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Lunasa
In a way, it's fitting that Irish band Lunasa should be touring Australia on their ten-year anniversary because, despite being one of their country's finest traditional-based bands, it was here that they actually formed just over a decade ago.
"Our very first gig as Lunasa was in the Blue Mountains," explains Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle and bodhran).
"It was a surreal set of circumstances in that the bass player Trevor Hutchinson had been in Australia about two years previous, he'd been out there on the Guinness folk music tour with Sharon Shannon, and a guy came up to him and asked him would he be interested in coming back to Australia if he could gather a few musicians. So he came back to Ireland and duly did what he was asked and he rounded up myself, Sean Smyth and Donogh Hennessy and we went out there and did a few gigs, thought of the name literally two weeks before going out to Australia and that was it."
Asking Crawford of his personal highlights with the band in the meantime brings the response that it's hard to remember too much, other than it's all been enjoyable. His main area of pride however is the six albums the band has recorded.
"If God forbid we folded in the morning, we've already left behind us six very fine pieces of work. At least we can stand over them and we're very happy with them and they've proven to be accepted by traditional purists and music people all over the place. That's very nice that it's been applauded in that way. I suppose the fact that we have continued almost with the very same line-up for ten years, we've got on really well and that's very important too. That's something that I'm very proud of also, that we've maintained really good strong friendships throughout it all."
The traditional tunes Lunasa plays are often interspersed with originals: the line between the two is sometimes obvious, sometimes not. I asked Crawford, who is one of the writers in the band, if he tries to write tunes that will fit into a traditional theme, or is that just what comes out?
"A bit of both, really. Any of the tunes that I write myself would fit possibly straight into the tradition because that's ultimately where I come from. I'm quite a traditionalist at heart even though I've kind of broadened my horizons somewhat through the playing with Lunasa for ten years. But then Cillian for instance, the piper in the band, he tends to write tunes that could be either/or, you know. Even on the last album, there's two fine examples of that, there's a jig on there which he wrote which is called Leckan Mor. You'd swear that was an old traditional tune. But then there's a tune on there that he wrote called The Road To Barga and that's very non-traditional in that it's in a strange time signature. It's more like an Eastern European tune, it's in 7/8 time and it's got this strange kind of cross rhythm thing going on. He's better able at writing tunes with a traditional slant but possibly from a very weird kind of point as well. It just depends which of us is writing at the time."
The combination of tunes that enter the repertoire only if everyone in the band is happy with them, and a certain collective perfectionism with the music's presentation ("This is ultimately what's going to be left after we go and it is your legacy. We feel very strongly about that.") makes for a highly professional performance on recordings and in concert. Yet the inherent enjoyment of playing the music that is in their hearts also stands out, and the joyful nature of the tunes themselves inevitably affects musicians and audiences alike.
This has been the case on their frequent tours around the planet for the last decade, although this will be their first WOMADelaide appearance. So what can we look forward to when Lunasa take the stage?
"The Lunasa thing is hopefully infectious. That's what we like to think of it as being anyway, and we do get that kind of reaction from people. They generally get involved and especially in Australia, they're very uninhibited. They get up and they dance and they wave their hands and they have a good time. They're not restricted in any sense so we like to see a lot of that and we'll respond accordingly. It'll be a full-on experience with lots of lively dance tunes but there'll also be a hint of melancholy in there too. The main thing is that people go and have a good time. People do sometimes feel that because they're not Irish, will they get it or will they not? The way that we play the Irish music, it's for everybody. It's not just an expat thing at all, it's an infectious thing is the music itself. Hopefully, that will communicate and people will react to that."
WOMADelaide is in the Botanic Gardens from Fri 9 to Sun 11 March
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