Thoughts behind the making
All of us on this project have been playing Irish music in one form or another for most of our lives; weddings, funerals, countless sessions, and clatter filled pubs. This project was assembled to pay tribute to the collective canon of Irish music, from Trad, Folk, and the more contemporary voices of Ireland. We want you to hear these influences as a tip of the cap to those who plotted the course of Irish music.
About the group
We've been a loose affiliation of revolving musicians in the Irish music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area since the late 80's without much to show for it except the honesty of the music, a few hundred ridiculous stories and deep friendships that tether me to my roots.
About the name
In Ireland it is common still to burn "turf" or dried sod in homes and pubs where people might gather to tell stories and play a bit of music. There is an old expression, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." In a good Irish story some amount of exaggeration is just the art form in action. They might even say "we'll sit around and tell lies". It doesn't mean deceit. It means vivid entertaining storytelling. This project hopes to reflect that spirit of storytelling.
The Tracks
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The Liars Are
The MentionsA special thanks and tip of the glass to my "trusted ears" who helped guide my work on this; Steve Kritzer, Ken Hughes, Jake Schaefer, Richard Hilton.
Special thanks to our families for suffering through listening to tracking, retracking, remixes and rearrangements of these same freaking tunes in car trips and weekends month after month. Andressa, Daniela, Aidan, Charli, Conor, Liam and Quinn, Thank you. There were several other players from that music scene I wanted to have on this project but for various reasons it didn't workout. A special shout out of appreciation to Tim Bolger, Chuck MacCabe †, Sheila Drumm, Bobby Dearbacker, and Davie McCumiskey. Thank you for bringing me in and sharing the times and tunes. |
About the message
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The Turf Fire Liars are themselves a collection of Irish and Scottish Immigrants as well as descendants of Irish immigrants. Hollywood, of course, has done a transformative job of making the Irish experience in America seem like the quintessential success story. Romanticized versions of Irish charm, wit and determination exist from John Wayne’s The Quiet Man to the Bruce Willis’ character John McClane, in Die Hard. All these types of images would lead us to believe the Irish and Irish Americans are a beloved group among the melting pot of America. Yet we know it wasn’t always this way. The political cartoons of the late 1800s show that most native born Americans of that time feared and loathed the alien invasion of illiterate, poverty-stricken, catholic, Irish peasants. In a time well before anti-immigration laws, political parties like the “Know-Nothings” were formed to try and stop the flow of humanity from Ireland’s desperate shores. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Because this is the story of America, told over and over again as the descendants of previous immigrant groups deny new immigrants a chance at the same opportunity. Today, to see Americans with Irish surnames lend their voices to staunch anti-immigration rhetoric shows how quickly some of us have forgotten from where we came. This album is a tribute to that journey and a reminder that we all have an immigration story.
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The Notes
We all live in different cities across multiple states now so the project was recorded and rerecorded over 4 years in several locations but mostly my home studio and J32 in San Jose CA. Special thanks to my good friend Gordon Gurley there. I really enjoy the nerd knobs of recording so I included a full breakdown from apps to amps. I even put a bit about our writing process there as well. If you have more questions feel free to send us an email.
Turf Fire Liars
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