Since reviewing Chewing the Fat, the latest album from James Patrick Gavin (TEYR, Jez Hellard’s Djukella Orchestra) we have been featuring a series of videos from his Union Chapel album launch. Standing Stone is sadly the final one but it’s been an absolute pleasure to premiere them on Folk Radio.
James Patrick Gavin on Standing Stone
“Standing Stone” has to be one of my favourite sections of interview clips with my grandmother, Philomena Gavin (Mena) and features a great musician and friend Adrian Lever on guitar. The title comes from the name of my granny’s house, which she helped build with my grandfather, Jim. They made the blocks, which form the house. She loves it there and will not move, despite the fact that she lives alone on a mountain.
Behind my granny’s house sits a mountain called Topped, also called Mullyknock, or in Irish, Mullach an Chnoic (Top of the Mountain). An ancient cairn sits on its summit; it is the perfect place to greet the sun during the solstice, or to ponder Loch Éirne and her meanderings from Donegal to the Atlantic. Topped features heavily throughout the album as not only a monument in the Fermanagh landscape but also in the Gavin family history.
Trip to Topped is the second tune and is dedicated to all the trips I’ve made up Topped but in particular, to one memorable time I went up with my cousins Joe, Jack, and my dad.
We performed “Standing Stone” near the end of the Union Chapel launch concert. Up to that point, our numbers on stage had been increasing, with the songs and tunes building in terms of energy, dynamic and audio-visuals. This set brought us back to the intimacy of the conversation by having just 2 people on stage.
This live video, much like films from the night (such as Mena’s Teapot and Lady O’Dreams), features projection footage filmed and edited by Colm Clarke and Paddi Alice Benson. This particular imagery was all filmed at the top of Topped Mountain and at Standing Stone.
I’d like to thank everyone involved in having made the Union Chapel launch such remarkable night, from the lighting crew and sound engineers, to all the musicians and audience who showed so much support and love for the project.
Map credit Johnny McKeagney – from In The Ould Ago, a book of Illustrated Irish Folklore which you can find out more about here: http://www.folklorebook.com/
Order Chewing the Fat via Bandcamp: https://jamespatrickgavin.bandcamp.com/album/chewing-the-fat
For more details and live dates visit: http://jamespatrickgavin.com/