Dave Ogden

These are traditional Irish marches, typically played in marching bands of pipes (or flutes) and drums. I first became intrigued by marches when Fintan Vallely came to the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp on San Juan Island in Washington State several years ago. Fintan is a flute player from Co. Armagh in Northern Ireland where there's a long flute band tradition, and he's got a very cool repertoire. These two weren't among the ones he played, though. I worked up the first one when Bob Keating asked me to work "the" tune by this title and there turned out to be two, a hornpipe and this march. Serendipity, huh Bob! The second tune, Return to Fingal, is one that Pierre Bensusan used to play, and my arrangement is based roughly on his.  This set has become a favorite during my weekly gigs at Dargan's Irish Pub in Ventura CA with the Sunday Drivers. There's a wonderful rhythmic drive to the way these marches are played, I have fun trying to inject that into my guitar arrangements here. I also play the bodhran, the Irish frame drum on this track. The guitar I play on this track was made by Kent Hamblin (which I forgot to mention in the cd's liner notes, so sorry Kent!) and the bodhran was made by Christian Hedwitschak in Germany, via my friend Blayne Chastain of www.whistleanddrum.com in Greeley, Colorado.