Sleeve Notes Christy Leahy grew up in Carraig na bhFear Co.Cork in a musical household. He was taught by Bobby Gardiner and Noreen Kelleher before crafting his own distinctive style of accordion playing through years of playing for dances and in sessions. He also performs with the group North Cregg with whom he has recorded four albums and toured internationally. Caoimhín Vallely hails from Armagh city and now resides in Cork. As a piano and fiddle player he has recorded and toured with Buille, Karan Casey, North Cregg and many others. His critically acclaimed solo album, “Strayaway”, showcases his unique approach to piano playing marking him a truly individual voice in Irish music today Tracks 1. Buain Na’ Rainich (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Kerry Bar (Composed by Matt Cranitch) Both of these polkas were picked up at some of the countless great sessions at The Corner House in Cork City. Fearghal Mac Gabhann and his family have been the most generous of music patrons for many years and these tunes are dedicated to Clann Mac Gabhann. Buain Na’ Ràinich is originally a Scottish Gàidhlig song and can also be heard as a Donegal highland. Many tunes in the Sliabh Luachra tradition have their origin in Scotland. This is possibly due to the influence of the many British army marching bands that were stationed in the area, such as The Black Watch who entertained the people of Mallow in the 1700s. Naturally the tunes often found their way into the repertoire of the local musicians and were adapted as necessary for appropriate devilment! The Kerry Bar was composed by Cork fiddle maestro Matt Cranitch, and appeared on the first recording by the great Sliabh Notes. 2. Spellan The Fiddler (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Back In The Garden (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) I learned Spellan The Fiddler from The Three Crosses Ceili Band from Carraig-on-Bannow, County Wexford, when I performed with them at the Leinster Fleadh in Mullingar some years ago. I’m not sure if my participation as a Munster box player fully complied with the strict rules enforced by Monkstown! Furthermore, the music and craic with them was superb, breaking more rules no doubt! The second tune was learned from the fine fiddler Jesse Smith. 3. Johnny O’Leary’s Jig (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) This tune was collected from the legendary Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra shortly before his death in 2004. Johnny’s fantastic rhythmic style of dance music on the accordion has been a big influence on my own music over the years. I first heard the tune from another great accordionist, Derek Hickey from Adare, County Limerick. 4. The Crow In The Sun (Composed by Daithí Sproule / BMI) This beautiful air is far more pleasant than the image suggested by its title! Written by the great guitarist Daithí Sproule, and learned from another, Paul Meehan, during our time playing together with North Cregg. 5. Paddy Cronin’s Slide (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Going For Water (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The first slide comes from the repertoire of the great fiddle player, Paddy Cronin of County Kerry. Paddy lived in the USA from the 1950’s until his return to Ireland in the 1990’s and is regarded as one of the finest exponents of the music of Sliabh Luachra having been taught by the great fiddle master Pádraig Ó Caoimh. I first heard the tune during a lunchtime concert at the University of Limerick with Matt Cranitch and Derek Hickey in 2005. The second slide was learned from a recording by three of Cork’s finest musicians, Johnny McCarthy, Con Fada Ó Drisceoil and Pat ‘Herring’ Ahern, collectively known as The Four Star Trio. 6. James Morrison’s Polka (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Bluebell Polka (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Irish music recorded in the USA during the early part of the last century has always interested me and both these tunes were made popular during that era. James Morrison, born in 1893 in County Sligo, was one of the most prolific recording artists of that period and toured the US with his ensemble, The James Morrison Band, along with Kerry-born accordion player Tom Carmody. Morrison, along with several other legendary musicians from that same period, have left an indelible stamp on Irish music, which shall certainly influence musicians for generations to come. The first tune was taught to me by Máirtín O’Connor, while the second was learned many years ago from one-time accordion teacher, Noreen Kelleher from Macroom. The Bluebell Polka was a Top 20 hit for the legendary Scottish accordionist Jimmy Shand back in 1955 selling over 100,000 copies! 7. Jenny On The Railroad (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Irish music has long been cited as an influence on the American Old-Time Appalachian music tradition. This tune was learned from one of the finest musicians in that and several other genres, Dirk Powell of Louisiana. I’ve attempted to play the tune more in the traditional Irish style, perhaps, as it once may have existed before finding its way across the Atlantic. 8. Thadelo’s Barndances (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Paudie O’Connor is the source for these tunes, which are named after Thadelo Sullivan of Sliabh Luachra. Thadelo was a well known concertina player from the area and is cited by Johnny O’Leary as his source for many unusual tunes. 9. A Hymn To St. Finbarr (Composed by Con Ó Drisceoil) The aforementioned Con Fada Ó Drisceoil composed this song in honour of Cork’s patron saint, a man we now know much more about thanks to this fine eulogy! 10. The Kerry Cow (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Rakes Of Mallow (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Britches Full Of Stitches (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) These polkas are among the very first tunes I learned during music classes as a child. Although they may evoke some forgettable memories of juvenile ensemble accordion performances, they are, after all, beautiful tunes and indeed songs: I’ll buy me love a Kerry cow, Kerry cow, Kerry cow, I’ll buy me love a Kerry cow and feed her night and morning Mallow Tallow Cappoquin, Doneraile and Charleville Broken windows up and down, here’s for the rakes of Mallow town. Oh the britches full of stitches, oh the britches full of holes Oh the britches full of stitches, oh the britches full of holes 11. Trip To The Cottage (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) The Cook In The Kitchen (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Two more 1920-ised tunes, to borrow a phrase from Dave Munnelly! Jackie Daly and Kevin Burke recorded the first tune on their wonderful album, Eavesdropper, from 1979, while the second is a tune I’ve known for many years. I have more recently transposed it to the more pleasant setting of the major scale, possibly as a reaction to the recent wave of doom and gloom about this country. 12. The Boys Of Ballycastle (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Dunphy’s Hornpipe (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Miss Galvin’s (Trad. Arr. Leahy & Vallely) Uilleann piper Jimmy Morrisson from Fermoy is my source for the first tune and it has also been recorded by Kevin Burke. I learned the second from a former student of mine... sometimes they are the best teachers. 13. La Bourrasque (composed by Michel Péguri) The beautiful waltz was learned from the great Dermot Byrne of County Donegal. The tune was composed around the turn of the last century when the musette began to mix with the Gypsy music in Paris. Michael Dregni, in his book on the life of Django Reinhart, describes this period of ‘integration’: “Following the invasions of a group of Italian accordionists into Paris wielding shiny new accordions, the sound of the local bagpipes in the dancehalls was duly interrupted. The pipers rose up against this threat to their livelihood and patrimony. In an outraged panic, a local piper dashed off a call to arms via a local newspaper: “Death to these foreign squeezeboxes that are good only to make bears dance, but absolutely unworthy to start the legs of our charming women of Cantal into dancing.” Credits Recorded and mixed by Donncha Moynihan, The Rise Studios, Cork Produced by Christy Leahy & Caoimhín Vallely Mastered by Ruairí O’Flaherty Design by Brian Hanlon www.ogmediagroup.com Photography by Con Kelleher For bookings contact christyleahy@yahoo.com