Non Traditional Irish Inspired Reel

[Narayan Kersak]

I wrote this tune a few years back, and finally found a group to play it with.

It was for a fiddler I knew up in WV. Since moving to Asheville it took on a new name, Farewell to Prince Rhaegar (for all you game of thrones fans).



This was recorded last weekend at Dobra Tea.

It was originally written on a mandolin, but needed the banjo to match the fiddle volume. Please forgive me.



http://youtu.be/Mvv1VBs_Wg0

(Ps- I tried to post a youtube video, and a like, but they aren't showing up. Can anyone else see them?)

[M.Marmot]

[Bertram Henze]

I first thought the title mixing up "Lament" and "Reel" was kind of a contradiction, but after hearing it I must admit it is exactly that. Representing the Irish way of dealing with a sad mood (face it and let it come close enough so you can reach out and kill it). Beautiful arrangement.

I liked the dancer, too.

[Narayan Kersak]

Hah! Yes, I wrote that tune when I was first getting into Irish Music, so didn't really know what a "lament" was. The tune sounded sad to me, so it got that name. I initially enjoyed playing it slowly, and really enjoyed listening to a fiddler play it slowly. Then One day a fiddler decided to play it fast, so considered it a reel, and I do like it played both ways now.

Yes, the dancer was unexpected! I couldn't see her while we were playing, so it was fun to see people were listening and getting involved around the corner.

[whistler]

That guitar looks well used. Cedar top, by any chance?

[Mandocarver]

Lovely tune - I enjoyed playing it on my tenor banjo last night. Have you written many more?

[Narayan Kersak]

Whistler - Tim has had that guitar for nearly 20+ years and played the hell out of it live in a rock band in Georgia for many years a while back. I believe it is a cedar top, it's just what happened with the extent of his playing. It is a beautiful sounding guitar.

Mandocarver- Thanks. Did you get it by ear or find the tab on my website? I have written about 2 jigs and 2 reels total in my life. So far the tunes in 4/4 sound the best to me. They sound like tunes that I did not write. While writing them, they just flowed out as if I knew them, like any other tune. The trick was writing it down before I forgot!

A recent single reel came out after Celtic week last year. It's called Jacquelyn's first. We played it too at that show...



Here is the tab for that one.

http://ashevillemandolin.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/jaquelyns-first-roscommon-reel-dunfords-fancy/

Here is the tab for Attfield's Lament (aka Farewell to Prince Rhaegar).

http://ashevillemandolin.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/attfields-lament.pdf

If you ever play it at a session with a large group, I'd love to hear a recording of it?

I got a session back home in WV to play it once all together and it sounded great in that format.

Still not sure how to get it in rotation down here in Asheville. Our later Sunday session are mostly purists. Our earlier Sunday session doesn't always respond quickly to new tune introductions. I'm going to try. I think I can sneak in Jacquelyn's First, first, as it seems to me to be the one that sounds like a more common IT tune.

http://youtu.be/8_D4KcU9SEo

There is something about Attfield's that marks it as a tad different than the standard form, I think.

[Mandocarver]

Thanks for the reply and to answer your question, I used your sheet music on your excellent site. Thanks for the link to the other tune too, I'll give it a try when I quit work.
You seem to have the knack of making something new sound like you've known it for years, even if, as you've said, there's something extra there too.
I'm afraid I don't get chance to play in large sessions over here in rural France, but I will be introducing it to a mandolinist friend of mine when we next meet and who knows, that might be the way your tune gets a new life on another continent!
All the best,

Dean

[JeffD]

Very pretty tune.

[Narayan Kersak]

That's the one thing I like about these two tunes, Attfield's Lament, and Jacquelyn's First, is that it doesn't seem like I wrote them. When I've composed tunes and TRIED to do it, they always come out sounding like something you'd hear at a carnival or a cheesy sea shanty. These two, just came out as I was playing, like I wasn't even involved. Which is one reason I really like playing them. Sounds strange, I know.

[Bertram Henze]

That's the one thing I like about these two tunes, Attfield's Lament, and Jacquelyn's First, is that it doesn't seem like I wrote them. When I've composed tunes and TRIED to do it, they always come out sounding like something you'd hear at a carnival or a cheesy sea shanty. These two, just came out as I was playing, like I wasn't even involved. Which is one reason I really like playing them. Sounds strange, I know.

Not strange at all - you're in the mighty company of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven etc. They all reportedly didn't "produce" their music voluntarily, just kind of heard it and wrote it down.

[Randi Gormley]

Lovely pieces, both, and I really like the band.

[deadend3]

Nice! Really enjoyed it.

[Narayan Kersak]

Thanks deadend and Randi-

Glad you enjoy the band too. We'll be going into the studio next month to record our first CD. It's pretty heavy in mando, octave mando, and bazouki. We have about 7 irish sets we play throughout our shows, and the other tunes are a few covers, a few zeppelin songs acoustified, some bob dylan, waterboys, and a number of originals.

http://youtu.be/vwQRYvBMSc4

That one is one of my favorites. Tim wrote the first part after visiting Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, and the second part was great colloboration of an instrumental he and I used to do on mandolin and bazouki, that got spiced up with linda's vocals and Marilia's fiddle playing.

Should be fun!

[gortnamona]

floats my boat, lovely tune.