Robin Bullock:
Between Earth & Sky

Liner Notes

Traditional music has always been and continues to be a living and evolving process. It reflects the lives and experiences not only of generations long past but we who live here on the cusp of the millennium. While my own artistic path is grounded in the music of the Celtic lands, I also recognize that music speaks the truth regardless of geographic origin, transcending cultural differences and reminding us that we are all one. This music, then, is an American Celtic celebration, joyously drawing inspiration from many traditions, honoring ancient roots and reaching out to greet the future.
RB, 1998
“Music is a way of being in the world; it becomes an integral part of existence, is inseparably connected with it; it is an ethical category, no longer merely an aesthetic one.” – Pierre Boulez
1. The Black Diamond / The Seven-Pointed Star
Robin: guitar, cittern, mandolin, bass guitar & fiddle
The first tune, a wild exploration of shifting rhythms, is the musical equivalent of a downhill run on an expert-level “black diamond” ski slope. The second is the popular Irish reel “The Star of Munster”transmuted into a more typically Eastern European meter of 7/8.
2. Feunteun An Aod
Robin: citterns, 12-string guitar & bass guitar, with Bobby Read: soprano sax, alto flute & bass clarinet
This majestic melody comes from Brittany, the Celtic region of western France, and the repertoire of Breton folk group Sonerien Du. The title (pronounced FOON-TOON ahn WAHD) is a place name meaning “fountain of the coast.”
3. The Rakes of Clonmel / The Trip to the Cottage
Robin: citterns & guitar, with Joanie Madden: whistle & flute; John Whelan: button accordion
The heart of traditional Irish music is the “session” where musicians gather informally in a living room or a pub and play tunes together for the sheer joy of community. We set out to capture that feel on this set of jigs from the O’Neill Collection. The crack was mighty, as they say.
4. Sir Charles Coote / Captain Higgins
Robin: guitars
Two compositions by harper Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738), the great Irish bard and a hero to all of us modern-day Celts roaming the world.
5. Stefan and Liz’s Waltz
Robin: citterns, guitar & bass guitar
My cittern was built in 1987 by the esteemed English luthier Stefan Sobell at his workshop in the English countryside of Northumberland. While on a U.K. tour ten years later, I finally met Stefan and his remarkable wife Liz, and wrote this tune to celebrate the meeting.
6. Between Earth and Sky
Robin: solo guitar
Late one night in Castle Douglas, Scotland, I let a traditional Breton tune go exploring on the guitar, and this is where it led me. “I realized a long time ago you don’t really write anything, you just receive it.” – Keith Richards
7. Oregon Ridge / Brew House Reel
Robin: cittern, guitar, mandolin & bass guitar, with Laryea Addy, djembe
A pair of original reels named for wonderfully relaxing places (although you might not guess it from Laryea’s powerful drumming!): a park north of Baltimore, Maryland and a guesthouse in Devon, England.
8. Rigler’s March / Rex’s Rambles
Robin: solo guitar
A new march for the Scottish highland bagpipes, named in honor of California piper Eric Rigler. (After composing it I remembered that I don’t play the bagpipes so I offer it to you on guitar instead.) The guitar romp that follows is named after an old canine friend.
9. Soldier’s Return
Robin: 12-string guitars, fiddles, mandolin & bass guitar
The air to a lyric written by Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, performed here by the Wolf Boy Multi-Track Celtic Philharmonic.
10. Jack o’Diamonds / Merrily Kiss the Quaker
Robin: solo guitar
Favorite tunes from the Appalachian and Irish traditions, respectively, with a perverse coupling of titles. The first is also known as “Rye Whiskey” and “Drunkard’s Hiccups”; the second, well, where the human imagination goes with that title, I bow to modesty.
11. Johnny Don’t Get Drunk / Miss Monaghan
Robin: guitars, bass guitar, mandolin & cittern, with John Whelan, button accordion; Joanie Madden, flute & whistles
Another transatlantic medley: “Johnny Don’t Get Drunk” appears to be an Appalachian variant of the Irish reel “Miss Monaghan,” with the sections reversed. Although these have long been two of my favorite traditional tunes, I never noticed their obvious similarity until I paired them for this recording!
12. Carolan’s Quarrel with the Landlady
Robin: citterns, guitar & bass guitar
Another Carolan composition, the title of which seems oddly mismatched to the beauty of the melody. We can only assume there’s a good story there.
13. Free Flight
Robin: guitar and bass guitar, with Joanie Madden: whistles
A visit from the Muse inspired by hawks in the Arizona desert.
14. Tiger Baby’s Lullaby
Robin: guitars, with Mike Auldridge, dobro
For all beings seeking a balance between fiery creative action and the passive waiting silence from which all springs. Sweet dreams.