Pure excellence... Such a rich musical experience is not soon forgotten.   Leap Day brought ALTAN to Montgomery for a rare, almost accidental, concert at a local high school auditorium.   Our own Snapper Dave, an avowed Celtic music buff, was instrumental in getting this marvelous traditional Irish band to eschew a Spring Tour off-day to play in Alabama (for the first time).   Wow.  I knew they would be good, but I really had no idea.  My toes are still tapping.

Donegal-based ALTAN features five almost-unparalleled musicians – the lovely founder & angel-voiced Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh on fiddle, Dermot Byrne on button accordion, Daithi Sproule on acoustic guitar, Ciaran Curran on bouzouki, and Ciaran Tourish on twin fiddle & tin whistle.  As they are regarded as “the preeminent Irish band in the world today” (Wall Street Journal), I quickly understood the compliment.   A typical selection on this night would begin with a single player – maybe Mairead – tickling the audience with her expressive fiddle; then, in perfectly timed entries, her bandmates would add layers of accompaniment until the house was on fire.   These centuries-old jigs & reels sounded more alive then 99% of the music written and performed today.   The concert was a mixture of fast and slow, vocal and instrumental.   And unaccustomed to such incredible talent in our town, the audience was spellbound from start to finish.  ALTAN’s encore song was a moving Gaelic selection called An Callin Deas Og, from their latest CD The Blue Idol.   Mairead sung in her native language and Dermot’s accordion helped turn a beautiful love song into a touching one.  Interestingly, the new CD also contains an English version of the song called The Pretty Young Girl, featuring Dolly Parton.   It’s superb.

The ALTAN show was refreshing in another way as well.   This wonderful band played as enthusiastically for 300 as they play for an arena full.   And they hung around afterwards to chat and to sign autographs and have their photos made with grateful fans.   They didn’t wear costumes or have spotlights or play seventeen different guitars.   To enjoy authentic traditional music – whether Celtic or Bluegrass or Cajun or whatever – is to embrace our collective past and to celebrate the talents of the ages.   ALTAN plays pure and real and they delight.   Catch them if you can.  GD