This is the second in a series of collaborations with Irish filmmaker Luke Brabazon. The first was Molly O'Mahony, found here( • Molly O'Mahony, "Golde... , in case you missed it. Luke is a kindred spirit that I met on my trips to Ireland, and after working together to film some stuff there, we decided to continue the partnership and have him record some more great Irish music for GemsOnVHS.
This time around, he met up with the band Alfi. I'd tried to set up a meeting with Alfi myself when I was there, but the timing didn't work out. So I was happy to have the opportunity to bring their music to y'all, with Luke at the helm. Y'all might recognize the harpist, Alannah Thornburgh ( • Alannah Thornburgh, "B... , from a previous recording I made. She'd told me about her band, where she is joined by musicians Fiachra Meek and Ryan McAule. Here they are singing one of my personal favorite tunes of all time, Jubilee, which i'd heard Jean Ritchie doing with Doc Watson on a live album of theirs. Here it is, particularly and exceedingly beautiful and moving. A unique makeup of instruments, Irish meets Appalachia, this is something special. Barn swallows swoop in and out, dancing in tune.
Some words from Luke himself on the filming;
"When I arrived at the Seamus Ennis Centre in north Dublin to film with Alfi, we spent a few minutes looking around for a good location. We found a small side room to the centre's cafe, and as Alannah and I accidentally knocked a roller blind off the window, the owner Sean walked in and greeted us. "Don't worry about that - why don't you use the old shed out the back?"
It was perfect. Clearly a party spot enjoyed by many a local teenager, the barn and surrounding buildings of the courtyard feel ready for new life to be brought in. After borrowing some chairs from the cafe, we were ready to go. The birds flying around during the performance were a wonderful addition, we hope they didn't mind our intrusion into their home.
Alfi are an incredible band, and I'm delighted to be able to present them to the Gems On VHS audience."
You can find Alfi's debut album, "Say Old Man" on all streaming platforms at linktr.ee/Alfi_Band and you can check out all the cool stuff they're up to on Instagram at @alfi_band.
Find more from Luke;
Instagram: @lukebrabazon
/ lukebrabazon
lukebrabazonmedia
Our undying love and gratitude go to our executive producers for making this project possible: Brad Sirois, Mitchell Davis, Keith McQuillan, David Jameson, Lisa Galvan, Irvin Maddox, Josh Collins, Brady Jones, Julie Nestoroff, VJ Arizpe, and Rusty Shackleford.
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GemsOnVHS is a long running series of intimate, off-stage performances by songwriters we love.
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