After the success of last year’s pandemic-produced Irish folk album Forfocséic, Vol. 1, I decided to follow it up with — well, more of the same, I guess. Except this time, the production is even richer, and I stuck to a more coherent theme that’s resonant throughout Irish cultural history: whiskey, and workers’ rights.
And so, I present Forfocséic, Vol. 2 — Whiskey & Work, now available everywhere you stream or download music!
Once again, I had some help from some remote friends (including the fantastic fiddle work of the inimitable Jacqui Cheng). Continuing in the tradition of Irish song mashups, I made a wild medley of “The Rare Aul’ Mountain Dew” and “The Hills of Connemara,” which are both about poitín (basically Irish Moonshine / illicit white whiskey) and both kind of follow the same form anyway.
The other fun thing I did this time (aside from the arrangements, which I’m just generally very proud of) is to twist one of the songs here and make it my own. In addition to the conspicuous Red Sox references in “The Leaving of Liverpool,” I also wrote and added a new verse to “Muirsheen Durkin,” turning it from a more generic immigrant song to one specifically about my own family. Not to give too many spoilers away, but the last verse you hear is indeed something that actually happened to an ancestor of mine, after coming to America from the West of Ireland during the Great Hunger.
Anyway — I hope you enjoy it, and I can’t wait to actually (maybe?) do some live St. Paddy’s Day shows next year (finally!).