Jed Marum's Posts - The Wild Geese
2024-03-29T07:23:40Z
Jed Marum
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'Calla's Waltz' -- and Other Irish Banjo Stories!
tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-03-28:6442157:BlogPost:187190
2016-03-28T18:30:00.000Z
Jed Marum
https://thewildgeese.irish/profile/JedMarum
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716915?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716915?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="680"></img></a></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">M</span>y friends kid me about one of the websites I frequent</strong>, a place called Banjo Hangout (dot Org). It’s a place where banjo geeks like me go and talk about strings and rings, and pots and picks, and necks and woods and, well, banjo makers! And occasionally I receive messages from those fellow Banjo geeks – so I wasn’t too…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716915?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="680" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716915?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-center" width="680"/></a></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">M</span>y friends kid me about one of the websites I frequent</strong>, a place called Banjo Hangout (dot Org). It’s a place where banjo geeks like me go and talk about strings and rings, and pots and picks, and necks and woods and, well, banjo makers! And occasionally I receive messages from those fellow Banjo geeks – so I wasn’t too surprised when I got one, one day through my email box that began, “Jed, I’m a fan of your music. I believe that two of your songs ought to be hits and I want to talk to you about them.” He was talking about two MP3s I’d posted on the website’s jukebox. One was a pretty little banjo tune I called “Calla’s Waltz” – and the other was a song called “Even As I Ramble” that I’d written for a film I worked on last year. Both, of course, featured my banjo – and both were Celtic in style.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-1"><strong>(Above: Pic from concert in Dallas TX | middle top on-set with Michael Martin Murphey and band | middle bottom Jay Ungar and Molly Mason in studio with Producer Paul Mills and me | right pic in concert in Shreveport, Louisiana)</strong></span></p>
<p>Now it’s always nice to hear from someone who likes your songs and this contact was no exception. I was about to write back a “thanks for the kind words” to this guy, when he told me he was a retired, longtime, well known Executive Producer from Warner Brothers Records – and he was dead serious about helping make these songs hits. OK ... that put a very different spin on his message, and on my response!</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I’m 63 years old and have no illusions about being a star – nor do I have any interest in that sort of thing – but I do make my living at this, and I really do want to see my music go as far it can – so we began a serious dialogue via email. I loved those songs he contacted me about and I was determined to give them my best in a new recording project.</p>
<p>We talked about banjos. We talked about the Irish and Celtic music I play. We talked about the music business and in the end; we talked about how these songs (and others) might be best presented to the music and film industry. He became a true friend, my champion and my mentor! </p>
<p>At his suggestion, I reached out to Jay Ungar and Molly Mason to ask if they would collaborate with me on the project, and to my surprise they were happy to do so. I also asked producer Paul Mills of London Ontario to work with us. Jay and Molly chose a superb studio and engineer near their location in NY – and we had a great recording session there in early January. Paul Mills and I returned to his studio in Canada to record other tracks and finish the album, Calla's Waltz. It was released on March 17, 2016.</p>
<p>Most of the tracks on album are Irish or Scottish, traditional or historical. All are Celtic and American folk in style. My friend and frequent music partner Hugh Morrison from Scotland played “squeeze box” on several tracks. My friend Gordon McLeod of the Dallas area played mandolin and fiddle (and arranged the string parts for two of the songs) and a new friend from Ontario, Shane Cook played fiddle, as well. Studio players, Curly Boy Stubbs and Joe Phillips added some help on guitar/mandolin and bass, respectively.</p>
<p>I have no idea where all of this will go – but I absolutely love the album and I am sure the songs will get a chance to be heard. What more can I ask? The fellow who pushed me to do this project, my mentor was at Warner Brothers for a decade and a half. As he was encouraging me to begin working the Calla’s Waltz project he said to me, "You know inside you, that this could be something special. I know that too!" My heart already believed him – and my brain considered where this guy was coming from – so I jumped in with both feet!</p>
<p>There are a couple of songs in particular that will interest Wild Geese readers. “Prayer From Little Round Top” is the story of a potato famine immigrant who died at Gettysburg – and “Dowling and the Davis Guards” retells the tale of Irish immigrant hero, Dick Dowling and his Irish artillerymen, also in the US Civil War. Please take a look at and listen to <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jedmarum15" target="_blank">Calla’s Waltz at CDBaby.</a> The album is also available at Amazon, iTunes and everywhere MP3 music is sold.</p>
'Wild Geese' - aka 'The Norland Wind'
tag:thewildgeese.irish,2014-08-25:6442157:BlogPost:114798
2014-08-25T16:00:00.000Z
Jed Marum
https://thewildgeese.irish/profile/JedMarum
<p>Here's a beautiful old song - in a clip from a festival I played in May of 2014 with my son Jaime.</p>
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<p>Here's a beautiful old song - in a clip from a festival I played in May of 2014 with my son Jaime.</p>
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Irish Confederate at Gettysburg
tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-07-02:6442157:BlogPost:29020
2013-07-02T15:30:00.000Z
Jed Marum
https://thewildgeese.irish/profile/JedMarum
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84699390?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84699390?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> On the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, here are two different recordings of my song Prayer From Little Round Top, a song inspired by the story of a young irish immigrant who died there.</p>
<p>The Confederate soldier in this song left Connemara Ireland with his family when he was a boy. They had just buried his twin sister. In America the family settled in…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84699390?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="250" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84699390?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>On the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, here are two different recordings of my song Prayer From Little Round Top, a song inspired by the story of a young irish immigrant who died there.</p>
<p>The Confederate soldier in this song left Connemara Ireland with his family when he was a boy. They had just buried his twin sister. In America the family settled in Alabama at the farm of an uncle where he grew up just in time to go and fight for new country during the American Civil War. He joined the 15th Alabama and was with them throughout their extensive battle experience.</p>
<p>James P. Gannon former Wall Street Journal editor and author of "Irish Rebels, Confederate Tigers" said,</p>
<blockquote><p>Prayer from Little Round Top is the song one of the great Irish poets might have written had he marched to Gettysburg with Jeds Irish immigrant from Alabama. The melody seems to well up from some misty glen in Connemara, wrapping the soldiers sad story in a teardrop. It may mark me as a sentimental Irish man to say this, but if you can listen to this haunting song without finding your eyes moistening, then somewhere along life's way, you've lost your soul.</p>
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<p>"Prayer from Little Round Top" is a song was inspired by reading of ship-lists and genealogy web sites, and by researching the history of the 15th Alabama. Author Rickey Pittman has written a short story based upon this song and the history. His book of short stories is called “Stories of the Confederate South” and you can find more information at his website <a href="http://www.rickeypittman.com/">http://www.rickeypittman.com/</a></p>
<p><strong>Prayer from Little Round Top</strong><br/>© Jed Marum 2000</p>
<p>As a child standing by her graveside, I recall<br/>many years ago, we said our last goodbye.<br/>My loving twin sister Sarah left me that day,<br/>torn away by hunger and the blight of ’45.<br/>My father said the Lord would send a mighty wind<br/>to fill our sails and take us ‘cross the sea to Americay<br/>We left behind the pain and famine, we left behind<br/>the land I love, and through the years I remember every day, and</p>
<p>CHO:<br/>In dreams I see the mountain tops of my lovely Connemarra<br/>I hear the waves roll gently on the shores along the bay<br/>I dream I travel home again<br/>And I want to stay forever<br/>And I only need a gentle breeze<br/>And I’ll be on my way</p>
<p>From Ireland to Talladaga Alabama,<br/>Carried on the wind, welcomed at my uncle’s farm.<br/>Through the years now, I’ve learned new ways but little Sarah’s lovely face<br/>I’ve carried in my heart since we were young.</p>
<p>When the bells rang I joined the 15th Regiment<br/>fighting for my home and adopted country.<br/>Many battles now I find myself on this Pennsylvania hilltop<br/>I draw deep from gentle the summer breeze CHO</p>
<p>With a sharp crack from a Yankee rifle a bullet burns<br/>deep within my chest and I’m sinking to the ground<br/>and my eyes find the new horizon while musket fire is<br/>passing overhead in waves of muffled sound.</p>
<p>FINAL CHO: Here I see the mountaintops of lovely Connemarra<br/>I hear the waves roll gently on the shores along the bay<br/>and I can see my home again<br/>where I’m running free with Sarah<br/>Now I only need a gentle breeze<br/>And I’ll be on my way</p>
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<p>Click here to listen Jed Marum singing <a href="http://soundcloud.com/jedmarum/prayer-from-little-round-top" target="_blank">"Prayer From Little Round Top" - at Soundcloud</a><iframe width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F98273732"></iframe>
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<p>Click here to listen Norman Morrisey singing <a href="http://soundcloud.com/jedmarum/prayer-from-little-roundtop" target="_blank">"Prayer From Little Round Top" - at Soundcloud</a><iframe width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F97436109"></iframe>
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