While writing on Thursday we were on a bus to Killaloe. It’s a small town in the region of Ontario. It was a part of the tour that I was looking forward to. In Ireland we have a town called Killaloe as well. A thousand years ago, this town was the capital of Ireland as it is where King Brian Ború ruled from. In 1014, Brian Ború was killed at the battle of Clontarf while defending Ireland from the Danes. Therefore, it was quite nice to meet people from a town with the same name here in Canada.

We travelled seven hours from Shannon in Quebec to Killaloe and the first sight that greeted us was streets lined with Irish flags, painted stones and scenery that rivalled our own. In fact, one of the people on the bus remarked: “It’s raining, the sky is grey, there are Irish flags and most of the names in the grave yard are Irish. It feels like home”. The people of Killaloe certainly made us feel like we had come home. We got off the bus to a lovely meal and a room full of people whose excitement was tangible. After eating enough for a small army, we were treated to some brilliant music from local musicians and dancers. Children as young as seven sang expertly and local musicians who had spent time in Ireland entertained us with stories and songs. Of course, we couldn’t just sit there all night so we gladly joined in. It was great to play with local musicians again. The quality of music over here is brilliant. I even got the chance to meet with a piper named Paul. He played the Scottish small pipes. Although they aren’t as nice as the Uilleann pipes, I was still delighted to give them a go. I’m quite happy with the tunes I got from them as well. They are played differently to the Uilleann pipes. Instead of the drones resting over your leg, they are suspended by the force of the air going through the bag over your right forearm just below your shoulder. They only have one octave and the wholes on the chanter are tiny. The set I played were in A and they sounded really nice.

We had a great typical traditional Irish session there. It was like being home.

Afterword, we were introduced to our host family and after a quick beer and a chat we got some much needed sleep. Killaloe is mainly built on top of one really large rock. Not that it’s relevant but it’s interesting. They also get tremors from time to time. The town is home to about 700 people and most have Irish names.

On Friday morning, we played in a primary school. There were two schools within about a minute walk away from each other. One is a public school and the other is a catholic school. I really liked that the children from the catholic school were invited to the public school for our performance. Our instruments were described in detail and we had a minute to play a short example. Of course, as I was playing in a school, I decided to have a bit of fun so I didn’t play an Irish tune, instead I played a children’s song called I’m a little tea pot. It was really funny. That tune was hummed by members of the group for an hour after the performance. It got stuck in people’s heads. The performance in the school only lasted an hour but I was energised by it for the day. I loved that the kids had no inhibitions about clapping along. It was so relaxed.

After the school performance we had a brief tour of Killaloe. The town is tiny so the tour only took about 20 minutes but it was interesting none the less. We heard about how the rail line was only used up until the 1950’s before it was removed. The tour guide mentioned that they could travel from there to Toronto and back in less than a day. Now it takes two days as public transport from or too Killaloe is very poor. The railway track was ripped out in 1986 after the stations was removed in 1960 and in 2004, a student completing her masters in gardening landscaped the area where the track ran through the centre of Killaloe to commemorate the railway. A path now runs over the same route that the track took and a design using red bricks on the edge of the path shows where the rack lay. We also heard about a large fire that destroyed 7 businesses and four houses in 1950. Fortunately, men in that had been drinking in a hotel on the same road fought the fire and successfully bought it under control before any further damage could be done. In 1927 a flood covered the same area with three feet of water.

As you can tell, I’m trying to soak up as much knowledge during my trip through Canada as possible. I am absolutely fascinated by the people, the geography and the history.

After the tour we passed a local radio station and as a few of us expressed an interest in it, we went in to pay the managers and presenters a visit. It’s a small local station with a catchment area of about 100 miles so in many respects, it’s similar to our local station LMFM. It’s a tiny place in the middle of the town. The walls are lined with records, tapes and a few CD’s. They have no computerized repository but a local man has written their station management software which is really interesting. They seem to have similar license requirements compared to our local stations. They are also streaming online so I’ve suggested that they stream to iTunes or at the very least podcast their live shows.

After the radio station, we paid a visit to their local grave yard. This was an unusual thing to do but if you think about it, it was fitting. I have had a real emotive connection to the stories and songs that I’ve heard in Canada. I have often thought of emigrating with my family and I’m still thinking about it. That’s a post for another day of course. It’s one thing thinking about emigrating but it’s another thing entirely leaving your family, your country, your friends and your culture to move somewhere else. I think it’s one of the reasons why I have been so enthralled by the songs and stories I’ve heard over here. People left here when there was no skype, no mobile phones, no Internet and no easy travel. They missed home. They were heart broken. To ease their suffering, and retain their unique identity, they spread the Irish culture. However, most of them dreamt of returning home someday. When they couldn’t, they asked that their origin be marked on their grave stone so that family and friends who came looking would find them. We found McCarthy, McPhail, Riley, Dwyer, Holly, Lynch, Geeran, Murray, Daly, murphy, Flynn, and many many more. The graves were often simple but some grave stones even had transcriptions and prayers in Irish. I get the impression that a hundred years ago, this was a thriving Irish settlement. They lost some of their connections with Ireland but they didn’t lose their identity or culture. Recently, with the Irish gathering, and now the Comhaltas tour, that connection has been firmly re-established and the elation of the 700 residents of Killaloe can be felt clearly.

The songs and stories really meant a lot to me but visiting the grave yard really had an impact on me. Yes, people made a life for themselves here and many of them were successful and have been the foundations of what are now thriving and solid communities but they still missed home. They still wanted to get back to Ireland and when they died, they wanted people know where they came from. Therefore, when everyone had gone, myself and Ken returned to the graveyard with two local ladies so that I could play two slow airs. It was my way of quietly paying tribute to those who left Ireland when there was little hope of returning. We had bought Irish culture to Killaloe and to their descendants but I wanted to bring some culture to their forbears.

I played amazing grace there as the first tune. It was the first time I played it since the 25th of May at my granny’s burial. It was quite difficult to play it again because it bought back a day I didn’t handle particularly well but it was fitting.

Last night, we played for a packed hall of 600 people. We were in great spirits starting the performance and our energy carried right through to the audience. They seemed to love it. My favourite solos continue to be Rebecca’s first tune on Fiddle, Anna on harp and Clara on Concertina. All the other musicians in the group are spectacular. Their solos reflect this but these are three of my favourites. In relation to the musicians, I have rarely seen such talent. I’m in awe of some of them. They play such an array of instruments and they have such a lovely style. I have no problem saying this either. I consider myself to be a reasonable piper and an adequate bodhran player but the day I stop learning is the day I’ll stop playing. I’m sure the others in the group feel the same but their standard is higher than I would ever anticipate reaching. Not that I’ll not try but you should hear some of the music that I’ve had the fortune to listen to while on this tour.

We went to a local family home after the performance to socialize with the volunteers and play some music. It was nice to get an opportunity to show our gratitude. We felt very welcome there so I hope they enjoyed our visit.

We’re back on the bus now for a short trip of two and a half hours to the next performance and the next host family. We’re nearing the end of our trip now. I’ll write more in a day or two.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to leave a comment on this or other posts to let me know if you’re enjoying them or if you have questions.

A whirlwind of epic proportions is the only way of describing the past five days. Since the last blog post on Tuesday, we’ve gigged in four venues in four different areas, we’ve travelled at least 11 hours by bus, we’ve stayed in homes that range from modest houses to border line mansions and a hotel that must win the award for the most badly organized building in the world, we’ve had disagreements but over all great fun. Most importantly, we are really enjoying Canada and we are loving the Canadian people.

On Tuesday, after the last blog post, we went to the cathedral that would host our show. As it was an unusual setting for us, we thought it would be a good idea to check it out beforehand. We decided to make a few changes to the plans. We moved the piano around and got rid of the stage. The wholly family cathedral in Saskatoon was only build three years ago. From the outside, it could quite easily be mistaken as yet another industrial building right in the middle of the industrial centre of Saskatoon. The only difference is its large spire that can be seen from a reasonable distance. The inside of the cathedral is quite different. Although the walls don’t have the same long lasting solidness found in Irish churches, you certainly get the impression you have walked into a cathedral when in the main room of the building. The main church area is a massive round room with high ceilings, very decorative stain glass windows, custom art work and a sizeable alter. I know so much about the cathedral because the host family we stayed with were very proud of it and therefore took great pleasure in describing the room in detail. In fact, I even know that outside the stain glass windows is a glass solar energy collector. I also know that a few months ago one of the stain glass windows fell in on the quire area and a replacement window had to be acquired from the maker in Germany. I’m rambling. Sorry. The point I was trying to make is although this wasn’t a typical cathedral, it still had the same acoustical attributes. This means that for playing the pipes without amplification it sounded great however playing with a group of eight musicians, it was a little difficult. I’ve encountered this a few times. When there is a lot of echo in a room, musicians need to be very careful. They need to sit closer together and they need to listen carefully to what each person is playing or the sound will become muddy. Fortunately, although it was a bit of a challenge, the sound engineer that is traveling with us handled the situation very well.

On Tuesday evening, we went to a local session. There were at least thirty musicians there. Some from Ireland, Some from Canada but all playing traditional Irish music. Unfortunately it was quite hard to hear everyone in the session but the standard was great. I really enjoyed talking to people who had come over here a year ago or fifty years ago. They all seem to say the same thing. The quality of life is great over hear but the winters are very cold and harsh. I love hearing the people that have been here for fifty years that still have their local Irish accent. I also like that they get to go home once a year mostly. It was fantastic to hear locals finding people form our group that lived in the area that they left behind. The thrill they got from speaking to people from their home town was sad in one way but rewarding in another. It was nice to be able to bring a bit of home to Canada for some of the people that moved here.

After the session on Tuesday night there was no time to be particularly social. The objective was to get to bed and get as much sleep as possible before getting up at 6AM on Wednesday morning to get to the cathedral to be interviewed by a local Saskatoon television station called Global. Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer any questions. All I had to do is play a few times. The program ran for 2 hours and we were needed for a total of about 10 minutes in that time. However, there was quite a lot of planning and organization required when we were off camera.

You might think that the rest of Wednesday was spent relaxing after that early start. No. Not at all. I had work to do as I was getting dozens of calls from Dublin and by 12:30PM we were back in the cathedral again helping the sound engineer get things set up. We finally left around 5 to get something to eat before the show started at 7:30. By the end of the performance I was absolutely shattered. In fact, during the harp solo in the first half, I nearly fell asleep on stage. Still, we had to go to a pub afterword to play a few tunes and talk to the locals. I say we had to. That’s not really accurate. Of course, we had a choice but the host families had been so good to us it would have been very rude not to go out after the show.

Thursday, we departed Saskatoon to travel to Regina. That was only a three and a half hour trip so with the opportunity to catch up on some sleep on the bus I was in great form for the rest of the day. The venue in Regina wasn’t as flashy as the cathedral in Saskatoon but it was a fantastic place in terms of sound and layout. When we started playing, the audience warmed to us instantly and every single one of us had a great time.

There was no late nights on Thursday after the performance. It had been a long few days so we were all very happy to get to a bed and try to catch up on some sleep. Again, we stayed with host families from the area. We stayed with a family that lived about five minute drive from the venue. On the drive there the lady of the house warned us that the dog was quite protective. That was a tad under stated. The dog was very obviously vicious toward anyone he didn’t know so they unfortunately had to lock him away for the night.

We left Regina on Friday morning to travel six and a half hours to Manitoba. We had a few delays at the start but we arrived there reasonably on time. The venue in Manitoba was quite similar to the venue in Regina. The sound system was absolutely top of the range and the stage was very comfortable for all the performers. Again, the audience on the night were very warm and appreciative. I even played around with them during my solo. I love interacting with an audience and I love when the audience interacts with me. It makes the performance much more enjoyable.

After the show on Friday night we met up with our host family. They drove ten miles to their 1000 acre farm. Yes. I said 1000 and they said their operation was very small in comparison to most. Their house was a mansion. Their basement had a bar in it the size of my house! The son’s room was cavernous and the walk in shower was the size of two large showers. Their small car had a 3.2 later engine and their large car had a 6.6 later engine. They considered themselves working class but the wealth they demonstrated without trying to show off was incredibly impressive. On Friday morning we got up early to have a quick tour of their farm. It’s a funny thing about Canada. Their old buildings are at most about a hundred and thirty years old. In Irish terms that’s very young. However, a church that is in the locality was one of the oldest structures they knew of but to us it was quite ordinary. Don’t get me wrong. It was a lovely little church and it’s fascinating the way things are done in relation to creating small churches every few miles with very small grave yards. The host family we were staying with were the Lee’s. They were able to show us that the majority of their descendants had been buried in the grave yard a few miles away from their house. Even relatives that travel away generally prefer to come back to be buried in the local grave yard. It’s not exclusive to one family either but I think the idea of having several small grave yards dotted around the country side is to keep the plots small while keeping the churches and the grave yards accessible to the locals. It’s interesting.

We left Manitoba on Saturday morning at around 9 AM and we were here in Winnipeg by 12:30. The organizers had asked us to teach locals who had an interest in traditional Irish music. For the first hour and a half I taught the pipes. Well, actually I didn’t. I was meant to teach the pipes but no one showed up. Two people came to listen to the lesson. A husband and wife. The wife played the bodhran and the husband played the guitar. I decided to ask them to play a few tunes with me. I spent the time teaching them about rhythm. I was thinking that if both are playing backing / rhythm instruments it would be useful to show them that playing together will make the melody players life a lot easier and it will make the tune sound a lot cleaner. The second lesson I gave was on the bodhran. I had four participants at a beginner level. Again, I tried to teach them to make their beats simple, only let one bodhran player run with a tune at a time and never try to overrun the melody.

The performance in Winnipeg was as enjoyable as the previous two. The venue was a little different. At the start it felt like a barn but as the night went on I really began to like it. The equipment there was absolutely incredible. Over kill isn’t the way to describe it. They had five foot high bass bins, separate mixers for front of house and monitors and a complicated EQ system run through a laptop. I should also say the mixers were all digital. The system was at least thirty thousand Euro worth.

In Winnipeg we are staying in a hostel / hotel. It’s a weird place. The building seems reasonably new but the design is absolutely senseless. Absolutely nothing here makes sense and just forget trying to get breakfast in the morning. They have stuff there but it’s all over the place. It’s a comfortable room but really not organized well.

We will spend a few days in Winnipeg. The dancers are teaching today but we all have a day off on Monday. Tuesday is another day of traveling so I’ll update you again next week.

One final note, my pipes don’t like the Canadian weather. The air is very very dry so the reeds aren’t handling it very well.