Shared Notes: A Musical Journey

★★★ Martin Hayes TRANSWORLD. £20

From Clare to here – the tale of a traditional Irish fiddle player.

From his beguiling solo playing to duo work with guitarist Dennis Cahill and the trailblazing neo-classical supergroup The Gloaming, Martin Hayes’ celebrated status in Irish traditional circles scarcely has equal. With gentle understatement, Hayes details his journey from humble beginnings on a farm in east Clare, learning his trade with the fabled Tulla Céilí Band alongside his father PJ Hayes, through a dabble with politics, a rebellious dive into raucous bar bands playing Celtic rock in Chicago, followed by an almost overnight redemption; rejecting drink, drugs and meat to find unlikely success rediscovering musical purity with stripped-down tunes rooted in his own rural heritage. It’s a spiritual journey with some interesting stuff about his influences and his relationship with the music, though the polite telling leaves you wanting to know more about the wild partying and inter-band shenanigans. Motley Crüe’s The Dirt it isn’t.