Entertainment
Talented Tom takes new tack with ‘Float your Blues Away’
The Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell
Multi-instrumentalist Tom Portman will celebrate the launch of his third solo album with a show in The Townhouse Bar, Spanish Parade in the city on Friday, July 5. The release is called Float your Blues Away and is something of a change of direction for Tom.
“This one’s slightly different from the last two I brought out,” he says. “It’s a lot more song based than the last album, there are also quite a few bluesy numbers, whereas the last one featured a lot more traditional pieces, instrumental guitar music.
“On this one the dobro and guitar feature strongly. There are songs I’ve written during the course of making the album, and a piece I wrote when I was in India.”
Tom Portman plays lap-steel, dobro, acoustic and electric guitar. For this album, did he follow the muse or make a conscious decision to write songs?
“It was a deliberate choice,” he says. “I’ve got so many pieces that I’d like to record, but it was also trying to see what would sound good together. Which pieces would work, and which pieces I’d want to play this year.”
This focus has left Portman with a lot of spare material. He’ll spend the summer plugging Float your Blues Away – including some shows in Poland – but he also has an eye on future projects.
“I’ve written quite a few folk songs and some instrumentals which are almost classically based, but they wouldn’t suit this album,” he says. “I’ve also written some pieces for an electric ensemble which will be coming out at a later date.”
Although recording in a plush studio might sound ideal, for most artists it’s just not financially feasible. And, with advances in modern technology, it’s no longer necessary. Tom Portman is glad to have gone the DIY route.
“I recorded pretty much all of it at home in Menlo [village, on the east side of Galway City],” he says. “I’m not mixing it; I’m taking it to an outside studio for that. But the actual recording has all been done at home; it’s great to have the equipment to do that.”
While recording at home has its advantages, it also means projects can run and run. How did Tom decide when Float your Blues Away was ready?
“With the last albums, I left it a bit more open-ended,” he says. “You know, when it was ready, it was ready. With this one, I set myself a two-month deadline to get everything recorded, because I had everything written. Apart from a few bits – you get inspired, ‘oh yeah, I think this’ll work!’.
Did Tom find that giving himself a self-imposed deadline helped him to be more creative?
“Definitely,” he says. “I wanted to try it as an approach. I really time-managed the project, making decisions about when certain things needed to be done. [It was] a new way of working for me. It definitely helps, but it’s quite an intense way of working as well. I really had to block off the time and say no to other projects, to make sure I got the recordings done.”
Tom Portman is also a member of The Bahh Band, a six-piece with a grá for Indian music. In mid-January they embarked on a month long tour of India. Tom came back energised from the tour, and finished Float your Blues Away.
“Since I came back from India, I haven’t been doing that much gigging, so it gave me more time to put into the recording,” he says. “Now, the mixing’s getting finished off, and the printing, and also silly season’s starting in the summer with gigging. Trying to juggle everything!”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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