Traditional music updates
Back in August Eamonn de Barra of Slide had his flute stolen from a pub in Temple Bar, and unfortunately there is still no sign of it. If you come across it for sale anywhere, please make contact with Eamonn or with the gardaí.
It’s a Seery flute in Mopane wood, now dark brown in colour; and unusually for a wooden flute it has a raised mouthpiece. It came in a black rectangular case, with big metal latches, and black velvet lining.
Billed as Barco, Cormac de Barra on harp & Éamonn de Barra (Slide) on flute and Fionán de Barra on guitar, were joined by two other of their three other brothers to play a ‘Gig for kids’ during the Tradfest in the Ark. I took my son, and apart from the distraction of the extroverted kids dancing around in front of the brothers, it was really great. Eamonn was really fantastic with the children, and all the music was lovely. Lots of Carolan (which was when the dancing kids were the problem, despite Eamonn’s finger-to-mouth strategy), but also plenty of super tunes.
A bit like the Irish economy, Slide’s website was in dire need of scrapping and a completely fresh start. (I was planning to contact them about it myself.) And that is exactly what happened. After a week or so without a site, Slide is now back online in great shtyle altogether (powered by WordPress). It’s got all the content you’d expect, including tour schedules, recordings, video & stills gallery etc.; but also a few things you wouldn’t: push puzzles to solve based on band publicity shots imposed on various backgrounds (“our fun yet infuriating puzzle page”). The only thing I don’t see is a blog-type communication – something that might bring the fans closer with more regular updates & insights. Just a suggestion. Otherwise, great job.
