It's A String Thing For Donal Clancy
By :: Earle Hitchner
Publication :: The Irish Echo

[Published on October 25, 2006, in the IRISH ECHO newspaper, New York City. Copyright (c) Earle Hitchner. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of author.]

A reluctance to accept praise or be singled out for special recognition is an endearing trait among many Irish traditional musicians. Coupled with virtual self-effacement or perceived shyness on stage, however, that trait can lead to neglect or complacency by audiences and critics.

In concerts with Danu, Solas, the Eileen Ivers Band, or Mike and Mary Rafferty, his father-in-law and wife, I have never seen Donal Clancy claim the spotlight by force of will or ego. As the son of singer Liam Clancy of the famed Clancy Brothers, Donal could easily capitalize on that blood connection if he wanted to. Instead, he chooses to be unobtrusively effective in his guitar and bouzouki support of other performers.

But with "Masters of the Irish Guitar," a Shanachie CD showcase of nine players that he executive produced and performs on, and "Close to Home," his Compass solo debut, Donal Clancy steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, spending part of his childhood in An Rinn, County Waterford, and now living in Yonkers, N.Y., Clancy displays a deft, beautiful touch throughout "Close to Home" and in his two tracks on "Masters of the Irish Guitar."

The latter recording recalls another Shanachie album, "Music of Ireland: Airs, Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes and Marches Arranged for Fingerpicking Guitar," released in 1988 and featuring John Renbourn, Duck Baker, Martin Simpson, Davey Graham, and Stefan Grossman, who executive produced it.

In British folk music, Davey Graham is often credited with pioneering and popularizing a switch from the once "standard" guitar tuning of EADGBE to an open, or modal, tuning such as DADGAD or EADEAE. "There isn't a guitarist in England who wasn't influenced by him," Martin Carthy said in praise of Graham, who is sometimes called the "Father of the British Folk Guitar" or the "Big Daddy of DADGAD." Through open tunings, Graham found a way to bring more swing, melodic or chordal articulation, rhythmic resonance, and ringing-out tonal quality to acoustic guitar playing within British folk and Celtic traditional music.

Other guitarists who pushed the technique heard in Graham's playing to new or different heights were Carthy, Renbourn, Baker, Simpson, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Paul Brady, Donal Lunny, Micheal O Domhnaill, Mick Moloney, and Arty McGlynn. From Omagh, County Tyrone, McGlynn issued a solo debut, "McGlynn's Fancy," in 1981 for Belfast's Mint Records label that is considered a benchmark for Irish-style, flatpicked, acoustic guitar playing.

Arty McGlynn, Paul Brady, and Duck Baker are three of the guitarists acknowledged by Donal Clancy as influences on his own playing. In fact, his solo album track note for "The Castle of Dromore/Sonny Brogan's" credits part of his mazurka interpretation to "some of American guitarist Duck Baker's arrangements of Irish tunes."

As expected, the solo album "Close to Home" gives freer rein and range to Clancy's guitar ability. Four medleys in particular are outstanding for their lift, drive, crisp, full delineation of every note, and exemplary tempo: "Tommy Coen's Memories/Callaghan's" reels, "Ask My Father/Helvic Head" jigs, "The Monaghan Jig/Old Hag You Have Killed Me," and "The Concert Reel/My Love and I in the Garden." By taking a paradoxically rigorous and relaxed approach to those tunes, Clancy deepens the pleasure of close listening.

The melodic feel and delicate finesse he brings to "The Nomad" affirm Clancy's own description of the tune as "a cross between O'Carolan's 'Miss McDermott' and the set dance 'Rodney's Glory.'" It's a lovely, nuanced rendition in which he gently wrings emotion.

Clancy's fingerpicking of "Lord Inchiquin," a Turlough O'Carolan tune, is fastidious without being fussy. It shimmers as it should, and to the slow airs "Sean O Duibhir a Ghleanna," "An Buachaill Caol Dubh," and "The Castle of Dromore" he adds a confident, thoughtful deliberateness compelling a more profound appreciation of each tune's melodic structure. Even trad melodies that may have been composed in a rush of creativity deserve unrushed respect and attention in performance.

A luminous grace also flows through Clancy's interpretations of "Garrett Barry's/The Humours of Trim" jigs and "Byrne's/Kitty's Wedding" hornpipes, in which he executes changes between tunes with impressive adroitness.

The only weakness on Clancy's solo CD stems not from his playing but from that of piper David Power in "The Repeal of the Union" reel. Power's drones sound like an electric razor in the background and nearly hobble Clancy's fine guitar picking. This is a classic case of addition devolving into subtraction.

Apart from that lone reel, "Close to Home" fulfills the promise implicit in its title: intimate, ungaudily virtuosic, and hearth- and heart-stirring. Through this solo recording, the admiration Donal Clancy already enjoys among his musical peers should expand to a much wider admiration among Irish traditional CD listeners and concert audiences. It's a can't-miss pick for picking.

For more proof that Clancy belongs in the elite guitar company of such players as Arty McGlynn, John Doyle, Seamie O'Dowd, Daithi Sproule, and Donogh Hennessy, check out "Masters of the Irish Guitar." This CD features all of those guitarists, plus Dennis Cahill, Garry O Briain, and Randal Bays.

The idea for the recording came from the 2003 Sebastopol Celtic Festival in California, where Clancy sat on stage beside McGlynn, O'Dowd, and Cahill for an hour-long guitar session. It was a welcome reminder that, in the right hands, the acoustic guitar can skillfully handle melody as well as rhythm in Irish traditional music.

Clancy himself clinches the point in "Jackie Fitzpatrick's/The Boy in the Boat" reels and in "Miss McDermott," or "The Princess Royal," a planxty usually attributed to Turlough O'Carolan. His acoustic guitar playing in both tracks is superb.

Other highlights on the CD include the guitar picking of McGlynn on "The Humors of Kilclogher/Strop the Razor" jigs and "De Bharr na gCnoc" air (with Nollaig Casey on violin and viola), John Doyle on "The Gooseberry Bush/The Sailor's Return" and "The New Post Office/Coen's Memories/The Atlantic Wave" reels, and Seamie O'Dowd, the most talented instrumentalist ever to play in the Sligo-based band Dervish, on "Rub the Bag/The Old Grey Goose" and "The Northern Hills." This last tune is O'Dowd's own composition, which he performs with a soulful blues inflection on electric and acoustic guitars.

Simply put, these axes don't grind.