A mistake gave Derek Corcoran one of the best moments on his new cover. While playing the “Musical Priest” reel as a bridge, he ended up playing it at half time, and when he heard it back, he kept imagining the snares of an army marching to battle. He re-recorded the drums for that section on his drum pads, and the happy accident stayed. “Follow Me Up to Carlow,” released on July 24th, is a rare cover for the Aarhus-based multi-instrumentalist, who usually writes original songs about migration and how stories change in new landscapes.
This is a great, albeit very traditional, Irish folk song in terms of harmony and arrangement. It is very charming how this demo-like recording sounds. The vocals are kind of buried within the layers, which gives the vibe that you’re sitting around a campfire, with the instruments louder than the vocalist who is trying his hardest to be heard.
Corcoran plays everything himself: Irish flute, tin whistle, electric guitar, bass, bodhrán, bouzouki, and the drum pads, and he sings as well. He layers clean and harsh vocals and builds harmonies in thirds between the flutes, with a full minute of the song left mostly instrumental. All of it was recorded at home with one microphone and one interface, a shoestring setup, though he says the bodhrán sounds better here than he expected.
The song has a personal side. Planxty’s version is seminal to him, and he says he deliberately avoided Cruachan’s take while preparing so the result would be his own. He also thought about the arrangements of Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden, and Spain’s Mago de Oz. His family history sits behind the choice, including a great-grandfather who served in the Dublin Fusiliers before emigrating to Patagonia, and Irish songs first inspired him to start playing, with folk coming before metal. He is now looking for a band to play with, since the arrangements need more than one pair of hands. For anyone who likes folk music with a bit of home-recorded character, this is a warm, home-made listen.
