This week's featured Rolling Wave podcast continues with an occasional series which has been running on the programme, where a musician selects an album or an artist who has influenced their own playing - listen above.
This week our guest is concertina player Caitlín Nic Gabhann and her chosen album is a fantastic recording of concertina music, The Nervous Man by Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh.
Like Caitlín, concertina player Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh is from Co. Meath and The Nervous Man was his debut solo album. As described by Caitlín in the podcast, the album was innovative in many ways and showcased Mícheál’s fantastic playing and considerable technical skill on the instrument. He was accompanied on the record by Michael Rooney on harp, Eoghan O’Brien on guitar and Frank McGann on bodhrán.
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The album was released in 2001 when Caitlín was a teenager and she immersed herself in it, learning every tune, variation, ornament and chord.
Since 2001, Mícheál has released numerous recordings, but The Nervous Man firmly established him as one of the leading concertina players of his generation, and all of the qualities which captured Caitlín Nic Gabhann’s imagination at that time are still as vibrant and vital today.
Other interviews in this series include Caroline Keane discussing The Pipes are Calling by Noel and Peter Carberry and Danny Diamond on the music of fiddle player Andy Dickson.
Listen and follow The Rolling Wave podcast here on RTÉ.ie, and via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
