A local band has a pair of gigs in Pender this weekend that should not be missed.
Murphy's Lágh is composed of Roberts Creek's Sara Fitzpatrick on vocals and violin and Belfast-born Damian Brennan on vocals and guitar. Following their Thursday night concert at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Brennan and Fitzpatrick will play tonight (Friday) and Saturday night at the Grasshopper Pub in Pender Harbour.
Dear Irish Boy, the group's 2007 album, is full of traditional tunes of triumph and tragedy, tending more towards sobering remembrance than rousing drinking anthems. There's also pan flute to be found on "Farewell to Glasgow." Many of the album's songs serve as odes or memorials to events both brave and tragic. As laid out in the liner notes, "Culluden's Harvest" recalls a 1746 battle by Scottish rebels holding off the English, sung hauntingly by Fitzpatrick. Her voice also fills the mournful acapella of "My Dear Irish Boy" with an arresting dignity - though the song's lyrics date back to 1842, the theme of losing a loved one in war or conflict is universal.
Brennan's playing lends an edginess to the chords in "Tamlin's Reel," while Fitzpatrick's violin leads the melody. Album-closer "Whiskey Before Breakfast" kicks off with Brennan riding a minor seventh chord before he and Fitzpatrick break into an upbeat energetic riff.
In "Sweet Carnlough Bay," Brennan sings the wry tale of a traveller falling for a beautiful girl, only to get robbed by her.Bodhran drums bust out on "Brenda Stubbert's Reel," and "The Irish Rover" is one of the few hearty drinking songs on the album, a good showcase for Fitzpatrick's speed violin skills, as is the moody "Home Alone," one of the group's original instrumental compositions.
"Lakes of Pontchartrain" is a sentimental song likely brought to Europe by British and French soldiers fighting in the War of 1812 in Louisiana.
The pace picks up with "Cod Liver Oil," a tune about an ailing wife who becomes addicted to the aforementioned unpalatable oil.
The album was recorded in North Vancouver.
