Crosskeys
Inn – Live in the Kitchen
Crosskeys Inn Heritage Trust XKEY2000; 65
minutes; 2000
Situated in a beautiful rural location between Portglenone
and Toome in County Antrim, the Crosskeys Inn had a deserved reputation as one
of Northern Ireland’s supreme traditional music pubs. Sadly, one night in
February 2000, the three hundred year old building was seriously damaged by
fire and, for a time, there was considerable concern that it might never
reopen. Fortunately, it is back in business again and looked in fine condition
when I visited in 2002. 
Shortly
after the fire various fundraising projects were instigated and these included
the recording and production of this CD, Live in the Kitchen. The kitchen
in question was, I believe, that of another well-respected Northern Irish bar,
The Skerry in Newtowncrumlin, another isolated pub halfway between Ballymena
and Antrim. The album’s twenty tracks feature a number of musicians prominent
in the Antrim and Belfast session scene and two very special guests (more of
whom anon). Fans of the lamented Déanta will be intrigued to learn that Clodagh
Warnock pops up playing fiddle on the album’s closing track, one of her
accompanists being Magherafelt’s best-known pharmacist, Eoghan O’Brien whose
sister Kate features as one of a triumvirate of fiddlers on one of the album’s
outstanding tracks, a set kicked off by Farrel O’Gara’s reel. There’s
also space for a couple of tracks from that very fine fiddler Maurice Bradley
in conjunction with that contemporary rarity, the melodeon, played by Ciarán
Kelly. The very musical Weir Family (whose mother Liz is a well-known
seanachie) also feature strongly, providing an a cappella rendition of The
Wee Lass on the Brae (forever associated in this reviewer’s mind with
Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill) and musically on a set of jigs and The Providence reel.
Lovers
of the bodhrán will also be gratified by the appearance of arguably the Six
Counties’ premier exponent, Séamus O’Kane, whom I last saw beating with perfect
resonance in the company of Francie Mooney and Stephen Campbell at Húdaí Beag’s
in Donegal. However, despite the panoply of current local talents on parade,
it’s an émigré and his sidekick from South Armagh who steal the show.
Len
Graham might have been born in the Antrim Glens, but has lived for a long time
in South Armagh, home too to the wondrous storyteller and mouth harp player (of
the plucking variety) John Campbell. Len’s solo rendition of Pretty Susan
reveals a singer still at the peak of his powers, while John’s story of one of
the Murphys of South Armagh and their numerous nicknames, The Tight-Lipped
Man, is shaggier than an Old English Sheepdog and, thanks to the acuity of
his observational skills, retains all its wit through repeated listening.
Together the pair provides a sparkling version of The Little Pack of Tailors,
replete with Campbell’s mouth harp resonance.
This CD might no
longer be available, but is certainly well worth tracking down, not least for
an insight into the sometimes gently swaying music that emanates from County
Antrim.
This is an original review by Geoff Wallis.