Rig The Jig

Live in Dublin
TC1123
DVD and CD set

Rig The Jig are:
Aoife Kelly Fiddle & Vocals)
Patricia Lane (Vocals & Bodhran)
Michael Banahan (Vocals, Bodrhan & Guitar)
Anthony McDermott (guitar)
Ian Kinsella (Banjo & Guitar)
Paul Gurney (Bass & Keyboards)
Brendan Emmett Mandolin & Guitar)
Noel Carberry (Uilleann Pipes & Whistles)

"They are one of the most enjoyable and exciting bands I've heard in a long time", Mick Tems, Taplas.

Rig the Jig Biog

It was an otherwise ordinary night when a group of musicians found themselves together at a pub session back in 1996. They didn't t know it at the time, but that informal meeting ignited a spark that grew into one of the brightest and warmest lights of today's Irish folk music scene.
Some of the faces may have changed over the years, but Rig the Jig has proven itself as a byword for wonderfully organic, talented and energetic performances of music and song. It is truly a rare breed. Not many bands have transcended the sum of their parts to become an entity with a life force of its own.

Of course, the finest folk group can only exist with the finest ingredients. And in Rig the Jig, Irish and American folk songs find the captivating, story-telling voice of Michael Banahan, the lilting vocals and the passionate fiddle playing of Aoife Kelly and the beautifully ornate performances of Patricia Lane. There's a sprinkling of magic in Noel Carberry's ethereal whistle playing and in the haunting sounds of the Uilleann pipes. The sweet and jaunty melodies from Brendan Emmet's mandolin complement the pulsating rhythm of Anthony McDermott's guitars. All of that energy, coupled with Ian Kinsella's mastery of the banjo and guitar, the fluid, exciting style of Paul Gurney on bass guitar and keyboards, makes Rig the Jig a force to be reckoned with on the international music scene.
Make no mistake; this band has earned its many accolades. Over the years its members have turned their attentions to a carefully chosen blend of rousing ballads, respecting tradition while embracing modernity in song and melody.
It is truly a melting pot, bubbling over with eight unique expressions of talent.
Through their music, Irish culture meets the dust roads and small town history of America's folk song tradition. And it's all harnessed together with Rig the Jig's inimitable, timeless style. It s the reason they have retained their earliest fans while welcoming thousands of entranced followers during their many sell-out tours of Ireland, Europe, the USA and Asia.
If Irish folk music had a dictionary, this is one band that would certainly have entered the lexicon as a byword for flawless performances glittering with raw energy.

Also available from Copperplate Mail Order The Baileys A Song for Ireland

The band's own web site www.rigthejig.com

Audio

Track 1: Jackie Coleman's Set

Track 2: Czardas/The Mason's Apron

Track 3: Clohinne Winds

Track Listing

1. The Lark in the Morning Set
2. My Darlin' Hometown
3. Jackie Coleman's Set
4. Pretty Fair Maid
5. High and Dry
6. The Sandmount Set
7. The Errant Apprentice
8. Samba for the Cat
9. Lost Little Children
10. Czardas & The Mason's Apron
11. The Tennessee Waltz
12. Paradise
13. The Moving Cloud
14. High On A Mountain
15. To Lives' To Fly
16. A Song for Molly
17. Cloghinne Winds
18. The Showman's Fancy
19. The Foxhunter's Set
20. Let It Be
21. Faith

Press Reviews

TAPLAS The Welsh Folk Magazine Aug/Sept 10
FROM a meeting of session players, Rig the Jig have become a force to be reckoned with. They are one of the most enjoyable and exciting bands I've heard in a long time.

They mix blistering sets and lovely, humorous songs from the Irish tradition with Americana of all shapes and sizes, plus surprises from Aoife Kelly, an absolutely stunning and passionate fiddler. Irish and American songs blend superbly and naturally in Michael Banahan's compelling voice and the elegant, graceful Patricia Lane. Add uilleann pipes and whistle (Noel Carberry), masterful bass and keyboards (Paul Gurney), Brendan Emmet's dancing mandolin, plus powerhouse guitars and banjo from Anthony McDermott and Ian Kinsella, and you have sublime lift-off. The CD's good but the DVD's even better, especially for Aoife's fiddle agility. More, please! Mick Tems

www.netrhythms.com
Last year I reviewed a CD by The Baileys, which contained straightforward yet highly satisfying performances of best-known Irish songs by two of the members of Rig The Jig, Michael Banahan and Anthony McDermott. Here we find those two same musicians captured in finest fettle and fine company back in the fold of the full eight-piece band, all shoehorned into a long straight line on the notoriously skimpy stage at Dublin's famous Wexford Street venue, Whelan's, on a rainy night last December. It was a tremendous gig, one which showed exactly why Rig The Jig have such a fearsome reputation, where they presented an often quite unpredictable and sometimes unashamedly off-the-beaten-track choice of material (at least in Irish music terms), eclectically encompassing anything from Irish trad to Lennon & McCartney, with a generous helping of classy (and classic) roots Americana along the way. In fact, I could best liken Rig The Jig to an Irish version of a Transatlantic Sessions team, primarily string-band-based with much mando mastery alongside two guitars, banjo, fiddle, whistle/uilleann pipes and bass/keyboard, and all in glorious celebration of their chosen music. But they're not just a bunch of top-grade high-octane belt-it-out session-tunesmiths, although (as the opening Lark In The Morning set demonstrates) they can adopt that role with consummate and wholly enviable ease. That particular set at first seems so breakneck it almost threatens to derail on a couple of the corners, but the octopus is in fact firmly in control of all its moving parts and the ride is invigorating and intensely enthralling to say the least. A similar edge-of-the-seat reaction is engendered by virtually all of the gig's purely instrumental items, especially the Jackie Coleman's Set which is led by the horns and steered along its perilous course by young Aoife Kelly's ferociously assured fiddle playing, and Ian Kinsella's utterly brilliant banjo-driven rendition of The Moving Cloud. And yet they can slacken the pace credibly too, as when mandolinist Brendan Emmett chips in with a gorgeously deliquescent own-composition A Song For Molly for which he takes up the acoustic guitar. All the individual components of Rig The Jig's arrangements weave their own vital magic, from Noel Carberry's intense, keen whistle playing and hauntingly phrased piping to Paul Gurney's fluent and adaptable keyboard and electric bass work, Aoife's incredibly exciting (and yet flawlessly executed) bow strokes to the unerring pulse of Anthony's guitar and Brendan's rippling mandolin fills. Highlights come thick and fast, inevitably so on the various showcases for individual band members (Aoife's spellbinding rendition of Monti's Czardas - not trad by the way, as credited! - which effortlessly twists into The Mason's Apron; Noel's whistle extravaganza The Sandymount Set; and Paul's excursion into high-speed Chaplinesque barroom-ragtime on The Showman's Fancy). But arguably even more so with some of the vocal numbers, which comprise 12 out of the 21 items on the DVD. Half of them are taken by Michael, and include well-considered takes on songs by John Prine and Townes Van Zandt and a surprisingly finely-wrought Let It Be. Four contrasted songs are taken by the excellent Patricia Lane, who has a supreme command of the more upfront style of Irish singing with an attack and timbre that uncannily reminds me of Anna Shannon, especially on her passionate rendition of Briege Murphy's Clohinne Winds, another set highlight. Patricia also tackles the Patti Page classic Tennessee Waltz, Ola Belle Reed's High On A Mountain and the traditional Pretty Fair Maid (aka As I Roved Out), whereas Aoife brings her own confident (if distinctly pop-inflected) brand of singing to Radiohead's High And Dry and George Michael's Faith (the encore, for which she inexplicably decided to don a jacket!). The recorded sound is top-quality, the camerawork sensible and undistracting (if at times focussing a touch adrift of the principals), and the energy and enjoyment of the performers very well caught (although clearly a lot of banter has been edited out). The accompanying 70-minute CD gives us audio-verité of 16 of the DVD's 21 tracks, in the same sequence (tho' pity it omits High On A Mountain). You really can't resist Rig The Jig's uplifting, energetic yet supremely controlled performance, nor can you carp at their at times wilful-seeming eclecticism when it's all so persuasively done as this. David Kidman

Irish Music Magazine Aug 2010
Rig the Jig are back and their re-invention as an eight piece is a masterstroke by band leader, Mick Bananhan. This double helping of CD and DVD ‘Live in Dublin’ was recorded at one of the capital’s most famous music venues; Whelan’s of Wexford Street. I’m not sure when as the info is not given on the liner notes, but the whole package was released on May 18th 2010, so as I type this, it is still hot.
The stage at Whelan’s isn’t the biggest in the country, I know having done a few sets there with a reformed Garland a few years ago, so how they got the eight members of Rig the Jig all in a line is a pure feat of stage management. This leads to very easy camera angles, mostly full on, which is grand by me and if like me you watch bands to see what they are doing with their fingers, how they form the chords and so on, this is an excellent vehicle for learning how to be a trad band (and a trad band with a distinctly folky edge).

Rig the Jig are Michael Banahan (vocals, Bodhrán, acoustic guitar), Aoife Kelly (fiddle, vocals), Anthony McDermott (acoustic and electric guitars), Patricia Lane (vocals, Bodhrán), Ian Kinsella (banjo, acoustic guitar), Noel Carberry (Uilleann pipes, whistles), Paul Gurney (bass and acoustic guitar, keyboards), and Brendan Emmett (mandolin, acoustic guitar). These sets are arranged tastefully with a tendency to concentrate on the string band which seems to be at the core of rig the Jig, the music is to coin a phrase “Irish Eclectic” from the opening driving ‘Lark in the Morning ‘ to a more reflective ‘Let It Be’. (Yes the Lennon and McCartney number).

As an audience member I’m sure you’d be on your toes, not only dancing but waiting for what might come next, traditional tunes are shouldered by Americana, a trad song ‘Pretty Fair Maid’ (you know the old Christy Moore I Roved Out : ‘Who are you my Pretty fair Maid’) well that’s followed by ‘High and Dry’ a tour de force of country singing from fiddler, Aoife Kelly, she handles the Texas swing with ease and has enough left in her bag of tricks to turn a gypsy Czardas into the ‘Mason’s Apron’, if there is a star in waiting in this band it has to be Aoife.
We just don’t have the space here to detail all 21 tracks on the DVD let alone do justice to those on the CD, but I suspect you’ll find them intriguing and uplifting in equal measures. Rig the Jig faded off the scene for a while (they morphed into The Bailey’s a couple of years ago and were hugely popular in the UK), now they are back and kicking out the tunes…Live. They are on fire.
I hope they get a huge amount of festival work on the back of this package, they deserve wider recognition and they will appeal to a wide cross section of acoustic music lovers. Seán Laffey

The Irish World 17.6.10

GETTING JIGGY
RIG THE JIG LIVE IN DUBLIN OUT ON DVD
0ne of the best loved bands in Ireland have come up with a cracking DVD and CD set, "Rig The Jig: Live in Dublin", filmed at legendary music venue Whelan's. These guys met at a session in a pub in 1996 on what seemed like a normal night, but whatever happened then paved the way for the creation of one of Ireland's most vibrant and accomplished modern folk groups.
The line-up has had the odd change, but Rig The Jig have withstood the changes and the years, continuing to come up with lively and organic Irish and American folk song and performances, a
melting pot of talent that has become a unique life force all of its own.
Irish culture joins forces with small-town American folk in the music of Rig The Jig, all woven together in the band's inimitable style. It's also wonderfully timeless, as evidenced by the fact that the older fans they enraptured at the beginning continue to follow them across their sellout tours of the globe.
If you want to know what all the fuss is about, this DVD does a damn good job of capturing the fire and the humour of their live shows. An awesome bunch of musicians and vocalists - easily the most exciting of their generation. You need to buy this album and then seek them out live as soon as they're in your neck of the woods! Shelley Marsden

The Irish Post 3.6.10

FAME BECKONS: Making a name for themselves is Rig The Jig. A band with eclectic taste

AN EIGHT-PIECE band that play an eclectic mix of folk; and when you see that Rig The Jig cite their influences as diverse as classical to traditional Irish, Leonard Cohen to Johnny Cash, Radiohead to Shane McGowan and all points in between, you begin to get the picture.

They have discovered a real star in Kildare-born fiddler Aoife Kelly who lights up the stage whether singing or launching into a blistering set of tunes.
It cannot be easy to accommodate eight people in a band but they manage it brilliantly. Most of the musicians are unfamiliar to me, but the last time I saw Brendan Emmett he was playing guitar and mandolin with Texas star Kimmie Rhodes in London's Camden Town a few months ago and he is some musician.

The DVD was recorded live at Whelan's in Dublin and features 21 tracks as varied as The Lark In The Morning set to a cover of Radiohead's High And Dry featuring Aoife Kelly, which also happens to be the promotional CD single.

A nice cover of John Prine's Paradise is also in there as is Tennessee Waltz and Let It Be. As this is released through Universal and Copperplate are handling the PR, it should be easily available. I can see this band going down a storm at festivals so keep an eye out for them. Joe Giltrap

Folkwords Website

Album Reviews: Rig the Jig - multiple facets of an inimitable musical scope (May 18, 2010)

Ireland has long been a crucible of fine musical expression. Eclecticism reigns supreme and where boundaries do exist they are there to be over-reached. That approach personifies the widely influenced, fiendishly varied and fervently engaging music of Rig the Jig. With their latest combined CD and DVD ‘Live in Dublin’ recorded during a live performance at Whelan’s in Dublin, Rig the Jig present the multiple facets of their inimitable musical scope.

Rig the JigThe sweeping ocean of talent that is Rig the Jig includes Michael Banahan (vocals, bodhrán, acoustic guitar) Aoife Kelly (fiddle, vocals) Anthony McDermott (acoustic and electric guitars) Patricia Lane (vocals, bodhrán) Ian Kinsella (banjo, acoustic guitar) Noel Carberry (Uilleann pipes, whistles) Paul Gurney (bass and acoustic guitar, keyboards) and Brendan Emmett (mandolin, acoustic guitar). This combination of fine musicians; each a perfect exponent of their art, alone or together delivers a cutting edge that’s sharp and precise.

The opening set built around ‘The Lark in the Morning’, opens a wealth of sparkling tunes. These include great moments such as ‘Jackie Coleman’s Set’, ‘The Sandmount Set’, with Noel delivering one of the whistle’s finest recorded moments and ‘Czardas and The Masons Apron’ effortlessly blending Hungary and Ireland. While with ‘The Moving Cloud’ Ian treats you to a master class in banjo playing. It just gets better and you know you’re listening to pure Irish gold - from the insistent presence of Aoife’s fiddle, to the power of Noel’s pipes the bite of Ian’s banjo. There are classic songs here too - ‘My Darlin’ Hometown’, ‘The Errant Apprentice’ and the emotive ‘Lost Little Children’ - all replete with the broad richness of Michael Banahan’s lilting voice. Alongside these there’s ‘The Pretty Fair Maid’ and ‘Tennesse Waltz’ which Patricia sings beautifully.

The beauty of a well-recorded live set at an intimate venue is as well as the music you taste the vibrancy and energy inherent in a live concert. This combination of CD and DVD provides all that and more. Here, traditional Irish blends seamlessly with American folk, English popular and pure originality. And you get 21 tracks to enjoy. Tim

Irish American News: Raised on Songs and Stories / May 2010
When Rig the Jig broke up a few years back I was devastated. They were one of the most talented groups of musicians I have ever had the pleasure of working with and they left us with four great albums packed with great songs and memorable tunes. Michael Banahan began playing and performing with his old pal Anthony McDermott and became The Bailey’s. They recorded a fine album of Irish Ballads but it just was not the same for me. A great album, mind you, but it lacked all of the other influences and mad talent that made up Rig the Jig.

Well, the good news is Rig the Jig are back, bigger and better than ever and they’re kicking it off with a DVD/CD combination that will knock your socks off. Think Planxty meets Fleetwood Mac and you will be halfway there, as the new eight-piece band bring together Irish Traditional influences blended with blues, rock, classical and everything else into a sensational sound that is new and vibrant.

They have been playing under the radar for two years now, in Germany, Switzerland and Austria with a few gigs at home in the Midlands and they recorded and filmed the album in Whelan’s in Wexford Street in Dublin last December. The DVD has 21 tracks in 97 minutes and the CD has 16 tracks.

Rig the Jig are Michael Banahan, Anthony McDermott, Patricia Lane and Brendan Emmett from Roscommon, Noel Carberry and Paul Gurney from Longford and Ian Kinsella and Aoife Kelly from Kildare. Michael on vocals, bodhran and acoustic guitar, Anthony on acoustic and electric guitar, Patricia on fiddle and vocals, Brendan on mandolin and acoustic guitar, Noel on uileann pipes and whistles, Paul on any instrument he can get his hands on, Ian on banjo and acoustic guitar and Aoife on vocals and fiddle, so it becomes a melting pot of merging talents, there are some serious musicians here and some heavenly music has been produced. Aoife plays Czardas, a classical gypsy tune and turns it into The Mason’s Apron. Noel Carberry on whistle and pipes treats us to The Sandymount Set while Patricia gives us The Tennessee Waltz. There are hornpipes on the piano from Paul and Brendan plays a few tunes he wrote himself, Samba for the Cat and Song for Molly. Aoife kicks it with Radiohead’s, High and Dry and George Michael’s, Faith while Michael treats us to The Errant Apprentice, Let it Be and John Prine’s, My Darlin Home Town. Rig the Jig have lost nothing of their contemporary traditional sound and have gained a lot of new talent with this new HOT lineup.

On Friday last, to coincide with the release of Rig the Jig – Live in Dublin, they played RTE’s Late Late Show and of course they delivered an awesome set. Michael Banahan tells me that they will be back in the USA for festival season in 2011. I for one can’t wait. In the meantime, buy the album. Shay Clarke

"When Rig the Jig let fly, a spirit of connection exists between Irish traditional music and contemporary American material, which is both fresh and invigorating as well as sounding completely natural and unforced" John ORegan, Folk Roots

"Rig the Jig gets your toes tapping, your heart racing, and Irish or not, it brings out your Irish roots. This band knows how to have fun, and it shows in their music. Go out and buy a CD!! Roz & Howard Larman, FolkScene Radio, Los Angeles, California

Rig the Jig is one of the most exciting new bands I have heard in my nearly 15 years as a radio programmer. All of its members are exceptional players, and with three singers capable of being soloists with any other band, Rig the Jig is to the forefront of the current new wave of Irish musical groups. Here you have one of the most entertaining groups on the planet. Considering their impeccable choice of both instrumental and vocal pieces, you can put Rig the Jig in a class by itself."
Mike Fleischer - "Treasures from the Isles" WDCB-FM, Chicago Illinois