When they teamed up with singer Natalie Merchant here in 2018, I wrote, “They’re a virtuoso ensemble with tightly-knit grooves and reach-for-the-stars solos.”Īlso in 2018, they released “Cas,” a dazzling studio album. In these pages, I’ve praised them as “an Irish traditional band of towering eminence and renown,” noting “Their lineup changes from time to time, but without denting their reputation or their talents.” Before a 2017 show here, I called them “A traditional Irish band with nine albums of their own since 1998 and distinguished collaborations in all directions … Their playing and harmonies are tight as a bodhran (Irish hand-drum) head.” The Irish Times calls Lunasa “the hottest Irish acoustic band on the planet.” “We gave it a shot and here we still are.” “I left my advertising job and Sean Smyth, the fiddle player, he gave up more than anybody else in that he was a fully qualified doctor and he stepped away from the doctoring,” said Crawford. “At the end of that three month tour, it was so successful and everybody was really encouraging” that they all quit their day jobs and previous gigs to become Lunasa. His wife encouraged him, his boss said he’d hold his job for him, so Crawford went. Newly married, working in advertising at a radio station, Crawford said, “No, I can’t go.” Nearly a year later, the Australian promoter called again, offering Hutchinson another tour. “So we came back and we all went back to our respective jobs and gigs.”
CELTIC MUSIC RADIO FULL
“We had no aspirations to be a band, full time on the road or anything,” said Crawford. They toured Australia for six weeks in 1995 and had a fine time, but thought it was done. Hutchinson, said Crawford, “called (fiddler) Sean Smyth, and Sean Smyth called me, and the next thing we knew, we were going to Australia.” The promoter then invited Hutchinson, who’d also played with the Waterboys, to form a band and return. While the future members of Lunasa knew each other in the Irish traditional music scene, they’d never played together until bassist Trevor Hutchinson toured Australia in Sharon Shannon’s band. Even though I’m in America now, I still feel I live in Ireland.” “Even when I was in England, my heart was in Ireland. “I left England when I was 18, and then I left Ireland when I was 45,” said Crawford. He said, “I was happy just to be making noise with this thing It was never like I needed to get better.” Then, however, “Everyday I wanted to do it and by consequence I did get better.”Ĭrawford played with bands in England before moving back to his parents’ hometown, Milltown Malbay, County Clare. “From there I would progress to the more difficult dance tunes, the kind of faster tunes.” “He would say, ‘No, that’s not right,’ but eventually I would have these melodies of the songs I could play.” First came ballads.
“He would ask me then to play the tune associated with that song, so I would tease out the notes,” said Crawford. “He would come home from work after a day on the construction sites of England, and he would sing some of the Irish songs,” Crawford said. That path zigzagged between County Clare, hearing neighborhood mentors, and Birmingham with his singing father, but detoured to Australia before Lunasa even knew they were a band.īack in Birmingham, Crawford listened to his parents’ records and taught himself to play penny whistle, with tune tips from his father. He recalled Creegan and Hayes as “proper bona fide musicians that were really good and I got to hear them because they lived just a couple of houses down from my parents.” Crawford said, “That’s what set me on the path.” “I literally kept asking my mom, ‘Can you bring me down to Junior Creegan’s house? I want to hear more music.’” “I remember hearing the combination of a fiddle and a flute playing, and I just couldn’t get enough of it,” said Crawford. “I was fortunate enough to hear musicians that were neighbors of my parents” - Junior Creegan and Josie Hayes. “A lot of Irish musicians would have music passed down from their parents,” said Crawford, “but I didn’t have that.” Musical uncles and other amateur players visited, but neighbors opened his ears and fired his ambitions. “This all” has worked wonderfully well for Lunasa, playing traditional Irish music without modernizing it, but instead finding in old songs new ways to showcase members’ talents.įor Crawford, whose early years in Birmingham, England, were spiced by summer visits to County Clare, learning to play was a return to home and heritage. Tones testifying to his County Clare ancestry, he said he’s “trying to remember how this all works.” “I’m getting ready for the tour,” said Lunasa flute and whistle player Kevin Crawford from his Brooklyn apartment Tuesday.
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