Noonday Feast’s Irish Inspired Album – Waves and Tides

Hello all 8-string lovers:

2014 was a sparse year for blog posts, but for good reason.  We’ve been busy.  Our band Noonday Feast has been working weekends on its first album, while also playing gigs to fund the studio!  As of Winter Solstice 2014, it is complete and available.  We call it Waves and Tides.   Here are a few clips from the album.  See the video below.

Although, we are working on new material and will probably go back into the studio soon, to begin work on Noonday Feast II, I intend on posting more of my favorite mandolin tab Irish Tunes, I’ve been working on.  Keep your eyes open.

Enjoy the album.  You can buy it through this link.

Buy “Waves and Tides” by Noonday Feast

All of the tunes are original except for two.  We are far from traditionalists, but see tradition as a foundation for exploration.  You will easily be able to hear my love of Irish Music in these works, but you will also get a taste of folk, and at least one electric guitar solo.

This album is mandolin, octave mandolin, fiddle and bouzouki heavy.

Advertisement

A Jig and A Reel on Youtube

More than two months later, I still haven’t posted those recordings I thought I’d get around too.  Work has been particularly busy.  However, I needed a break and I needed to play some more mandolin.  I got the idea to record some tunes from the Asheville Celtic Mandolin Collection song book.

Here you will find, The Maple Leaf and Banish Misfortune.

I realize I’ve recorded Banish Misfortune before on this YouTube channel, but it was worth redoing.

As always, both of these tunes were recorded with a metronome.

Last Night at the Swannanoa Gathering

Had an excellent time jamming at the Swannanoa Gathering last night.  Got to see some old friends, meet some folks who read this blog (That was fun!).  Before I knew it, I looked at the clock and it was 12:58 in the morning!

Stu (octave and mandolin player) pulled out Devanney’s Goat, which I learned with him in David Surrette’s class two years ago (and promptly forgot the week after).  He’s inspired me to learn it and commit it to memory this time.  I’ll have it for next year Stu!

Anyway, looking forward to more playing with new and old friends this week.  In the meantime, here is a recording of two tunes that are great paired together.  It’s just the octave mandolin and a metronome.  Enjoy!

PS- If you read this blog often, send me a note and I’d like to find you on Facebook.  I enjoy meeting people who benefit from this little project.  Thanks for all your support.

Bunker Hill and Trip to Durrow Tab

A few months ago I was asked to play at a benefit for the AB Tech Culinary School in Asheville at the end of April.  I arranged a trio, of myself on mandolin, a flautist (Will) and a banjo/bazouki player (Doug).  All decked out in our suits and ties, we played two hours of irish music amidst the aroma of some of the best locally inspired recipes in the world.

One of the sets Doug had suggested was Bunker Hill with Trip to Durrow.  It worked out nicely, and you can see the tab, standard notation, and chords below:

Bunker Hill

&  Trip to Durrow

Enjoy,

Asheville Mandolin

 

Battle of Evermore, Performed at Firestorm Cafe, Asheville NC for 2012 Imbolc

The Battle of Evermore, was originally composed by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Sandy Denny was the only performer to ever perform on a Led Zeppelin Album.  She sang in this duet.

The arrangement in this video, is not the same as Led Zeppelin’s. For one, we only have one singer, Linda Go.  Second the original was recorded a step lower.  The main chord pattern I use is Am to G, then Am to D.  The chorus is still D.  The third part, is C to G, and then G7 to C.  The original version is a bit different.   You can find the mandolin tab for the original on the tab section of this blog.  And right here…

The Battle of Evermore

Choice Wife, A Farrell’s Welcome to Limerick, Gallagher’s Frolics Revisited

Got inspired to record these two tunes, and put them to a short video of a walk on the park way, I just took.

The tabs and standard notation to these songs are on the tab and notation page of this site.

Recorded with my Mowry and Trinity College Octave.

Old Bush and the Maple Leaf

Two nights ago, at the White Horse in Black Mountain, NC, we played these two tunes together.  The Old Bush and The Maple Leaf.

(Ye) Old Bush <–tab

The Maple Leaf <–tab

For you guitar flatpickers, here are those same tunes tabbed out in standard tuning and DADGAD.

(Ye) Old Bush Standard Guitar     The Maple Leaf Guitar

(Ye) Old BushDADGAD    The Maple Leaf DADGAD

While I’ve always found the “chopped off head” youtube videos kind of strange, this is the best one I could find at the time for The Maple Leaf.

Led Zeppelin – Why I Play Mandolin

Led Zeppelin - John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham

My first introduction to mandolin came through Led Zeppelin 4, namely the tracks Going to California and The Battle of Evermore. Then I discovered many more mandolin tunes peppered throughout the Led Zeppelin catalog.  I picked up the mandolin from time to time through out high school and college, namely to play those Zeppelin tunes, but never really got hooked on it until I gave my playing over to Celtic from Rock.  However, I owe a great deal to Page, Plant, Bonham and Jones, for turning me on to this lovely instrument.

One of my favorite guitar instrumentals to play was Bron Yr Aur, from the second disc of Physical Graffiti.  I always thought that it would make a great mandolin arrangement.  After fiddling (mandolining?) with the key, I came up with (what I think is) a lovely arrangement of the tune on mandolin.  This one is for you, Mr. Page, and your three friends that inspired me in many ways throughout my young adult life.

(Here’s the tab with standard notation.  Bron Yr Aur Mandolin Arrangement Tab and Standard Notation. It sounds great on an octave mandolin too.)  (as of, 2/4/2012, The Battle of Evermore tab is also now available on the tab section of this site.)

Cup of Tea and Other Tunes

New tabs, tablature, standard notation and chords have been added to the tunes section, both for mandolin and guitar.

As promised, I finally got to tabbing out Peter Byrne’s Fancy and Creeping Docken.  There was also a request for Cup of Tea.  That one’s for you Michel in France!  Joe Cooley’s was just for fun. It goes well before Cup of Tea in a set.

Cup of Tea mandolin

Joe Cooley’s mandolin

Creeping Docken Guitar

Creeping Docken DADGAD

Cup of Tea Guitar

Cup of Tea DADGAD

Joe Cooley’s Guitar

Joe Cooley’s DADGAD

Peter Byrne’s Fancy Guitar

Peter Byrne’s Fancy DADGAD

Tunes from Mandolin II

In the Mandolin II class at Celtic week, with David Surette, we learned a few tunes by ear, a few by tab, and also focused on how to make accompaniment with the mandolin interesting. I had to leave “the gathering” earlier today, to visit the in-laws, and so have had some time in the car to tab a few of the tunes for you. Click on the links below for the mandolin tablature for the irish tunes of (reel) Devanney’s Goat, (reel) Poor Old Woman, and (slip jig) Hardiman the fiddler.

Dorm Room at Celtic Week 2011 - Guitar, Mandolins and Kettlebells, what else do you need?

Mandolin (tab) tablature & standard notation

Devanney’s Goat

Poor Old Woman

Hardiman the Fiddler

Now that I’ve found myself exploring the guitar again, I’ve also created flat picking tablature for the tunes above. Here they are:

Guitar (tab) tablature and Standard Notation for Flat picking

Devanney’s Goat in Standard Tuning

Poor Old Woman in Standard Tuning

Hardiman the Fiddler in Standard Tuning

Devanney’s Goat DADGAD

Poor Old Woman DADGAD

Hardiman the Fiddler DADGAD

We also learned a great tune called The Reverend Brother’s Jig (called the Monk’s Jig on thesession.org) and a number of Breton Tunes. Great class, good teacher, learned a lot.