BENNY McCARTHY
Press & Draw
Album of Traditional Irish Music performed solo on Button Accordion & 10 key Melodeon. 15 different tune types performed on 15 different Accordions.
“This unique and interesting album, portraying unaccompanied traditional Irish music on accordion and melodeon, it’s a new challenge for Benny and will have special appeal for musicians. With fifteen different accordion and melodeon sounds and types of tunes, it shows individuality with tasteful decoration, interesting interpretation plus effective bass playing.” - Bobby Gardiner
BIOG
Benny is from Deelish in Co.Waterford. He began his musical voyage at the age of 13 and was mentored by none other than accordion legend Bobby Gardiner. Like most musicians he travelled all over Ireland to sessions and festivals meeting and playing with musicians from all regions and styles. His influences include Bobby Gardiner, Jackie Daly, Mairtin O’Connor to mention just a few. Benny was Oireachtas champion on both Button accordion and 10-key Melodeon in 1994. He teamed up with some friends to form the now Iconic band Danú, a group he still performs with and manages to this day. Benny has featured on over 30 album releases since he began his professional career in music. He has shared the stage and recorded with many internationally renowned artists over the years including Liam Clancy, Tom Paxton, John Sheahan, Donovan, Donal Lunny, Seán Ó'Sé and others. Theatre Projects over the years include collaborations with Irish Comedian/Actor Jon Kenny(D'Unbelievables/Fr.Ted) and the Irish Arts Theatre hit show Teac A Bloc created by Des Dillon (Visual Artist extraordinaire). Benny has also been part of some trade/state delegations to USA, India, Bulgaria and Europe with the Irish President and Irish Government over the years. Benny has recorded and produced many albums and theatre soundtracks in his own studio in Co.Waterford. He is regularly featured with his various groups and projects on Irish National TV & Radio (RTE. RnaG & TG4) as well as internationally on BBC, CBC, PBS etc.
Audio
Track 1: Come West Along The Road
Track 2: The Job of Journeywork
Track 3: Will You Come Home With Me
Track 4: Jimmy Doyle's Polka
Track Listing
- Barndances-an Madraín Rua / Bill Malley's 03:06
2. Fling-Maggie Pickens 01:52
3. Reels-Peter Feeneys Dream / Come West Along the Road 02:58
4. Song Air-Sliabh Geal Gcua 02:44
5.Jigs-the Shores of Lough Gabhna / An Tiocfaidh Tú Abhaile Liom 02:18
6. Hornpipes-the Quilty Fisherman / Planxty Joe Burke 02:58
7. Set Dance-Job of Journeywork 02:11
8. Song Melody-Idir Deirghic Gus Breo 02:08
9. Slides-Chase Me Charlie / The Gleanntán Frolics 02:32
10. Polkas Aileen Bonners / Jimmy Doyles / I’ll Tell Me Ma 02:51
11. Slip Jigs-the Cock and the Hen / The Fisherman 02:01
12.Old Time Waltze-Banbridge Town 01:34
13. March-Brian Boru's March 02:29
14. Hop Jigs-Cucanandy / J.Kelly's 02:1
15. O’Carolan Piece-O’Carolans Dream 02:20
Catch Benny playing some Polkas on You Tube
Press Reviews
Irish Music Mgazine
Benny McCarthy from County Waterford is a button-box player of some renown, having been tutored by the great Bobby Gardiner and winning some major awards before founding the band Danú with some friends in the mid nineties and spending the next twenty-odd years with its evolving line-up. Here he plays fifteen solo tracks, on fifteen different instruments from a 1900s melodeon to a two-and-a-half-row Salterelle accordion built almost a century later, and some even newer boxes too. Every track represents a slightly different form from the Irish tradition: slides, song-airs, slip jigs, slow airs, stately Carolan pieces and storming reels. One of the interesting points about Press and Draw is the left-hand accompaniment, a relatively rare feature of Irish button-box music for historical reasons, but with more choice of instruments these days and the possibility of custom left-hand layouts, the bass buttons are coming back into fashion.
As is the humble melodeon, the name for a one-row box in Ireland. Four such instruments are featured here, give or take, and the sound they produce reflects the different technique required: more percussive, with arpeggio-based ornamentation and passing notes, very suited to many older tunes. An Madraín Rua, The Shores of Lough Gowna, Brian Boru’s March and Cucanandy fairly get the toes tapping and the blood pumping. A smoother sound is needed for Sliabh Geal gCua, O’Carolan’s Dream, the waltz Banbridge Town and the well-known song melody Idir Deirghic gus Breo: Benny obliges on two-row boxes by Paolo Soprani and Hohner. Reels and jigs are trotted out in fine form, but my ear was grabbed by some more unusual rhythms: the fling Maggie Pickens on a Hohner Corso, Seamus Walshe’s wonderful hornpipe The Quilty Fisherman on the more usual Hohner Erica, and a splendid set of polkas on a 2010 Pietro Mario box. Press and Draw is a box-player’s delight, and a revelation for anyone who thinks all accordions sound the same. Alex Monaghan
wwww.folkworld.com
Irish accordion wizard Benny McCarthy is well known through his work in various prestigious Irish trad bands, most notably Danu and Rattle the Boards. Having featured on over 30 album over his many years as professional musician, this is his very first solo album. It is a proper unaccompanied solo album: Just Benny with his various accordions and melodeons. Featuring 15 different types of traditional Irish tunes, each tune is played on a different accordion or melodeon - the impressive collection of instruments can be seen on the cover of the album. The album is a showcase of Benny’s exceptional skills, and will offer a wealth of inspiration particularly for other musicians. Michael Moll
The Irish Echo "McCarthy is a brilliant musician who is an asset to any project".
Button accordion Benny McCarthy’s new solo accordion album “Press And Draw” is an exciting one. This might sound odd, as it’s a true solo work, with no accompaniment at all. But the approach here is compelling. What McCarthy has done is take 15 different tune types and paired them with 15 different accordions, representing a variety of different makers, tunings, and vintages. Can an approach like this descend into simple show-and-tell? It sure can, but that’s not what happened here. McCarthy’s put incredible thought into this fascinating album, and I think it’s one that will sneak up on a lot of listeners.
What can one say about McCarthy’s playing that hasn’t been said? A former student of the great Bobby Gardiner, he grew up in Deelish, Co.Waterford, and is a brilliant musician who is an asset to any project he gets involved with. Most readers will be familiar with his band Danú, which is one of the finest groups going, and fans of his will be aware of the recordings and tours he’s done with all sorts of prominent players. But I think it’s an album like this where we see the nuance and subtlety in his music in better detail. (I made a similar claim with the Tin Sandwich Band’s album “By Hook Or By Crook,” on which he played alongside John & Pip Murphy [harmonica] and Donal Clancy [guitar]; like this one, it was a different kind of project that brought out the same sort of nuance.)
A listen to the album’s opening track, the barn dances “An Madraín Rua/Bill Malley’s,” shows what I mean. It’s played on an old Globe melodeon, which is a classic instrument from the early 20th century and the sort on which many of the earliest Irish accordion recordings were made. It was a time when barn dances were a popular sort of tune and for me the Globe’s silvery, reedy timbre represents the proper “pairing” to the tune. The spirit McCarthy captures with it is great – the tune is light, bouncy and a great start to the album.
The way he’s matched the tune to the box throughout gives each track something interesting to offer. “Banbridge Town” is a waltz with a gentle swing, that he plays on 1940’s Grey Hohner, an instrument that has a smooth, warm tone – it’s a perfect pairing. He takes a very different approach to “Brian Boru’s March,” which is played on a recently built Miniature Saltarelle in C. It has a bit more punch than the other boxes on the album and suits march time well. The reels that start with “Peter Feeney’s Dream,” which are played on a recent Bertrand Gaillard box, and the slides “Chase Me Charlie,” played on slightly older Saltarelle Connemara, have a similar sound, but that decision makes sense in context. Then there’s the slow air “Sliabh Geal gCua,” which he plays on a 1949 Grey Paolo Soprani, an instrument iconic in Irish music. The tone of this one is so sweet, so lush, it’s hard to imagine it being played on a different box. Later on in the track, he adds incredibly tasteful harmonies in the bass that give the air beautiful depth, but also added value because the box just sounds so nice.
An excellent illustration of the contrast between boxes can be heard between the tracks “The Quilty Fisherman / Planxty Joe Burke” and “Job Of Journeywork.” The tracks, which are consecutive on the album, are wonderfully played and have lift to spare. On the former, though, he’s playing a vintage Grey Hohner Erica. It’s a warm, full sounding box with keys that clack and rattle, and an integral part of this instrument’s sound. On the latter track, he plays a fifties-era Paolo Soprani 2 Coupler Blue Badge-Key, a hot box with it’s own characteristic sound. Listened to consecutively, it’s very easy to hear how the two boxes are very different from one another, but at the same time evoke different players and different moments from Irish music’s past. Just fascinating to hear.
“Press And Draw” is a must have for button accordionists. McCarthy is a brilliant musician and the variety here will have the box players saying “oh, wow” over and over again. But the music will have wide appeal because it has a “pure drop” charm that is very pleasing, from top to bottom. Although they bring very different energies, “Press and Draw” reminds me very much of Cormac Begley’s self-titled 2017 debut. Both players employ a large number of different instruments as a way of exploring the subtleties of tone and timbre. But McCarthy’s album also reminds of Begley’s in how hearing a musician through several different instruments reveals the beauty and character innate in their music from lots of different angles. It’s something that lets a listener get to “know” a musician in a fairly intimate way and something you get from both McCarthy and Begley’s albums. “Press and Draw’s” a good one, check it out for sure! To learn more (and to see a gallery of the boxes), visit boxbenny.com. By Daniel Neely
