There’s a look in Fiachna Ó Braonáin’s eye, a gleam, a glint, and a hint: the mark of the true believer. A carrier, and a carrier on. It bit deep into him when he was a teenager, the wild wail of the blues guitar and the pulse of rock n’ roll, mixing with the already ingrained DNA of the traditional Irish music, language and song he was raised on. There was – and there is – no cure.
To coincide with Fiachna’s TV acting role in TG4s long running Irish language series Ros na Rún he has decided to release a double A side single consisting of ‘Amhrán na Trá Báine’ (new radio version) and ‘Take A Look Around With You’ from his recent EP ‘Winter Sun’.
‘”Amhrán na Trá Báine (Song of the White Strand)’ is a sean-nós song I learned from the recordings of my great uncle Vail Ó Flaithearta which I recorded for a wonderful collaboration between myself and two friends; South African drummer/percussionist, Barry Van Zyl and his fellow countryman producer/composer/arranger Robin Hogarth. Amhrán na Trá Báine features the magical voices of the Gugulethu Cummunity Choir for whom we translated the themes of the song and Robin subsequently wrote and recorded their beautiful choral arrangement. The song also features Inni-K on fiddle and uileann piper Eoin Dillon from Kila. Together we are called AFRIC and Amhrán na Trá Báine is a taste from an as yet unreleased body of work where we traded Irish songs and rhythms with South African songs and rhythms. The project was part funded by Foras na Gaeilge (forasnagaeilge.ie ) and our hope is to complete the work soon and get it out into the world!
‘Take A Look Around With You’ is a song written after a solitary trip to the Normandy coast when I lived in landlocked Paris for a number of years and any trip to the sea was a welcome blessing and relief from the intensity of the city. Some years later having completely forgotten writing and recording it, I found it on an old drive and when Clare Sands heard the rough and raw version she added some magical instrumentation to it and breathed new life into an old song!”
The EP is available from Bandcamp via https://fiachnaobraonain.bandcamp.com/
