| Altan Goes Atmospheric
By Ryan Bray
The grass grew a little greener outside Milwaukee’s Irish Cultural Heritage
Center in mid-April.
Maybe it was the breezy, spring-like weather. But upon approaching the
door and hearing Altan’s jovial traditional Irish music from inside, there
was a sense that there was more to the air-borne buzz than mere meteorology.
Perhaps, it was something more atmospheric.
Coincidentally, "atmospheric" may be the perfect adjective used to sum
up this band’s sound. Like most Celtic rock outfits, the band’s music leans
heavily on romanticism and imagery to compliment its whimsical and spirited
sound, and after 20 plus years and countless world tours, they’ve nailed
their style down to a science.
At the helm of the Donegal five piece is singer/fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh.
Mild mannered and soft spoken with the sort of thick Irish brogue you simply
can’t mimic or fake, Mhaonaigh is the face behind the music, the incarnated
spirit of Altan’s sound, style and sensibility. She’s sweet yet sincere,
confident but humble and down to earth.
Altan’s music has always adhered to these same qualities, holding the
values and tradition of their homeland at the forefront and center of everything
they do. In spite of the band’s standing as worldwide ambassadors of traditional
Celtic music — having done tours seemingly so far outside their realm as
Japan — the sounds of Ireland never stray too far from the band’s heart.
"We’ve always played Irish traditional music, and we always will, even
though we get around all over," confessed Mhaonaigh. "It’s our only source
of pure, direct musical inspiration. We appreciate all kinds of other music.
As an artist, you have to. But Irish music will always be our one direct
source of musical inspiration."
Although this might sound like a stubborn refusal to move forward, it
makes sense coming from a band as firmly embedded in its roots as Altan.
The band’s members, which also consist of Mhaonaigh’s husband, Dermot Byrne
on accordion, Ciaran Tourish on whistle, Ciaran Curran on bouzouki and
the dueling guitars of Mark Kelly and Daithi Sproule have a musical history
that spans back generations. Mhaonaigh’s father was a revered fiddle player
in Donegal, while Byrne’s father, Tomas, taught his son the ropes on the
accordion. The rest of the members have similar backgrounds, where music
was very much a family affair.
"I think there’s definitely a strong family base in the type of music
we play," said Mhaonaigh. "It’s something that can evolve both musically
and within your personal relationships. It’s all very intermarried, almost
a lifestyle. We do this everyday, whether we’re at home, on the road, wherever.
It’s just something you grow to depend on and need, like oxygen."
The show brought the band back to Milwaukee after numerous successful
stints at Irish Fest, and the band has fond memories of it time spent in
the city over the years.
"Milwaukee has always been great fun," Mhaonaigh admitted. "The (Irish)
Festival has always been great, too, especially in regards to meeting and
playing along with other musicians. And who could forget the heat, my goodness."
The fun and excitement Mhaonaigh speaks of could be felt from the moment
the band took the heritage center stage. After some cordial banter with
the disciplined but nonetheless eager and enthusiastic audience, the band
quickly got down to business. It offered up a diverse set that moved swiftly
and skillfully between slow, emotive acoustic ballads ("As I Roved Out)
and up tempo spirited guitar and fiddle fests ("Tommy Peoples").
While such divergent styles might seem to cover a lot of terrain, the
transition from one to the other never felt forced or unnatural. It was
the kind of move that could only have been pulled off by a band like Altan,
one with a refined finesse and strong musical lineage, and the group pulled
it off with aplomb.
Much of the band’s set felt less like a concert than a celebration,
one where the hearts and energy of everyone in attendance carried the performance,
with the band leading the way. While Altan lacks a drummer, the in-sync,
metronymic stomping of feet more than compensated and could be felt beneath
one’s seat. It’s here where traditional Irish music reels in its power,
through the sense of community and connectedness it instills in its fans.
It’s a quality, said Mhaonaigh, that gives the music a universal appeal.
"The music speaks of a place. It’s all very rural, so it has that sort
of peacefulness to it. There’s something very atmospheric and imaginative
to it, and there’s just this great freedom of space. I think that’s what
draws so many people to Irish music, the fact that if you close your eyes
and listen you can really envision it. It’s really great that the music
is sought all over."
The band focused much of the performance around Local Ground,
its latest record released on the local label Narda. Their 10th studio
effort, the record, as the title aptly suggests, is a retreat back to the
sounds that influenced the band during its earliest days back in Donegal.
Mhaonaigh said it’s a fitting album that really represents what the band
is today, as well as what the group has stood for over the years.
"We’re all very pleased with it (Local Ground). We’ve put so
much work into it, and to have it completed and gaining such a great response
is amazing. Everything about it just feels right. Even the art work I think
makes sense. It’s very rustic and beautiful, and there’s this path that
runs straight through it all. That path has always been there for us as
a band. It’s unmistakable and we’ve always trusted where it’s led, and
over the years we’ve come to find it’s been the right road to follow for
where we’ve wanted to go."
 
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