Bring Your Own Hammer brings historians and composers together to create new and original song cycles based on historical sources and to re-interpret song material rooted in the history of nineteenth-century Ireland and of the Irish Diaspora. It is not a band, a group, an ensemble or even a collective. If anything, it is a faction but unlike nineteenth-century Irish factions, who met, armed with sticks and two-handed wattles in fairs and markets, it is armed with voices and instruments and dedicated, as no faction before, to the re-interpretation of historical material in song form.
The Album
In March 2024, we release our first album, My Grief on the Sea, which is brimming with superb contributions from leading Irish and international composers, musicians and singers including Agu, Linda Buckley, Cathal Coughlan, Adrian Crowley, Neil Farrell, Eileen Gogan, Tony Higgins, Carol Keogh, Michelle O’Rourke, Wally Nkikita, Brigid Mae Power, Michael J Sheehy, Mike Smalle and Jah Wobble.
The first in a series of major releases from Bring Your Own Hammer, the album offers a collection of songs about the sea, sea journeys and migration to and from Ireland in the nineteenth century. You are invited to journey with us as we criss-cross the Atlantic world following the remaining threads of lives shaped, in one way or another, by the sea. You will hear the echoes of words, from a bog in Co. Roscommon, sung in grief for a lost lover, who has departed overseas in the decades after the Famine (on the beautiful title track, Michelle O’Rourke’s ‘My Grief on the Sea’). You can catch lines written in the letters of migrants to North America, matched with beautiful melodies (Golden Streets, Bitter Tears – Adrian Crowley with Brigid Mae Power). You can imagine yourself with Carol Keogh on the quays of New Ross in 1849, as Biddy and Catherine Keogh depart for New York (on the stunning ‘A Pair of Packed Valises (before the Dunbrody), 1849’) or picture yourself crossing the Atlantic on board a ship with Mary Connaughty in 1881 (on the melancholy and haunting ‘Old Oak Road’ by Mike Smalle with Cathal Coughlan and Jah Wobble). Join Cathal Coughlan and Linda Buckley on the roads of Co. Carlow, during the 1832 cholera epidemic, as a man called Crowley returns to Ireland after thirty years at sea (on the complex and poignant ‘The Man with Open Arms’). Sail the high seas with Eileen Gogan and Neil Farrell disguised as a cabin boy (on the sad and beautiful ‘Female Cabin Boy’) or stand with Tony Higgins and Agu on the quays of Dublin as the multitudes depart during the Famine (on the vibrant yet melancholy ‘Embarkation’). Follow Mike Smalle and Wally Nkikita as they trace Joseph Keys’ journey to Ireland from the time he leaves his life of enslavement in Virginia to his departure, from Baltimore, on board a ship across the Atlantic in early 1844 (on the melodious and tragic ‘Over the Ghosts’). Take time too to contemplate the rumble and power of the sea with Mike Smalle (on the sparkling track, ‘The Oscillating Sea’). At the end, watch Marie and her lover swimming off the coast of Ireland as the effects of the Famine drive people from the land and towards the sea (on the starkly beautiful ‘The Weight of Water’ – Michael J. Sheehy).
The Artists
Agu is a singer, songwriter and music producer with Polish and Czech roots now living in Galway.
Linda Buckley is an Irish composer who has written extensively for orchestra (BBC Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ NSO), with an interest in merging her classical training with the worlds of post punk, folk and electronica.
Cathal Coughlan, originally from Cork, Ireland, was a founder and singer of acclaimed 80s/90s groups Microdisney and Fatima Mansions, and is widely considered to be one of Ireland’s most revered singer/songwriters, beloved by fans of caustic literate lyricism and erudite songcraft.
Adrian Crowley is a songwriter, singer, composer and performer, originally from Galway and now based in Dublin.
Neil Farrell is a musician, songwriter, and producer from Galway, Ireland and a founding member of the Galway band, Toasted Heretic.
Eileen Gogan is a singer, songwriter and producer who lives in Dublin, Ireland. She has also performed with some of Ireland’s most noted bands (The Would Be’s, The Drays and Microdisney).
Tony Higgins is a composer and musician from Galway, Ireland.
Carol Keogh has been part of the independent music scene in Ireland since her first band The Plague Monkeys garnered critical acclaim for their debut EP Navigator in 1997 and album Surface Tension (1998).
Michelle O’Rourke is a singer based in Dublin, Ireland. Empowered by a background in Baroque vocal music, and ever-fascinated by the role of voice in the ritual of performance, Michelle maintains a diverse portfolio of work: from contemporary classical music, to devised interdisciplinary projects, to holistic vocal coaching.
Wally Nkikita (Aka DJ Wally) is an artist, originally from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, based in Galway city. He is a founder member of Galway African Diaspora-Ireland, a community group, leader of Galway Sonke Multicultural Choir and he plays an essential role in the evolution and promotion of African culture in Galway city.
Brigid Mae Power is an Irish singer, songwriter and musician. She has produced four solo albums since 2016.
Michael J. Sheehy makes music as a solo artist and as part of the rock band Miraculous Mule as well as one half of psychedelic electronic duo United Sounds of Joy. In 2020 he released his critically acclaimed solo album Distance Is The Soul of Beauty, his first in a decade.
Mike Smalle is a musician, songwriter and producer from Galway, Ireland. He has released 8 albums to date under various guises. 2021 saw the release of his first album under his own name (Pagan Pulse).
Jah Wobble is a well-known bass player.
The Historians
Dr. Richard Mc Mahon is a Lecturer in History at MIC, Limerick. He is committed to engaging in forms of creative history that expose the villainy of the Irish race both on the island and overseas.
Dr. Niall Whelehan is a senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He has written widely on the history of modern Ireland and the Irish diaspora, mainly with a focus on the long nineteenth century.
Dedication
The album is for Cathal Coughlan.
Track list
My Grief on the Sea
- My Grief on the Sea – Michelle O’Rourke
- Golden Streets, Bitter Tears – Adrian Crowley with Brigid Mae Power
- A Pair of Packed Valises (before the Dunbrody), 1849 – Carol Keogh
- Old Oak Road – Mike Smalle with Cathal Coughlan and Jah Wobble
- The Man with Open Arms – Cathal Coughlan with Linda Buckley
- The Female Cabin Boy – Eileen Gogan with Neil Farrell
- Embarkation (Float Away) – Tony Higgins and Agu
- Over the Ghosts – Mike Smalle with Wally Nkikita
- The Oscillating Sea – Mike Smalle
The Weight of Water – Michael J Sheehy
