David Murphy - traditional Irish music on pedal steel

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

I want to put the word out about a cool new project that my Irish friend David Murphy has been working on. David is a great pedal-steel player (and multi-instrumentalist) from Cork who works in all kinds of genres – traditional country, rock, singer-songwriter etc.

He’s just done a really nice album of traditional Irish music adapted for pedal-steel, with a nice variety of other instrumentation and really nice arrangements from track-to-track. This is not the “jigs and reels” so many of us may associate with instrumental Irish music but slower airs and harp tunes, really pretty stuff perfectly suited to pedal-steel. I’ve been listening to it for a few months and really enjoy it - there are some incredibly beautiful moments throughout. If you enjoy the "ambient" music that a lot of steel players are starting to explore this should be right up your alley - there are some elements of that in the arrangements.

Here’s a link to the first track that’s just been released, the full album comes out in April:
https://song.space/6zzbap/song/2603325

There’s also a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RdUPenGkOs

It's available to stream on Spotify and Bandcamp as well.

David Murphy
Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music For Pedal Steel Guitar

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

I've heard an advance copy of this album and all I can say is 'wow.' It's the real deal.

David Murphy can do anything, and he's just reminded us that pedal steel works in any genre when it's in the hands of a master.

And if that weren't enough, he's a helluva good human. Congrats on your accomplishment, David!

Chris Bauer · From: Nashville, TN USA

Gorgeous!

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

Thank you. Gorgeous playing and production.

Doug Earnest · From: Branson, MO USA

Beautiful!
Pete, thank you for posting this.

Chris Templeton · From: The Green Mountain State

Thanks for posting, Pete, I enjoyed playing along with both tracks.
Especially nice sound of the steel.
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Paul Stauskas · From: DFW, TX

Congrats David, this is a wonderful project. Looking forward to hearing the rest when released!
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David Murphy · From: Cork, Ireland

Thank you so much Pete, Tucker and everyone for the very kind words and for highlighting the new record! I'm very grateful. Especially amongst some pedal steel heroes of mine here on the forum!! It was a really exciting project to arrange these tunes for pedal steel. Tucker, as you rightly noted, the instrument can do anything and no genre should be beyond it. On this record, my objective was to allow the steel to play a few different roles - directly playing these beautiful melodies from Irish composers and harpists and 'sean nós' (Irish 'old style') songs from the 1600's and 1700's... supporting the cello and violin and other instrumentation... and also using the instrument texturally with an ambient flavor, as you noted Pete. I'm currently preparing for some live shows along with a band of cello, piano, violin, double bass, electronics and am very excited to see how it works out on stage!!
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davidmurphymusic.com

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

I've been listening to this quite a bit, and think it deserves a "bump" up, for anyone that might have missed it. Really gorgeous music, and a great example of taking pedal-steel into new genres.

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

Very nice, David. And thanks, Pete!

Chris

Dan Kelly · From: Boston, MA

David, Just beautiful! This has been a long time coming and really, much needed. You have unlocked the beautiful ambient sounds of the PSG in a meaningful and structured way and in a genre that is perfect for it. There are some very beautiful Traditional Irish Aires that could really come alive with the PSG and and tasteful arrangements. Thanks for exploring and highlighting it! Nice work!

What tuning do you use? Did you modify a tuning to conform to the structure of Traditional Irish Music?
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Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

I can't put into words how beautiful that was. I came to pedal steel from a traditional music background which is still my true passion, and I have been curious about how our instrument might fit into this type of music. I have heard a few tunes where Basil Henriques slips in a few phrases of an old fiddle tune and I know Buddy Emmons could play some as well. The pedal steel seems a very natural fit for these slower pieces. There is just so much potential here. I can't wait to here the whole album!

David Murphy · From: Cork, Ireland

Thanks again so much Pete and everyone for the kind words and encouragement. The Steel Guitar Forum is and has always been full of so much amazing music, I'm delighted that folks here are enjoying these tunes, it means a lot Smile

Dan and Tim - yes, I'm really surprised too that this hasn't been done before, if I'm honest. Buddy Emmons of course did a wonderful arrangement of 'Danny Boy' as well as 'Wild Mountain Thyme'... which though is Scottish in origin, is a staple of Irish folk music too, thanks largely to the Clancy Brothers.

Re tuning - it's all on 10-string E9, with Emmons 3+4 pedal configuration, so no different tuning or anything. I really find that the cascading notes in E9 are perfect for some of these tunes, and yes definitely as you mentioned Tim for the slower ones. There are a couple of other more pure 'solo' tunes on the album as well, which hopefully highlight that.

A second tune + video was released last week - the well-known 17th century traditional Irish harp tune “Bridget Cruise” - hope you enjoy!

https://davidmurphymusic.bandcamp.com/track/bridget-cruise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk7gAB5yFR8
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