Frankie's fierce traditional

If "three chords and the truth" are the essence of rock 'n' roll, then "four strings and the tune" must surely epitomise the tradition according to fiddle masters. Frankie Gavin's precocious musical talents have been setting him apart ever since he hijacked the All Ireland fiddle and flute championships some three decades ago.

Since then, this Corrandulla homeboy's been testing his mettle in all manner of eclectic settings: from the heart(h)y warmth of his brainchild, De Danann's opening salvos in 1973 to combative duels with Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grapelli, along with sallies down unlikely boreens in the company of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. It's probably safe to say that Frankie Gavin subscribes to the view that traditional music is a journey, not a destination.

His musical itinerary has taken him due west in recent years, to the big skies of Austin, Texas, from where he's been careering across the plains of the U.S. for up to five months at a stretch. Now that the summer's here though, he's more than happy to get back home where the grass needs cutting, the hay needs saving and the tunes need cosseting in the cosy confines of the studio.

With a new album, Fierce Traditional, chomping at the bit to be released (on July 25th) Gavin's readying himself for the fray. Having holed up in the studio alongside Brian McGrath (piano and banjo player), Gavin was anxious to give vent to the influences which have been biting at his heels for decades now. The music of the 1920s was their starting point, and they required little in the way of ammunition once the start gun sounded.

"Brian and I were deeply influenced by the music that James Morrison, Michael Coleman and the Flanagan brothers recorded," he explains, with the enthusiasm of a musician newly-reminded of the tunes of his past, "and that all emerged as soon as we sat down to record a few tunes."

As a musician not averse to calling on a rake of outside influences (Hey Jude segueing into The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheeba in Galway, Hibernian Rhapsody, not to mention the release of last year's critically lambasted De Danann collection: Welcome To The Hotel Connemara), Gavin is hell-bent on going back to his roots this time round.

"I feel that traditional music today is taking on a new slant altogether," he declares, warming to a subject that's been exercising his imagination for some time now, "which doesn't have the slightest appeal to me whatsoever. And I felt that this (CD) was a statement about holding on to the real roots of the music. I feel that a lot of newer recordings are full of people playing 'trendy' music, with anything from drum kits to new compositions and groovy tunes which don't sound the slightest bit Irish to me. "

Gavin is nonplussed by the commercial success of innovators, or neo-traditionalists. He is intent on maintaining his focus on providing an alternative, a touchstone to the tradition. As long as there's room for both, he's confident that the tunes will survive and thrive in both old and new incarnations. After all, Ireland in 2001 is a far different milieu in which to play music from the Ireland of 30, 20 or even 10 years ago.

"Everyone's entitled to express their music as they'd like to play it," he acknowledges, "but for me, it doesn't have any appeal, and the more I started playing during the making of this record, the more traditional it began to sound, the deeper into my history I seemed to go. In fact I had all kinds of musical flashbacks to people who would've come into our pub at home, and musicians I'd admired way back."

Prodigious musical talent notwithstanding, Frankie Gavin isn't shy of admitting to the tribulations inherent in making a living as a professional traditional musician.

Yehudi Menuhin and Nigel Kennedy might enjoy a ready-made audience in all corners of the globe for classical music, but the lot of the traditional fiddler is more than a little different.

Gavin laughs sardonically at the dissonant realities of early accomplishments and later career choices. "As the painter Briain Bourke said, when asked if it was difficult to make a living as an artist in Ireland: 'It's not hard - it's impossible'. It's incredibly difficult to make a living out of Irish traditional music, no matter what glamorous angle we dream up. No question about it. The bigger commercial market is just so hard to contend with. You could never get within an ass's roar of the kind of promotion budget that's spent on the likes of The Spice Girls, for example."

THE lack of State support for traditional musicians offers even less solace to Gavin. Our current taxation system is a thorn in the side of every traditional musician, he believes. "I don't think that traditional musicians should be forking out tax under any circumstances," he insists, "because the music of this country has a lot to do with the atmosphere and the culture which draws thousands of people into this country every year.

"They certainly don't come here for the weather. It's the music that's carried our personality far afield, and I think that that should be brought into the equation when receiving Director General's tax bills. Of course I can see that tax has to be paid, but writers aren't taxed; yet if you play a gig, you're most definitely taxed on that.

"It's hard enough to make a living without being taxed on it as well. It's a joke - especially when you think of the monumental amounts of money that have been passed around in brown paper bags in this country. The irony is just outrageous."

Gavin's decision to cast his eyes westwards, locating himself Stateside for a significant portion of the year is, at least in part, a consequence of the inordinate struggle he's experienced in making a decent living as a musician on home turf.

"I feel there's a great sense of openness and opportunity there," he explains, "and I find that the open arm welcome that I get in America makes it so much easier. I'm sure other musicians would say this too: you are to a certain extent revered, and held in high esteem there. I don't think I could go out and play 18 or 20 gigs on a tour at home, but that's more than manageable over there."

Coupling his playing career at home and away with a new found niche as music tutor has widened his vision of his musical potential well beyond the confines which dictated his early years as a performer. His tenure at the Irish World Music Centre's Blas Summer School (which begins today) has in essence provided him with another arrow to add to his quiver.

"It's something I've got great satisfaction out of," he acknowledges.

"I wouldn't ever have regarded as much of a teacher, but I found that when you're teaching your trade, it's another discipline altogether. It gets in under your skin after a bit, and you find yourself saying things about music that you don't even realise that you knew! And you think: 'good grief, where did that come from!' And it exposes your musical personality and how you think about music, so you end up learning a lot about yourself too. I'm looking forward to it, and it should be a more than interesting time."

Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance runs at the Irish World Music Centre in the University of Limerick until July 20th.

Public concerts include: Jackie Daly, Joe Burke, Josephine Marsh, Denis Doody and friends, Belltable Arts Centre, Thurs July 12th; Frankie Gavin and friends, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick, Mon, July 16th. For further information of additional concerts and ticket bookings: tel: 061-202917.

Frankie Gavin launches his album and plays in concert at the Radisson Hotel during the Galway Arts Festival on July 25th. Tel bookings: 091-583800 or info@ galwayartsfestival.ie

slong@irish-times.ie