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In an unlikely alliance between an Irish traditonal 'Bodhrán' player and a Northern Irish 'Lambeg' drummer, Rónán Ó Snodaigh (Kíla) meets with Unionist and Derry resident Richard Campell where they collaborate, llisten and learn from each other. 'A Gardener Now' is a message of growth and nurture. A message of peace, reconciliation and hope, through the language of music.
Poem: Rónán Ó Snodaigh
Soundtrack score: Myles O'Reilly
Cinematography: Myles O'Reilly
This has been a patron sponsored creation on / mylesoreilly helping me make on music film per month.
A message from Rónán Ó Snodaigh;
"It's very exciting for me as a Gael and a bodhrán player to get a chance to play and learn from a Lambeg Drummer. Richard has been kind enough to accept me as myself and open enough to play along with me as we both delve into each other's stories and rhythms. It's not often these two traditions get to converge, even though we often live within drumming distance of each other. There's a good chance the possibilities for fun outweigh the other tried and tested options of ignoring each other. It seems to me that our two traditions have lived alongside each other here on this Island for hundreds of years with very little communication. There have been historic reasons for us to be separated and to keep our traditions apart but I'm hoping that now is the right time to be meeting, greeting and listening to each other's Drums. Richard represents his community well, he's strong, true to his word, kind and open to meeting me and listening to my Drum.
Lambeg playing and culture has mystified me since I heard of it. My first chance to play alongside a Lambeg came in 1999 with 'the Big Drum ' a band curated by Brian Fleming, then in 2016 ‘Kiruu’ sang ‘Síocháin / Peace' and that is where I met Richard. We have been talking and playing whenever possible and meeting in Derry was very special for me because I was on his turf. There is so much history behind each of our pursuits that when we play the past is activated, this can be scary too but it's very rewarding for me to be able to cross into enemy culture and not be an enemy. The future could be very bright for us all, and good and loud too.
I'm hoping that more of this can happen for us and that we can get beyond being a threat to each other and move on to enjoying each other's tunes and rhythms. Who knows where it leads us but we know where the other approach has led us so I think this kind of carry on (meeting up and playing together) can guide us to a better future... for both our traditions.
- Rónán