Aniar by Peadar MacMathuna/Peadar Macmahon

ANIAR

The title of the album means “ from the west “ in Gaelic. It describes the music and the musicians well.

This album is largely inspired by the music of the renowned Irish Harpist and Soprano, Mary O’Hara, the poetry of Yeats, Kavanagh and French, the classical Irish composer Sean O’Riada and from my love of Irish songs in the “ Sean Nòs “ ( Old Style ) tradition.

Sean Nòs songs, much like Jazz, are characterized by their use of improvised ornamentation, free rhythm and metre. I am fortunate that over the past five years I have had the opportunity to play with three great American musicians and friends, Richard Scholtz ( autoharp), John Sampson ( Bass ) and Jan Peters (Harmonica ) who excel in playing this way.

We recorded and mixed the songs in a couple of days at Champion st sound studios in Bellingham Washington in 2018.We played in-studio as we would at home or on stage, with no headphones or overdubs. Some of the songs were completely unknown to the other players, were not rehearsed and were captured in just a few takes.

The lyrics, translations and history of the songs are available on my website, peadarmacmathuna.com. The tracks are also available there to share with your friends.
Please write to me at peadarmacmathunamusic@gmail.com

peadarmacmathuna.com