When Michael McGoldrick played with Damien O’Kane & Ron Block a few days earlier, Damien described McGoldrick as ‘Mr Celtic Connections’ in reference to his ubiquitous presence on many stages with other artists throughout the Festival, year in, year out (also including this time, with Leonard Barry, Tim O’Brien and Transatlantic Sessions). Every few years, he has a concert under his own name. Still, this occasion at The National Piping Centre in Glasgow was different because he performed with family members, which was obviously very special for him.
The McGoldrick Family were launching their debut album, One For The Road (review coming soon) and besides Michael playing uilleann pipes, flute and whistle, the band comprises his nieces: Catherine on flute and whistle, Ciara on concertina, whistle, and vocals, and Mairead on bodhran and whistle. They were accompanied on guitar by Jimmy Patrick from Barrow-in-Furness, who Michael said they had ‘adopted’ into the family. They did what they were there to do in terms of playing the tunes and songs from their album, opening with the album’s first track, a jig/reel set, lovely flow and tone in Catherine’s flute playing, Ciara’s concertina bright, with lots of lift, Mairead switching from bodhran to whistle and Michael waiting until the reel to come in on uilleann pipes; for a bookend encore, playing the album’s final set of reels. What was very obvious from the start was the wealth of considerable, demonstrable musical skills that the three young women and the adopted guitarist all have. Moreover, together, the band sounded tremendous.
The rest of the tunes they played from the album included plenty of trad numbers but also well-selected tunes by some of the best composers in the business: a strathspey – A Tune For Andrea Beaton – and a reel – The Leading Role – by fiddle player Liz Carroll, and; a waltz – The Stornoway Waltz – and a reel – Willie MacLeod of Stornaway – by Scottish piper and flute player James Duncan Mackenzie, who Catherine said she was fortunate to have as one of her tutors when she was at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Michael joked about the title of Jimmy’s Jig, it being a jig composed by Jimmy, which they played with The Nightingale, an attractive tune Michael wrote virtually with harpist Seána Davey.
Michael recounted that when they first started playing together, he thought it would be even better if they had a singer, not realising, until Catherine told him, that Ciara could sing. She sang both songs from the album, the well-known Lakes Of Ponchartrain and a gorgeous version of a song called Bridget O’Malley, Catherine and Michael giving perfect support on whistles; she also sang Adam Holmes’ song Mother Oak, with plenty of audience participation on the chorus. Jim Batty’s/The Bloom of Youth from Michael’s 2001 album At First Light with John McSherry and a tune from the great Manchester whistle player Pat Walsh made for a superb whistle set; everyone was on whistle apart from Jimmy who played guitar. Self-compositions from Michael’s most recent solo album, ARC from 2018, provided both a pacy set of slides – The Ogham Stone/Towey the Thatcher/The Big Fort – and Trip To Nova Scotia, a set of tunes inspired by a trip to the Celtic Colours Festival on Cape Breton Island.
The evening’s highlight for me was a set of jigs from the album, reprised from the Transatlantic Sessions gig the night before, with Michael playing uilleann pipes. Michael shared how he got the first, Fraher’s, from Willie Clancy, one of his favourite pipers. The second, Patsy Geary’s, was recorded by the Bothy Band on their classic first 1975 album, and the family band sounded both, even better suited to the tunes than the house band had the night before, and, with the rhythm and drive coming from Jimmy’s guitar and Mairead’s bodhran, uncannily Bothy Band like. The passion, talent, and exceptional versatility – lots of seamless switching between flutes, whistles, concertina and bodhran – were writ large, and it was noticeable how the renowned professional on stage often sat back and let others take the lead. Parents, other family members in the audience, and, not least, the Uncle in the band all had a great deal to be proud of.
Order One for The Road here: https://michaelmcgoldrick1.bandcamp.com/album/one-for-the-road