Episode 2 Music Night at Brownlow

Fair faa ye from Brownlow House in Lurgan

and the music of the Ulster-Scots.

Yes, we have a truly impressive line-up for you tonight.

On stage, we have Scottish fiddle player Mhairi Marwick.

We also have members from Londonderry's Churchill Flute Band.

As well as a very moving and special performance from

Brunswick Accordion Band.

So, to start us off, it's a group from the northwest of Ulster,

and you'll need your dancing shoes for this one.

It's Sontas with the delightfully-named Flubadub.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fabulous start to the show, boys - thank you so much for coming.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

And the track you just played was Flubadub - that's a funny name!

Where did that come from?

Well, I wrote Flubadub when I was at Newcastle University.

When I went over, they couldn't really understand my accent,

being from the northwest,

and I couldn't really understand theirs, either, being Geordies.

And I had this track written and I went to

a local band practice to hear a few pipers playing,

and the guy says, "You talk a load of flubadub."

But I didn't know what flubadub was, but after looking online,

I seen that it was from Bill And Ben The Flowerpot Men -

it was the way they spoke.

So I had this tune written and I says,

"Oh, Flubadub would be the perfect name for that."

Well, it's a great track.

Michael, now, the group Sontas, has it been together long?

Sontas actually hasn't - we haven't been together

for the last two years. We've actually just come together

for this tonight, actually, some of us former members.

Sontas, originally, there was ten of us in it -

we were a very large group originally, you know?

So it's just a few of us here tonight,

just come back for the show. But it was some good fun.

The Battlefield Band are a well-known Scottish group

founded in Glasgow in 1969.

And there's been many a change in the line-up since then,

but for the past ten years,

their singer has been Sean O'Donnell from Londonderry.

Sean's going to sing us a song composed by East Lothian

songwriter Davie Robertson,

and it tackles the age-old themes of lost love and passing time.

This is Star Of The Bar.

# Oh, I'll sing ye's a song if you'll gie's your attention

# It's no tale of pity, it's no song of woe

# And no word of honour or love will I mention

# It's a tale of a lassie that I kent long ago

# Nae better than maist and nae worse as many

# And what drew me to her it's not easy to say

# She was coorse, she was heartless, she wasnae that bonnie

# Ah, but she was the star of the bar in her day

# I've stravaiged the Royal Mile wi' her

# Drinkin' in style wi' her

# Rose Street from end to end ofttimes surveyed

# I fought and swore in the pubs wi' her

# Rolled round the dubs wi' her

# I cadged many subs frae her never repaid

# Nae better than maist and nae worse as many

# And what drew me to her it's not easy to say

# She was coorse, she was heartless, and she wasnae that bonnie

# Ah, but she was the star of the bar in her day

# So all you lads with fine lassies You know love soon passes

# And all your bricht dreams are like tears in the wind

# Best a lass who'll sit down wi' you

# Pass the glass round wi' you

# Sing a fine tune wi' you and drink herself blind

# Nae better than maist and nae worse as many

# And what drew me to her it's not easy to say

# She was coorse, she was heartless, and she wasnae that bonnie

# Ah, but she was the star of the bar in her day. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Behind me here in the ballroom at Brownlow House is

Brunswick Accordion Band.

Now, the band is based in a small rural town in Annalong

in County Down, and the band has been running for over 50 years.

Isn't that right, Iain?

That's right, Nicola, the band are from Annalong,

which is halfway between Newcastle and Kilkeel.

It's an area traditionally known as the Kingdom of Mourne,

and in that area it's somewhere with very strong

Ulster-Scots traditions and music and dance,

and its language traditions down in that part of the world, yeah.

The piece that you're playing tonight, Men Of Mourne,

that's a commission piece just for you, isn't it?

Yeah, we've been working about a year and a half towards

a World War I centenary project in the band,

and it was a much wider project than just

a piece of music - we commissioned a lot of research to people

from the Annalong area who died in the Great War.

But one of the aspects we wanted to do was compose

a piece of music that we could play at the Last Post Ceremony

at the Menin Gate in Ypres in Belgium.

So, we got in touch with Captain Alex Knox from

the Royal Irish Regiment, the former director of music there,

and asked him to compose something

specifically for the band for that trip. So, yeah.

So, Emma, you took a trip to Belgium with the piece, Men Of Mourne.

How did you feel when you were performing this?

I don't think that this is a feeling that we're ever

going to be able to replicate.

We played it at the Thiepval Memorial and the Ulster Tower

and then at the Menin Gate on the Sunday night,

and I can honestly say that it was

one of the best experiences I've ever had.

We felt so united as a band and we were just all there together,

and it was just an amazing feeling.

What a moving piece there from Brunswick Accordion Band.

I mean, if I was standing at Menin Gate with my band,

the Vow Accordion Band, I can only imagine the emotions that

would be running through my mind.

Yeah, I've been there myself, actually.

I was taken over with a group of musicians from Londonderry

and we all went over and played at a commemoration service there.

And to be at the Menin Gate when the Last Post is played

is just incredible.

But I can only imagine how more moving it would have been to

have played your own composition there at the Last Post Ceremony.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So, back again with us is Darren from Sontas and you're joined

by Gordon from Churchill Flute Band.

-And youse are pairing up for the next number.

-We are indeed.

Yeah, we're going to play a piece called Holly's Air.

And so, Gordon,

when did you become a member of the Churchill Flute Band?

I joined with my brother 22 years ago now.

So, since that time, we've now got all six of my family in the band,

so we've sort of took over since!

-You've been paired before, with the Walled City Tattoo.

-Yep.

We have, yes.

Well, it's great to be able to connect with other bands in

-the community, isn't it?

-It is.

I know in the city of Londonderry itself

there's a great camaraderie between all bands at the minute,

so that's great to see, and we all help each other out all the time.

We've been working with kind of a lot of the bands in the city,

and especially these guys here.

That new arrangement of Holly's Air, we wanted to add

a wee bit of different style to it, so we have the concert flutes,

which adds a kind of flute band,

marching band texture, as well, to the piece.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Wookalily, so, you're an all-girl bluegrass line-up.

How long have you been together?

About seven years, altogether.

We weren't friends before - we still aren't, really!

So, Sharon, what do you play in the band?

Banjo, mainly. I have a big interest in bluegrass instrumentals.

And where did that come from?

Well, I can't sing, so I thought, you know,

may as well make myself useful!

But I love the way all the instruments come down and when

the instruments comes up, and then they put their own

wee flavours on the melody.

Could you tell me a bit about the track you're going to play

for us tonight, Lyndsay?

Hands Pass In Time is the first track off our debut album.

It's basically about wanting someone you can't have and likening that

onto hands on a clock - passing but never touching.

So, seeing this person every day but never being able to reach out.

# Hands pass in time

# Never touching, crossing the line

# Clock ticking on the wall

# You are never really here at all

# In my mind I saw you smile

# In my heart you stayed a while

# We weren't meant to be

# But I'll love you endlessly

# You pass me on the street each day

# I smile, you have to look away

# Your hand nearly touching mine

# Does love really fade with time?

# Hands pass in time

# Never touching, crossing the line

# Clock ticking on the wall

# You were never really here at all

# I want to love you out loud

# Shout it from the clouds

# Fate dealt a different hand

# I suppose heaven had a better plan

# You pass me on the street each day

# I smile, you have to look away

# Your hand nearly touching mine

# Does love really fade with time?

# Hands pass in time

# Never touching, crossing the line

# Clock tick-ticking on the wall

# You were never really here at all. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Performing next week on Music Night At Brownlow...

we have Ballylone Flute Band...

..The Battlefield Band...

..and the Drum Corps from the Pride of Ballinran.

Haste ye back.