The Baltimore Fiddle Fair

The Southern Star's Niall O'Driscoll writes about the upcoming Fiddle Fair. The following article is posted here with permission from The Southern Star:

The Baltimore Fiddle Fair bringing world-class music to West Cork since 1992 By Niall O' Driscoll Saturday May 3rd, 2008

I'm still finding it hard to believe. Sixteen years ago. The very same year that I did my Leaving Cert. According to the official website, the first Baltimore Fiddle Fair was held in 1992 - sixteen years ago. I must be getting old.

While you could hardly say that the Fiddle Fair came about by accident, it is indeed true to say that all those years ago, no one, and probably least of all Declan McCarthy, the founder and face of the Fair, could have predicted what he was giving life to. You see, having heard that one Nigel Kennedy was in the locality, Declan figured that an intimate classical recital would be quite the coup for his family's pub in Baltimore. Kennedy was then, and most likely still is, one of the most famous and certainly one of the most controversial 'fiddlers' in the world, having brought classical music kicking and screaming into the realm of popular 20th Century culture with amongst other things, his interpretation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Now, it was Declan's modus operandi in trying to secure this ambitious booking that's the important bit in all of this. Not content to just try charming Kennedy or his management, and bearing in mind a lack of any major funding, Declan knew he'd need bait - superstar fiddler bait. So, a series of intimate gigs with a common theme - the fiddle, obviously enough, was organised for the pub. Posters went up, acts were booked. A festival no less. Now he had a carrot with which to entice the famous musician. The Baltimore Fiddle Fair was born.

Twelve years down the line in 2004, the by-now well-established Fiddle Fair was heading for a period of change. Not so surprising I suppose - after all it would soon be a teenager. The recent sale of the pub was forcing Declan to make some decisions about what had become a favourite fixture on the local, national and international music calendar. Without a 'home', the Fair would have to risk relocation or die. Never one to give up easily, Declan soon overcame this problem by recruiting the local hostelries, a medieval castle, an open-air amphitheatre, and a country manor as replacement venues. Overkill you might say, but no. Following the sale of the pub, which had been the sole venue all along, many others would have succumbed to adversity. However, Declan only saw opportunity, and the Fiddle Fair thrived on the change. The whole village had now become 'home' to the Fair. In fact it's probably reasonable to say that given the burgeoning popularity of the event, this expansion was long overdue.

2008 now sees further change. Due to uncertainty about the future of one of this number of venues, a short trip up the road to the recently refurbished West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen will be on the cards for those wishing to attend the larger night-time concerts. Realising that the village of Baltimore is vital to the success of the festival - it is the Baltimore Fiddle Fair after all, Declan is quick to point out that this partial move to Skibbereen, while an exciting prospect, is borne purely out of necessity. To maintain cohesion in the four day event, specially-organised transport between the two locations will ensure that fans of the music, or even those who are just fans of the 'craic' are well catered for.

While trying to avoid references to small seeds and mighty trees, it's difficult to ignore the remarkable growth of this festival over the years. Back in '92, despite the fact that the Kennedy campaign had ultimately failed, Declan still found himself with a fledgling Fiddle Fair to run. After all, the posters were up. In hindsight, it's probably a good thing that the big name didn't turn up that first year - might well have been too much too soon. No, rather than flaring up and burning out as quickly, the Fiddle Fair took a little time to evolve - adopting self-perpetuating, almost organic characteristics that were evident not only by the annual increase in its popularity with punters, but also by the way that its reputation spread on the musical grapevine. Musicians were telling other musicians that this was a great gig. And this chatter was nothing to do with big exposure or big money either. No, the musos were talking about the same stuff as the punters - the quality of the music, the relaxed atmosphere, the hospitality of the hosts, and oh yeah...those sunsets over the harbour. The Baltimore Fiddle Fair was quickly becoming a sort of musical retreat for players and fans alike.

OK, now that you've read this far, you've probably noticed that I've dodged discussing what kind of music we're talking about here. Good reason too - I'd most likely need to write a small book to get it all in. Is it trad? Well, yes, and no. Is it folk?...er, yes and no. I mentioned classical music - or maybe jazz? Could be. Is it all played on fiddles? Well, to be honest, no, not necessarily. There might even be a bit of rock 'n' roll chucked in. Having started out as an attempt to capture the attention of a celebrity classical maverick using what was essentially traditional music - a factor probably governed by the availability of musicians more than anything else, today's Fiddle Fair has become such a diverse offering of sounds and styles that it can be described as nothing other than eclectic.

Artistes from Africa, Scandinavia, U.S.A., U.K. and Europe, not to mention acts such as Altan, Steve Wickham and even non-fiddlers such as Mairtin O'Connor, Liam O'Maonlai and Paul Brady have graced the various stages of the Baltimore Fiddle Fair over the years. Dirk Powell and Grammy-winner Tim O'Brien are both long-time familiar faces at the Fair. Christy Moore arrived as a punter once, and a day later he was on the phone to ask if he could come by and sing a few songs himself later in the week. Not too often that Christy goes looking for gigs I reckon. He just wanted to be there. Having opened the Fair ten years ago, Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill make a welcome return this year to round off proceedings on the closing night. Declan is particularly excited to have Darol Anger's Republic of Strings as another of the large number of acts making up this year's bill. A veteran session musician and described by the Los Angeles Times as being "a pioneer of a continually diversifying string-band movement", not only is this year's performance by Anger a first for the Fair, it's also a first for Ireland. Berroguetto, offering a blend of traditional Galician music and contemporary experimentation will be the first Spanish group to appear at the festival. Donegal's Brid Harper - rated as one of the most outstanding fiddle players of her generation, will also give a rare but much-anticipated performance in The West Cork Hotel on the Friday night.

As a rule, Declan McCarthy doesn't allow himself the privilege of choosing the line-up for the Fiddle Fair based on his own personal preferences. Obviously availability of the acts has to be a consideration, but after that it's the 'insider' information that he gets from artistes that often informs his choices. It's a pretty safe bet that if one musician recommends another, then they're worth checking out. On the other hand, such is the buzz amongst players on the circuit regarding the virtues of the Fair, Declan has occasionally been in the rather odd position of having to turn down acts who've offered to make the trip, quite simply due to lack of space on the bill.

Having toured nationally and internationally with Altan as a merchandising manager, Declan continues to work extensively as an artiste liaison at other festivals throughout Ireland and the UK. Hardly surprising then that he's got a great sense of the 'hots' and the 'nots' when it comes to bringing fresh new music to the ears of West Cork. A combination of this experience and the long-standing success of the Fiddle Fair has seen Declan take the whole concept one step further in recent years - developing Baltimore Fiddle Fair as a brand in its own right for the purposes of promoting acts and events nationwide. One such act is the group Moonlighting. Comprising of firm Fiddle Fair favourites Ciaran Tourish, Dermot Byrne, Michael McGoldrick, John Doyle, and John Joe Kelly, Moonlighting is, to all intents and purposes a traditional supergroup, having come together following last year's Fair and in conjunction with an Arts Council initiative.

Workshops are a big feature of the Fiddle Fair timetable, and judging by some of the local talent that's shown up at these over the years, Declan is just waiting for the day when he can add a Baltimore prodigy to the list of headliners. Also run in conjunction with the Fair is a special concert for local primary schools. Always a big hit, this concert is a great introduction to the possibilities of the music and the thrill of live performance. This year will also present an interesting twist in one man's quest to master the instrument when as part of the making of an upcoming series for TG4, West Cork based movie actor and Oscar winner Jeremy Irons will give his first public performance on the fiddle. His debut will be captured on film when he features as a guest of Brendan Begley and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. A man who's no stranger to patrons of the Fiddle Fair, Ó Raghallaigh is working as Irons' mentor for the making of this programme.

Given that Declan McCarthy's name is synonomous with fiddle music in 2008, it might seem surprising that he admits to not always having been a fan. As a teenager, and into his early twenties, Declan says he listened to all the 'usual stuff' - having little exposure to this whole other world. However, the relationship between the man and the music flourished with each instalment of the Baltimore Fiddle Fair, and just about five years ago, the inevitable happened when Declan took this relationship to the next level. He became a fiddler himself.