Andy gives it a go as he showcases musical skill
How many times have you sat at a session or a concert and heard the lead performer introduce their next song or set of tunes by giving the title of the piece, then turning to their colleagues and asking: ‘Will we give it a go?’ before launching into the music.
As Andy Martyn says with a laugh, “we say it a million times in a session!”. Which is why London-born Andy, whose late father, Tom, came from Bullaun outside Loughrea, has given that very title to his new album, a superb collection of Irish and folk music.
Andy is an accomplished and widely renowned London-Irish button accordion player whose distinctive style and mix of music is heavily influenced by his East Galway background and the many musicians he spent time with growing up among London’s Irish community in the 1970s and ’80s.
Will We Give It A Go? is his debut album and it includes several of his own compositions alongside interpretation of older Irish airs and tunes.
Andy’s own tunes include Déantóir Aisling (Dream Maker), The Light of Home, The Ballygawley Barndance and The Sunday Morning Hornpipe.
The album is sub-titled ‘Tales of Traditional Irish Music from the Streets of London’ and the brief stories attached to each tune bring to life the experience of growing up in that city as part of a strong Irish community. For instance, Andy dedicates Déantóir Aisling (Dream Maker) to the late Brendan Mulkere, from Crusheen in County Clare, a fiddle player and teacher who ‘lit the fuse for so many of us in London’ and ‘whose legacy has had an enduring influence on our lives’.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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