KiwiCelt Wooden Flutes

If there is a fast way to get to know the quintessential qualities of any country, it must surely be through the music of that land. The traditional music of any country sits proudly on it’s head like a crown for all to see – proclaiming it’s soul and attributes. There are many bright jewels in the crown that adorns Ireland, the crown known as Irish traditional music, and they all have their own character, colour and lustre. Colm O’Donnell is one of those many jewels who’s love for Ireland and her music tradition shines bright. He is a man of his land, indeed a man of the land, and as talented, versatile and authentic traditional musician as you will find in Ireland.

Flute and whistle player, singer, composer and researcher, Colm O’Donnell was born in the parish of Kilmactigue, County Sligo in 1962. He works now as a farmer, forester, shepherd and sheep dog trainer on the family farm which straddles the Ox Mountains (The Sliabh Gaimh) and much of his music reflects his strong connection with the land. His album, Farewell to Evening Dances, hit my mailbox a few days ago and listening to it, I was struck immediately by Colm’s love for the land and for Ireland. It’s an outstanding contribution in my opinion. Here’s an excerpt from a review of the album in Bogfire:

“With the release of Farewell to Evening Dances, a trip to Sligo will not be required to experience the music of All-Ireland winner Colm O’Donnell. It contains a broad, interesting cross-section of material. Newer tunes in the traditional idiom include two lovely reels, The Road to Monalea and Up Spinc’n, composed by Colm. The heartfelt slow air, An Tonn Amplach (The Hungry Sea), another Colm composition, is dedicated to the memory of three young Sligo lads who lost their lives off the coast of County Sligo in May, 1998. The title Farewell to Evening Dances, is taken from the song The Hill of Knocknashee, a sentimental and lyrical ballad of exile that has become to some extent a type of Sligo anthem. Colm’s songs are suffused with a ring of authenticity. His flute and whistle playing is lively, bouncy, and varied, ornamented in the great North Connacht tradition with the odd delightful individual fleck or turn. Colm’s singing style is sweet, tuneful, and full of soul.”

This is the opening track of Farewell to Evening Dances, The Road to Monalea/Up Spici’n (reels):

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Some good news: Martin Doyle, who, for those that don’t already know, is a maker of fine wooden flutes who hails from County Clare in Ireland, has just launched his own website: Martin Doyle Flutes. This from Martin’s Homepage:

Since 1983, Martin Doyle has been producing high quality simple system wooden flutes that are used predominantly in Irish traditional music. His flutes, both with and without tuning slides and keys, have become renowned for their ease of playing and quality of tone.

Martin’s website has all the features you would expect – an About page that offers an overview of Martin’s life and development as a flute maker, a Flute & Prices page listing all aspects, details and the prices of his flutes, an FAQ page, Testimonials from people who play his flutes, Contact details, and more.

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Like most people, I get a lot of spam and rubbish among my email – like, probably 95%! One becomes used to it even though it’s not nice to receive such stuff. And, like most people, I also get email that is ho-hum – stuff you just have to deal with but is a bit of a drag. As they say in New York, “Whadayagunnado?” Deal with it right? Right! Well, today I received a different type of email that gave me a lot of joy!

Last week a friend of mine from Italy sent me a sampling of Colm O’Donnell’s album Farewell To Evening Dances - an album that has been described on Bogfire as “A wonderful collection of traditional song, flute and tin whistle music from a naturally gifted musician.”

From the little I have heard of it, it’s a lovely Irish traditional album with plenty of variety. Our friends at Celtic Grooves have posted a review of Farewell To Evening Dances – part of which reads:

“[…] Colm’s flute and whistle music is one of the sweetest you’ll ever hear, whether he plays an old tune or one of his excellent compositions. His performance of his own air “An Tonn Amplach” (The Hungry Sea) is achingly beautiful. If that weren’t enough, Colm’s traditional-style singing in Gaelic and English as well as his lilting are no less than remarkable. […]”

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Last week, we let it be known that a second-hand Martin Doyle flute had come up for auction on eBay. It sold for a good price, but the same flute has come up for auction again as it seems that the original sale fell through. Perhaps a bitter experience has prompted the seller to add to this second listing: Please, only GENUINE BIDDERS should make a bid… (We feel your pain Monsieur…) The auction has about 38 hours to run at the time of this article being posted.

So here, once again, is the low-down:

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Wood flute grenadilla silver Martin Doyle in key of D

Wooden flute, grenadilla & silver in key of D Made by Martin Doyle, maker from Dublin (Co. Clare these days actually), Ireland.

The tuning is perfect, the sound is gorgeous, and the flute is in perfect condition (even though it has signs of having been played). It comes with the original box signed by Martin Doyle. The silver band is engraved with celtic motifs; the flute is the ‘celtic design’ flute. There are no cracks, no problems with this flute and it has been very well cared for.

This flute has been played and well looked after. It was bought in 2004.

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The photo’s aren’t the best, but I’d say that this flute looks pretty good.

Happy bidding:
Wood flute grenadilla silver Martin Doyle in key of D

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We are very fortunate to have a new interview on KiwiCelt Wooden Flutes with an inspiring individual who is one of the leading figures of the Irish traditional music scene here in New Zealand.

Based in the South Island town of Nelson, Bob Bickerton has been around the folk, Celtic and Irish traditional music scene since the early 1980’s. He is the current chairman of Ceol Aneas – New Zealand’s traditional Irish music workshops that are held in Nelson each year and are modelled on the Willie Clancy and the South Sligo summer schools of Ireland.

Bob took a similar path to that travelled by many a dedicated flute player – he bought one of those cheap tin whistles after becoming inspired by hearing some Chieftains music on the radio in his formative years! That lead to “harder drugs” and an old wooden flute soon found it’s way into Bob’s hands. Here’s what happened next:

And then I though, OK, I’m going to do this properly and I went to a flute teacher and asked for a lesson. And when she saw the (wooden) flute, she said, “Nobody plays those things any more – go away!” – Bob Bickerton.

But, as the saying goes, “You can’t hold a good man down!” Bob Bickerton is now multi-instrumentalist performer, recording artist, composer, producer and recording engineer. He is a past director of The Nelson School of Music who has encouraged the development of community programmes, with particular emphasis on children’s education. He has performed to over 150,000 students in schools over the last 20 years and has received critical acclaim for the quality of his educational programmes as well as his ability to engage children in an inspiring way.

It’s the heart and that’s so important in the music. There’s a tendency for people to think that they have to be the best technicians and the best at learning all the tunes, but actually it’s to do with who you are and not what you play. – Bob Bickerton.

We are very grateful to Bob for taking the time to record this inspiring and informative interview and do hope you enjoy it…

Read more: Bob Bickerton Interview.

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