Piper Hell." There are eight uilleann pipes and one bouzouki playing tunes for 3 hours. On one of the breaks in the music, milling outside the pub, Blackie, Cyril, and I recognize each other from our long ago night in Doolin. I mention we're headed back to Doolin, and it turns out that they will have a gig back at the very same pub, on one of the two nights that we'll be there! So, we hatch a plan to relive our first meeting.

In a way, this is not unlike many of my session nights in Ireland — dimly lit, a few tunes I know and countless others I don't, a buzz of energy…and delicious pints. But as sessions get bigger in numbers of people, the intimacy can diminish. With just the three of us, there was constant connection, at all times.

The tunes I'm sharing here are our final set of the night, instigated by suggestions of tunes I actually knew: “Musical Priest” and “Lucy Campbell's” — but Blackie threw one in between and surprised me. When the night is through, we high five, hug, and promise ourselves that it won't take another 6 years before we play again. This trio is just too fun.
If you’d like to read more about our collaboration, please visit:
http://www.caseydriessen.com/blog/pub-session-with-blackie-oconnell-and-cyril-odonoghue
To follow along the OTHERLANDS project, please visit:
OTHERLANDS Webpage (http://www.CaseyDriessen.com/Otherlands)
Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/caseydriessen),
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/caseydriessen),
or this YouTube channel.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
OTHERLANDS: A Global Music Exploration follows GRAMMY-nominated 5-string American fiddler Casey Driessen as he travels with his family to various countries across the globe to meet with local acoustic-based musicians with roots in their own traditions. Musical exchanges and travels are documented via audio, video and photography elements with collected materials released over the course of the project via his website and social media outlets and official musical releases likely to come at the end of travels.

OTHERLANDS is an independently designed and produced project that is self-contained with a small collection of audio and video equipment. All engineering and recording, including any post-production, can be set up, operated, and completed by Casey wherever on the globe he happens to be.

For more information and to follow the project, please visit — http://www.CaseyDriessen.com/Otherlands

Видео Pub Session • Casey Driessen, Blackie O'Connell & Cyril O'Donoghue • [Otherlands: Ireland] канала Casey Driessen