Two traditional musicians have taken inspiration from Irish music of the early 20th century US. Their timing coincides with a revival of interest in the oft-maligned banjo, writes Siobhán Long.

Gladys Knight knew what she was talking about. Could it be, she wondered, that when we remember the "good ol' days", the winters really were warmer, the grass really was greener, the skies were really bluer, and smiles were . . . bright? Apart from our undeniable advances in dental care in recent years, how much truth is there in that hoary old notion that the old days were any better or worse than the ones we're hurtling through at the moment?

Well, Irish traditional music certainly enjoyed quite a heyday in the US during the first three decades of the 20th century. It was a time of mass emigration: musicians who at home merely swapped tunes by the fire, found themselves in bountiful melting pots, where cultures collided, and while the resulting fission mightn't have reached nuclear proportions, it managed to light a fire in the bellies of such renowned emigrant musicians as Sligo fiddlers, James Morrison and Michael Coleman.

American-born musicians too, such as John Kimmell, took the melodeon by the scruff of the neck and virtually re-invented it, while the ferocity of the melodeon/tenor banjo of the famed Flanagan Brothers proved the ideal acoustic backdrop to a burgeoning Irish dance hall scene in an age that pre-dated acoustic amplification.

Oddly, after a hiatus of more than seven decades, this banjo/melodeon pairing is again celebrated by two musicians who share a healthy appetite for breathing new life into old tunes. Having played together in the Brock Maguire band, melodeon player, Paul Brock and banjo meister Enda Scahill ignited their playing partnership in earnest while Brock was doing his masters in the University of Limerick.

Having studied the intricacies of the melodeon playing of John Kimmell, Paul chose to focus on Scahill's banjo playing to fulfil the field study requirements of his course. The real fruit of their collaboration is a spine-tingling collection of tunes, titled Humdinger.

Brock's early childhood memories are filled with his own father's love for John McCormack. It was an affection that infused the thinking of the young player, giving him an appreciation for musical performance, technique and phrasing, and informed his playing of the accordion from his earliest forays with the instrument back in the early 1950s. The airwaves played a crucial role too, in his musical development.

"Radio was hugely influential for me," he says. "We didn't have access to music like we have today, but introduction via Ciarán MacMathúna and Seamus Ennis to other players and other styles was really important. I can still remember the first time I heard [Clare fiddler] Paddy Canny playing on the radio: it was like this huge but gentle wave flowing over me, and then I began to realise that there were different styles of playing out there."

Humdinger is a surprising gathering of tunes. As well as the more obscure contributions such as John Kimmell's Accordion Fantasy and Jackson's Polka, lurking in the mix are well-known tunes (including The Rocky Road To Dublin and Chase Me Charlie) which have been reinvigorated by Brock and Scahill's spirited treatment.

Scahill feels that the timing of this album is fortuitous, coinciding with a certain revival in interest in the oft-maligned banjo.

"When I took up the banjo, I was aware of only two musicians who had recorded with it in Irish music: Gerry O'Connor and Kevin Griffin," he recounts. "I think Gerry's the person responsible for making the banjo cool. He made it a solo, virtuoso instrument. Before that it seemed to be confined to céilí bands, but after Gerry, it was seen in a different light. He raised the bar hugely. I remember gobbling up his 1992 album, Time To Time."

Brock has relished the opportunity that early retirement has given him to delve deep into the well that was Irish-American music from the early part of the 20th century.

"The first three decades really was the golden era for Irish music in America," Brock enthuses, "and it's always been a reference point for me. What was happening to Irish music then was magic. Can you imagine what it must have felt like for them to find themselves in the midst of this melting pot of different cultures? They had to be influenced by what they heard around them, even though the integrity of what they were doing wasn't in question. If you listen to the playing of James Morrison, you have to think: 'he was listening to jazz, too'. There's a driving rhythm there that's undeniable. And alongside that golden period came the advent of the recording industry."

Brock's fascination with Brooklyn-born melodeon player John Kimmell has provided much of the fuel for Humdinger. Kimmell was a player of the vaudevillian era, a saloon-owner, who at one time employed Mae West. He pushed the boundaries of the melodeon to places where few players dare to venture even today, Paul Brock believes.

"He was an astonishing player, a multi-instrumentalist, a virtuoso player of the melodeon," Brock concludes. "Modern day players are still overwhelmed by Kimmell's extraordinary technique. We've no way of knowing who influenced him, or what came before him, but his playing has left its mark on me. And I've relished returning again and again to his music and to those great days when The Flanagan Brothers and others were in their heyday."

• Humdinger is on Claddagh Records.