Traditional Irish and Folk Music
26
Sep
New music on Ceol FM from Frankie Simon – Ireland West Guitar
We get a lot of music sent to Ceol FM and every single album is uploaded within days when time allows. We were delighted to receive the latest album from Frankie Simon this morning called Ireland West Guitar. This album is packed with 26 fantastic tracks where the guitar is the main melody instrument. You will hear this on Ceol FM right now but we suggest that you support Frankie Simon by Buying the Ireland West Guitar album from his website. The press release for this album follows.
Ireland West Guitar – New Irish Music Guitar Album Frankie Simon, comes from Boyle, Co Roscommon in the Northwest of Ireland. He is a self-taught guitarist and composer, with wide ranging musical influences and tastes. While his main instrument is the guitar, he composes quite a lot at the piano. He spent many years in London playing all types of music on the West End Club scene. For a number of years he was the lead acoustic guitarist with the “Bully Wee Band”, with whom he recorded two albums of Irish and Scottish music. While in London, he composed music for the documentary film “Jack Charlton’s Angling Ireland”, which was shown on Channel 4 and RTE Television. Frankie eventually returned home to Ireland, where he immersed himself in the demanding art of playing traditional Irish Music on the guitar. He attributes his style to the influence of the fiddle and flute players from the West of Ireland. At the annual Summer School in Tubbercurry Co Sligo, Frankie taught classes in Trad guitar (melody-playing) for several years. He has also taught classes at Ceolaras Coleman, a Centre for excellence in Traditional Irish Music, which was built in Gurteen, Co. Sligo, in memory of the great Sligo fiddle player Michael Coleman. In parallel with teaching and performing came the recording of Frankie’s much acclaimed acoustic guitar album “Slipstream” …… twelve tracks of blazing reels, jigs, and hornpipes, in his own highly developed style. Following a break from recording of more than 20 years , Frankie decided to make up for lost time and the result is his second instrumental album “Ireland West Guitar” which will initially be available as a 26-track online download . A CD will eventually follow. His Father who was a fiddle player, was a major early influence. Frankie takes up the story. “When we played together, he would sometimes tap my guitar with his bow, letting me know he wanted me to play the melody rather than the accompaniment. The daily musical menu in our house consisted of the recordings of Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran and John McKenna among others. In general however, my guitar style was and is mostly influenced by the Northwest of Ireland flute players. Their ornamentation very much appeals to me and I still find getting around those rolls quite a challenge , though an enjoyable one ! I hope you will find listening to these tunes equally enjoyable” The album features guest appearances on some tracks by the following masterful musicians: Matt McGranaghan (Fiddle), Paul Gurney (Piano and Accordion), Keith Connolly (percussion) and Paudraic McGovern (Uillean Pipes). The album was recorded at Paul Gurney’s Real World Studios in Longford, where Paul proved to be a great source of humour, ideas and encouragement.Frankie’s Guitar album “Ireland West Guitar” is available to download on his website here.