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Produced by Ron Cody
Order the CD for $15.00 (s&h included)
- Sylvia and Mikey’s Reel (John Williams) / Paddy on the Turnpike (The Auld Reel) (traditional)
- Bob’s Bucket (Joe Walsh) / Simon Thoumire’s (John McCusker, Kinmore Music)
- Hanning’s Farewell (trad.) / Fleur de Mandragore (trad.)
- Snow on the Hills (trad.) / Bobby Casey’s (trad.)
- Reels: Salamanca (trad.) / The Golden Keyboard (trad.)
- Jigs: Boland’s Favorite (trad.) / The Talking Rake (Ron Cody) / Humours of Whiskey (trad.)
- The Dog Set: Kerry’s Reel (Ron Cody) / Emmet’s Fancy (Ron Cody)
- The Mason’s Apron (trad.) / The Cape Breton’s Fiddler’s Welcome to the Shetland Islands (trad.)
- Wesley (trad.)
- Old French (trad.)
- Little Jonny’s Run (Ron Cody)
- Booth Shot Lincoln (trad.)
- Chinquapin Hunting (trad.)
"Nimble, able and intriguing is how I would describe the instruments on this CD. They are obviously played by skilled hands, but it isn't just the expertise here that makes the album interesting...it is the arrangement of the music as well. This is Celtic music at its best...."
- Celtic MP3s Music Magazine (read more)
See clips from our release party.
Listen to The Talking Rake on NPR's The Thistle and Shamrock
Featuring:
- Erica Brown, fiddle
- Ron Cody, 5 string banjo
- Wendy Cody, bass (13)
- Natalie Haas, cello
- Danielle Langord, harp
- Lincoln Meyers, guitar (7, 11)
- Nicole Rabata, flute
- Steve Roy, bass
- Matt Shipman, guitar, bouzouki
- Joe Walsh, mandolin
I have always wanted to play Celtic tunes on the banjo. Since my early years of playing, I tried to play these tunes by listening to a variety of sources. With not a lot of Celtic rules and instructional material for the 5 string banjo about, I stumbled along the way with different techniques, eventually assembling an approach to technique that includes single string, melodic and 3 finger styles. Over the years, listening to great players like Irish 4 string player Gerry O’Connor, and 5 string players, Bill Keith, Bela Fleck and Tony Trischka helped a lot.
My goal was to make a listenable banjo album. While I was focused on banjo sound and technique, my primary emphasis was arranging these tunes with these musicians and making each instrument sound its best with a banjo. The album has cello, fiddle, bouzouki, harp, flute, mandolin, bass, and guitar spread throughout.
The musicians are wonderful and talented players I know as friends. Cellist Natalie Haas added her profound texture and rhythm to the music in this recording. We had a lot of fun and I am so pleased with how great banjo and cello sound together in this style.
I hope you will enjoy listening to this album.
–Ron Cody
Ron Cody has come up with a beautiful new album drizzled in Celtic influences. Bluegrass traces peek through, which makes sense given the strong Scotch/Irish fiddle tradition that informs Bill Monroe’s music.
The overall sound is sweet and elegant, with a rich palette of sonoroites led by Ron’s facile and heartfelt five string banjo playing. He’s joined by a hugely talented and sympathetic cast of musicians whose primarily wood-timbred instruments – cello, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, bass, and fiddle – take one to a sun-spattered shore near the cliffs of Moher. Here Ron joins Chris Thile’s Punch Brothers in the move toward (new) acoustic chamber music, with exquisitely played unison melodies and mood-altering texture shifts.
Ron has been composing wonderful original music for years and his inclusion of several new gems is a welcome addition to the project. Here you’ll find exquisitely adroit music that never overshadows the profound Celtic melodies that form the backbone of this album.
–Tony Trischka
