''The Irish Volunteer'' is
David Kincaid's first album of Civil War related Irish music. For years Kincaid has been the lead singer, lead guitarist, and leading songwriter for the American roots rock band,
The Brandos. Kincaid, a long time
Civil War enthusiast, assembled a collection of songs written during the Civil War era about
Irish American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
soldiers fighting for the
Union. Most of the songs only came with lyrics so Kincaid had to find traditional Irish music to set the lyrics to. Kincaid was devoted to historical accuracy in performing the songs, the pieces are performed only with instruments that would have been available to the people of the period.
With the exception of "Free and Green" all the songs were written either before or during the Civil War. The songs praise the Irish immigrant volunteers who fought for the Union, most of the songs mention
Thomas Francis Meagher,
Michael Corcoran, and the famous
Irish Brigade.
"
Pat Murphy Of Meagher's Brigade" is the only previously recorded song on the album.
Personnel
*
David Kincaid – lead and harmonic
vocals,
guitar,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
, and
bodhran.
*
Liz Knowles
Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza.
People
* Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Pulit ...
–
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
.
*
Jerry O'Sullivan –
uilleann pipes and
tin whistle.
*
John Whelan –
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
.
*
Ernie Mendillo
Ernie Mendillo (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician who co-founded the New York band The Brandos with Dave Kincaid in 1985. He left the band in 2015. Besides playing with The Brandos, Mendillo was also a member of the Sarajevo rock b ...
- bass on "Paddy's Lamentation".
Track listing
The writer of most of the songs is unknown but is noted where the author is known.
# "The Irish Volunteer" written by Joe English – 4:34 (to the tune of "The Irish Jaunting Car")
# "Boys That Wore The Green" – 4:00
# "Opinions of Paddy Magee" – 3:37
# "The Boys Of The Irish Brigade" – 3:10
# "Paddy's Lamentation" – 5:26
# "The Irish Volunteer (Nr. 2)" written by S. Fillmore Bennett – 4:21
# "My Father's Gun" written by Joe English – 3:09
# "Meagher Is Leading The Irish Brigade" – 5:35
# "Free And Green'" written by David Kincaid and Carl Funk – 4:15
# "The Harp Of Old Erin & Banner Of Star" – 3:44
# "
The List Of Generals" written by Joe English – 3:58
# "
Pat Murphy Of Meagher's Brigade" – 4:40
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Volunteer, The
1998 albums
David Kincaid albums