This week I was joined in studio by 15 year old Daniel Ryan from Youghal, Daniel who was a runner up in the recent busking competition in Youghal and a current finalist in The Perks Talent Competition is a young musician who loves to play his 2 row button accordion.What makes Daniel special is the fact that he writes a lot of his own songs in a traditional style with a fusion of new ideas and styles. He played one song for me in studio which I have to admit left me breathless. The song called Determination was a fast self composed song, what was extraordinary about it was the speed with which he played it. It was musically, one of the most complicated pieces I have heard in a long time and he breezed through it, his fingers flying from note to note, calm collected and concentrating on his music I could just sit in awe as I watched him play.
He is a member of the Youghal Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and has been a member for over 9 years now and loves being involved. He enjoys the music and the craic involved and says it’s quite important to have something like Comhaltas for the town of Youghal. It brings a lot of visitors to the town and also provides a place where he and his friends can go to learn music. He started playing the tin whistle in school and from there moved onto the Accordion, he plays the violin and is currently learning guitar.
I asked him about his songwriting and how does he come up with the tunes. He explained that he loves playing and keeps working away until he is happy with the finished tune. He then records it to his iPad and moves on to the next tune. The titles of some of his songs can lead you into guessing what the subject matter is about, Two Faced Reel, The Blizzard, The Witch, were some of the songs he played during our time in the studio. He was going to play a song he had written for the tin whistle but sadly couldn’t find his whistle, He told me that the song for the whistle was a little slower then the reels and jigs he normally plays. He is currently getting a selection of songs together to record into an album. As it stands he has over 20 original songs written and finished. I asked him does he have difficulty remembering his songs and his reply was “only the bad ones, I can always remember the good songs”.After meeting Daniel, my respect and admiration for traditional Irish music and for the work that the Youghal branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann are doing with the younger musicians in our area has doubled. If you get a chance to see young Daniel in action my advice is don’t waste it. He will entertain you and enthrall you with his ability and skill. When his new album comes out I am sure it will be a big hit.
Click here to view The East Cork Journal Article
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