Wednesday

Van & Edna.

It has been a rainy, dark, and gloomy day. I only went outside to put the rubbish bin out and feed my birds. I bought the wrong bird food a few days ago. I got sunflower hearts, but the sparrows will not touch them. So, I had to get a bag of suet pellets yesterday which they like. In a pot inside my kitchen window, I noticed that a hyacinth has started to grow again. With all the doom and gloom in the world these days any sign of new life is appreciated. I’ll take a photo of it to show you when it flowers. While I was doing the washing up, I listened to a compilation CD which I had not played before. I particularly enjoyed hearing Beth Gibbons and Damien Rice, two people I have not really paid attention to before. It was Edna O’Brien’s 90^th birthday yesterday. She is an Irish treasure and probably Ireland's greatest living writer. The news of her birthday brought back happy memories of Van Morrison’s 2014 Lit Up Inside evening at the Lyric Theatre in London when Edna read the lyrics of Madame George. A friend filmed it and I have shared it below if you have not seen it before.

Grave Of Siegfried Sassoon.

It was dark today by 4.00. I started thinking about future possible bike rides. There is a village about 12 miles away called Mells. When I looked on Wikipedia, I saw that the famous war poet Siegfried Sassoon is buried in the churchyard there. I ended up spending about an hour reading about him and his family. He lived at Heytesbury House, not far away. That might make an interesting little blog if I took my camera along and took a few pics. I would need a nice sunny day though. I will bear it in mind for maybe after Christmas. The big sporting event for me this weekend will be Mayo playing Dublin in the All-Ireland football final. I hope Mayo can do it this year. My late brother Paul was a big fan of Mayo. It is 69 years since they last lifted the Sam Maguire trophy. Even in Chicago Mayo fans are getting excited (See photo) I'll let you know the result.

Chicago Mayo Fans.

The Morning Star by Ger Wolfe

In the absence of any live music to enjoy during this pandemic, one of the things that has kept me going is music sessions on the internet by various artists. Among the musicians I have particularly enjoyed are sessions by Richard Thompson, Christy Moore, Cara Dillon and Sharon Shannon. I have felt that they should be rewarded for their efforts because musicians have been hit extremely hard recently by not being able to perform and earn a living. I have bought CDs or sent a tip via PayPal. A couple of weeks ago a friend posted a link on Facebook to another live session by an Irish singer-songwriter called Ger Wolfe. I enjoyed the session so much I ordered his latest album called The Morning Star which arrived a few days ago. I first heard the name Ger Wolfe about a year ago when he is mentioned in the title track on Christy Moore’s excellent Magic Nights album. I think Ger wrote that song in collaboration with fellow Cork resident John Spillane. The Morning Star is an excellent album and Ger has a unique voice with a distinctive accent. I would describe him as a nature poet. The songs are like poems set to music. The lyrics are full of references to birds, animals, the land, the sea, the sky, and the seasons. He obviously feels close to nature. This gives the album a very spiritual quality, because as you know, people who are closer to nature are closer to god.

The album is produced, engineered, and mixed by Amhlaoibh Mc Sweeney who also plays harmonium, banjo, sruti box, bass and drums. Ger has a very distinctive delicate guitar style, possibly influenced by Bert Jansch, but I do not play guitar, so it is not really for me to say. There is Spanish guitar & steel string guitar. Ger also plays nice mandolin, fiddle, and piano among other instruments. His son Diarmuid Wolfe is the pianist on one track called I See The New Moon. Colyne Laverriere and Julie O’Sullivan are guest vocalists on The Last Rose Of Summer. I do not have a favourite song, but if pushed I think the opening song Hello Gorgeous is both charming and poetic. I love the piano playing on When We Were Farming Land and the harmonium and mandolin on tracks such as Colder Than The Winter which created a nice atmosphere in my kitchen as I listened on a winters afternoon. Something Stirred A Memory is about how simple things like finding lost items in a drawer can bring memories flooding back. In I Am A Wave Ger has put new words to an American tune called The Dying Soldier. On first listen I thought that song was the most immediately accessible. The final track called Walk The Long Road reminded me slightly of another nature inspired album by Vashti Bunyan called Another Diamond Day, but I am sure other listeners will find their own magical moments in this album.

If you want to hear a taste of this album, I have shared a beautiful video of Hello Gorgeous to this blog site below. 

Ger Wolfe -'Hello Gorgeous' (official video)