While the Pedal Steel Guitar scene has seen something of a renaissance of late, especially in the Ambient Country/Cosmic Americana field, I’ve never heard it framed in the way that David Murphy has here, in the field of ancient Irish harp tunes. The Irish-based session-musician, producer, and multi-instrumentalist David Murphy’s all-instrumental debut album ‘Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar‘ will be released on Rollercoaster Records on Friday 19th April 2024, from which the first single and video, Citi na gCumann, is shared today.
While Pedal Steel sits at the centre of his album, he is aided in his mission to take these historic airs by O’Carolan, O’Riada, et al. into the 21st century by an ensemble of cello, violin, piano, harp, uilleann pipes, and lush electronic textures and synths.
In Citi na gCumann, Murphy’s pedal steel sings the mournful melody of this traditional tune supported by Steve Wickham’s dancing fiddle and Laura McFadden’s graceful cello, Alannah Thornburgh’s mystical plucked harp, Rory McCarthy’s delicate felt-piano and the surge of Graham Heaney’s double bass, all laying upon the lilt of a pulsing, rhythmic synth loop.
David explains the inspiration for the evocative arrangement of this traditional tune:
“Alan Lomax’s fabled field-recording of this lament, sung by Maire O’Sullivan in County Cork in January 1951, was an essential spark for the renaissance of Irish traditional music in the mid-20th century. During those very days and months, across the Atlantic, the pedal steel guitar was in its ascendency to full flight; wordlessly conveying the same melancholic and sorrowful moods of life for a rural populace with its crying, plaintive sound. The pedal steel in this recording and arrangement hopefully conveys that same keening, as it bends its weeping and mournful notes around this tune’s beautiful melody”.
David is known for his pedal steel work with artists such as The Delines, The Lost Brothers, John Blek, and Arborist, but here, he manages to evoke a strong sense of place, the likes of which defined Brian Eno’s 1983 Apollo and today’s growing Cosmic Americana scene, but unlike the American counterpart, this is like a new Irish Cosmic genre all of its own, something that’s also captured in the album’s artwork (see below), designed by the hugely talented Irish artist Craig Carry whose screen print work has featured on Folk Radio.
To visually represent the lonesome sentiment of this recording, “Citi na gCumann” is accompanied by an official music video by Liverpool-based filmmaker Gavin Wood.
‘Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar’ features a diverse cast of supporting musicians, including Peter Broderick (Strings), Steve Wickham (Fiddle), Laura McFadden (Cello), Aisling Urwin and Alannah Thornburgh (Harp), Rory McCarthy (Piano), Mark McCausland (Guitar), Anthony Ruby (Uilleann Pipes), Cory Gray (Trumpet) amongst others.
Cuimhne Ghlinn Track Listing
- Aisling Gheal (Sean O’Riada)
- Bridget Cruise (Turlough O’Carolan)
- Citi na gCumann (Trad Arr)
- Eleanor Plunkett (Turlough O’Carolan)
- An Draigheann (Peadar O’Riada)
- Cuimhne Ghlinn (David Murphy)
- Sean O’Duibhir a’Gleanna (Trad Arr)
- An Spéic Seoigeach (Edward Bunting)
Set for release on 19th April 2024 on Rollercoaster Records, it will be available on 180-gram Vinyl, CD and Digital from all major platforms and retailers.
Pre-order the album on LP / CD / Digital via Bandcamp: https://davidmurphymusic.bandcamp.com/album/cuimhne-ghlinn-explorations-in-irish-music-for-pedal-steel-guitar
David will celebrate the launch of the album at Coughlan’s, Cork City, on Thursday, 18th April 2024. Tickets are on sale now – coughlans.ie
