30-Minute Music Hour

(city traffic noise) It's the 30 Minute Music Hour. I'm Andy Moore. From Madison, Milwaukee, and Austin, Texas, here's Rising Gael! FAREWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA AND TO THE COAST BOUND SEA WILL YOU EVER BREATHE A SIGH OR HAVE A WISH FOR ME THE SUN IS SETTING IN THE WEST THE BIRDS, THEY SING ON EVERY TREE ALL NATURE SEEMED INCLINED TO REST BUT THERE IS STILL NO REST FOR ME I GRIEVE TO LEAVE MY LAND TO LEAVE MY FAMILY I GRIEVE TO LEAVE MY MAN TO MY HEART HE HOLDS THE KEY THE SUN IS SETTING IN THE WEST THE BIRDS THEY SING ON EVERY TREE ALL NATURE SEEMED INCLINED TO REST BUT THERE IS STILL NO REST FOR ME I HAVE THREE BROTHERS DEAD THEIR ARMS FOLDED ORE THEIR CHEST THEY FELL THE DEEP BLUE SEA THAT OCEAN PUTS THEM TO THEIR REST THE SUN IS SETTING IN THE WEST THE BIRDS THEY SING ON EVERY TREE ALL NATURE SEEMED INCLINED TO REST BUT THERE IS STILL NO REST FOR ME THE SUN IS SETTING IN THE WEST THE BIRDS THEY SING ON EVERY TREE ALL NATURE SEEMED INCLINED TO REST BUT THERE IS STILL NO REST FOR ME So, that last one was called "Nova Scotia Farewell," and it was an old traditional sea chanty that we transformed and made it a little new and exciting. And this next song is called the "Blue Sky Set," and it's a collection of dance tunes. OH, THE RAIN IT RAINS ALL DAY LONG BOLD RILEY AND THE NORTHERN WINDS BLOW SO STRONG BOLD RILEY WHEN THE WINDS BLOW HELMS ALL LEAN BOLD RILEY I LONG FOR THE DAY YOU'RE BACK WITH ME BOLD RILEY OH, HAS GONE AWAY WE'RE OUTWARD BOUND FOR BENGAL BAY BOLD RILEY GET BENDING, IT'S A HELL OF A WAY BOLD RILEY COME ON MARY, DON'T LOOK SO GLUM BOLD RILEY COME SUNDAY YOU'RE DRINKING RUM BOLD RILEY OH, HAS GONE AWAY GOODBYE MY SWEETHEART GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY, BOLD RILEY ( vocalizing ) GOODBYE MY DARLING GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY HAS GONE AWAY ( vocalizing ) GOODBYE MY SWEETHEART GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY, BOLD RILEY ( vocalizing ) GOODBYE MY DARLING GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY HAS GONE AWAY GOODBYE MY SWEETHEART GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY, BOLD RILEY ( vocalizing ) GOODBYE MY DARLING GOODBYE MY DEAR BOLD RILEY HAS GONE AWAY BOLD RILEY HAS GONE AWAY -

Andy

: That's a fun number. It is hot, now it's getting hot. They said, "Oh, the lights don't bother us at all," and now! It's just great. "Bold Riley" from "One More Day" is the newest record. And Erin, introduce yourself and everyone else in the band. Sure. My name's Erin Ellison. And on guitar we've got Peter Tissot. On drums, Jeff Olson. And on fiddle, Katie Dionne. This is not a bi-coastal band, but a couple cities, or at least a couple states. Right? We've got a player in Austin, and then Milwaukee, and two of you in Madison, at least up to this point. - Correct. How did that work out? - Well, originally, this is Peter's first year in Austin, and at first it was kind of a little bit of a logistical challenge because before we'd all been in the Madison area. But we've been making it work, playing a lot of shows in the summer, and we fly Peter back on occasion for a couple shows during the school year. In a Lear jet? - Yep! (laughs) But you've been playing together since high school? - Yep. And a lot of high school relationships break up right before college, never get back together. So what's the secret to keeping it together? I guess, we were all such good friends before we even started playing music with the band, so I think that's a key to our success because we were friends first, and then band members. And always devoted to Celtic and the Gaelic sound, right? Even dancing. Yeah. Especially at first. Our first album was really strongly traditional in influence. Katie, Jeff, and myself were all Irish dancers and that's how we met and kind of developed this interest in Irish music. And then we met Peter who has more of a rock, punk, jazz background and he kind of spiced up our flavor. Our sound has been really evolving ever since then. You can hear the music move back and forth. You could even during "Bold Riley" from sort of the centuries-old Scottish thing, to all of a sudden, Dave Matthews shows up. So how do you walk that line, though? Do you ever sense in your composing and in your performance, this is too much Gaelic, or this is too little? Or too much rock? Actually, we like to push the limits. And our rule is we try to keep it as much using the four main instruments of Irish instruments, the fiddle, the singing, or sometimes she plays flute or whistle, and then the bodhrn. And then we do as much as we can besides that. I'm playing a keyboard with my feet and Jeff's doing other percussion stuff, but he's still playing the bodhrn. And we try to keep that as our center, and then we push the bounds from there. I don't think there's any limit that we have beyond that, we try to go as far as we can, and go range. There's songs on "One More Day," the album, that we drove from hip-hop influence, and there's rock influence, and there's straight traditional sound, which I'm pretty proud of. Is it my imagination or in the traditional sound, Gaelic music has a lot of tension in it, doesn't it? There's times when it does; it uses a lot of harmonies that you usually wouldn't hear in classical music. It's actually pretty interesting studying music down in Austin. It's been a lot of fun to find out what's different. And the Gaelic influence, it uses a lot of harmonies that we try to push with the instruments, and different from voice, because not all of us sing. Jeff, especially. ( all laugh ) People get pretty physically committed to your music, too. And I know this is the festival season and people really come out and dance and go crazy at the festivals.

One last question

What's the difference between playing to a festival crowd and to a bar crowd? Well, obviously, I think the most obvious answer would be that in a bar crowd, it's really a more intimate setting. You can see the people's faces and you get that kind of interaction and in the festival crowd, people feel more free and easy to dance around and get a little wild. But really, it's a blast to play in both venues. Thank you for playing in this venue. And a few more, thanks. SAILING OUT OF THE HARBOR WE'RE PACKED DOWN IN THE HOLD BOUND FOR LAND AND FREEDOM THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN TOLD I'M LOOKING AT LIFE BEFORE ME SO MANY THINGS I MUST DO BUT HOW CAN I EVER BREAK FREE WHEN WHAT'S STOPPING ME IS YOU AND A SONG AND PRAYER STILL HAUNT ME AS I SLOWLY SAIL AWAY I'M DRIVEN BY LIFE NOW WEARY WILL I EVER RETURN TO STAY SOMEDAY GOD UP IN HIS HEAVENS DEVIL'S DOWN BELOW I'M OUT ON THIS WILD OCEAN I'M WONDERING WHERE I'LL GO AND THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD PULLS ME CLOSER HOW LONG CAN I FIGHT KEEPING MY HEAD ABOVE WATER TILL MY WINGS TAKE FLIGHT AND A SONG AND PRAYER STILL HAUNT ME AS I SLOWLY SAIL AWAY I'M DRIVEN BY LIFE NOW WEARY WILL I EVER RETURN TO STAY AND A SONG AND A PRAYER STILL HAUNT ME AS I SLOWLY SAIL AWAY I'M DRIVEN BY LIFE NOW WEARY WILL I EVER RETURN TO STAY SOMEDAY SOMEDAY SOMEDAY SOME...DAY SOMEDAY SOME...DAY NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA, NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA YEAH... WHOA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NANA NA NA NA NA NA NA, YEAH SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY I WILL STAY SOMEDAY We're gonna do one more for you guys before we call it a night. And this one's called "Donald MacGillavry." DONALD'S GONE UP THE HILL HARD AND HUNGRY DONALD COMES DOWN THE HILL WILD AND ANGRY DONALD WILL CLEAR THE GOUK'S NEST CLEVERLY HERE'S TO KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A WEIGHBAUK, DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A WEIGHBAUK, DONALD MACGILLAVRY BALANCE THEM FAIR AND BALANCE THEM CLEVERLY OFF WI' THE COUNTERFEIT DONALD MACGILLAVRY DONALD'S RUN O'ER THE HILL BUT HIS TETHER, MAN AS HE WERE WUD OR STANG'D WI' AN ETHER, MAN WHEN HE COMES BACK THERE'S SOME WILL LOOK MERRILY HERE'S TO KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A WEAVER, DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A WEAVER, DONALD MACGILLAVRY PACK ON YOUR BACK AND ELWAND SAE CLEVERLY HERE'S TO KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY DONALD HAS FOUGHTEN WI' RIEF AND ROGUERY DONALD HAS DINNER'D WI' BANES AND BEGGARY BETTER IT WERE FOR WHIGS AND WHIGGERY MEETING THE DEVIL THAN DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A TAILOR, DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A TAILOR, DONALD MACGILLAVRY PUSH ABOUT, IN AND OUT THIMBLE THEM CLEVERLY HERE'S TO KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY DONALD'S THE CALLAN THAT BROOKS NAE TANGLENESS WHIGGING AND PRIGGING AND A'NEWFANGLENESS THEY MAUN BE GANE HE WINNA BE BAUKIT, MAN HE MAUN HAE JUSTICE OR FAITH HE'LL TAKE IT, MAN COME LIKE A COBLER, DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE A COBLER, DONALD MACGILLAVRY BEAT THEM, AND BORE THEM AND LINGEL THEM CLEVERLY UP WI' KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY DONALD WAS MUMPIT WI' MIRDS AND MOCKERY DONALD WAS BLINDED WI' BLADS O' PROPERTY ARLES RAN HIGH BUT MAKINGS WERE NAETHING, MAN LORD, HOW DONALD IS FLYTING AND FRETTING, MAN COME LIKE THE DEVIL, DONALD MACGILLAVRY COME LIKE THE DEVIL, DONALD MACGILLAVRY SKELP THEM AND SCAUD THEM THAT PROVED SAE UNBRITHERLY HERE'S TO KING JAMES AND DONALD MACGILLAVRY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY

"But I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

One last question

I HAVE CLIMBED THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS I HAVE RUN THROUGH THE FIELDS ONLY TO BE WITH YOU ONLY TO BE WITH YOU I HAVE RUN I HAVE CRAWLED I HAVE SCALED THESE CITY WALLS THESE CITY WALLS ONLY TO BE WITH YOU BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR I HAVE KISSED HONEY LIPS FELT THE HEALING IN HIS FINGERTIPS IT BURNED LIKE FIRE THAT BURNING DESIRE BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR I BELIEVE IN THE KINGDOM COME THEN ALL THE COLORS WILL BLEED INTO ONE BLEED INTO ONE BUT YES, I'M STILL RUNNING BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR (applause)

"Journey Man"

One last question

A JOURNEYMAN CAME UP ONE NIGHT WITH WALKING HE WAS WEARY A JOURNEYMAN CAME UP ONE NIGHT WHEN THE MOON SHONE BRIGHT AND CLEARLY HE SPIED A FOX UPON THE ROAD RUNNING THROUGH THE HEATHER HE CAUGHT THAT FOX UPON THE ROAD WHOSE EYES WHERE QUICK AND CLEVER JOHNNY'S GONE THIS NIGHT TO TOWN HE'S ON HIS WAY TONIGHT WHEN MORNING COMES NO NEED TO WORK FOR GOLD AND SILVER BRIGHT THE FOX SAID SIR LET ME FREE AND KEEP ME FROM THE TOWN-O THE FOX SAID SIR WISHES THREE I'LL GRANT BEFORE THE DAWN-O THE FIRST ONE SAID THE JOURNEYMAN POINTING TO HIS WHISKEY MY FIRST WISH TO YOU IS THAT MY BOTTLE'LL NEVER BE EMPTY JOHNNY'S GONE THIS NIGHT TO TOWN HE'S ON HIS WAY TONIGHT WHEN MORNING COMES NO NEED TO WORK FOR GOLD AND SILVER BRIGHT TO TEST HIS WISH THE YOUNG MAN DRANK BUT COULD NOT DRAIN THE BOTTLE BEFORE TOO LONG THE YOUNG MAN SANK AND THE FOX BEGAN TO SMILE WHEN MORN'S FIRST LIGHT CREPT O'ER THE BRINK AND STILL THE YOUNG MAN SLUMBERED THE FOX HE HID THE YOUNG MAN'S DRINK AND LEFT HIM THERE BEWILDERED JOHNNY'S GONE THIS NIGHT TO TOWN HE'S ON HIS WAY TONIGHT WHEN MORNING COMES NO NEED TO WORK FOR GOLD AND SILVER BRIGHT JOHNNY'S GONE THIS NIGHT TO TOWN HE'S ON HIS WAY TONIGHT WHEN MORNING COMES NO NEED TO WORK FOR GOLD AND SILVER BRIGHT