Athlone native Paul Brock launches album

"One of the highlights of my musical life," is how renowned accordion player Paul Brock described launching his band's new album at the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville earlier this year. Given that Brock has been travelling to America to perform for over 50 years, this is not an insignificant statement. A native of O'Connell Street in Athlone, his performance in Nashville was to launch the album 'Green Grass Blue Grass' which his group, the Brock McGuire band, recorded with a host of top American roots musicians. A key collaborator in the project was the multi-Grammy award winning bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs. Paul has recorded numerous critically-acclaimed albums both as a solo artist and as a band member. He formed the Brock McGuire band with Manus McGuire, who is originally from Tullamore, Enda Scahill from Galway and Denis Carey from Newport, Tipperary. Collectively the group members have featured on approximately 30 albums, but Paul said this new release is quite different from any he was involved in previously. The Brock McGuire band has toured in America for many years and became friendly with Ricky Skaggs during travels in the Appalachian region, which incorporates areas in States such as West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. "We wound up informally gigging with him in his studio," explained Paul. "We got talking about our respective backgrounds in music and learned that when he was growing up in Kentucky he had listened to the old fiddle players and developed a keen interest in Irish music and its influence across North America." Following on from those initial sessions, the idea of recording an album that would incorporate elements of Irish, bluegrass, French-Canadian and old-time American music "seemed to come naturally," according to Paul. In addition to Skaggs, a team of distinguished American musicians was recruited for the album including fiddle player Aubrey Haynie, guitarist Bryan Sutton, bass player Mark Fain, and Jeff Taylor (a member of Elvis Costello's band The Sugarcanes). "We started the recording in Ireland but most of it was done in Ricky Skaggs' studio in Nashville. When we sat down to record there for the first time we weren't sure exactly how it would go, but it went really, really well. All of the American musicians are multi-instrumentalists and they were superb to work with." The musicians reconvened to launch the album with a live performance at the Grand Ole Opry in March. Kenny Rogers and Ralph Stanley (the bluegrass icon who featured prominently on the 'O Brother Where Art Thou?' soundtrack) were also on the bill that night. "It was an amazing experience," said Paul. "We were told by the general manager at the Opry that we were one of a very small number of Irish bands ever to play there." Although he still keeps in contact with a number of friends in Athlone, Paul has been living in Ennis for many years. His musical talent was discovered at a very early age: he won his first All Ireland junior accordion title when he was eleven, won the senior All Ireland competition at age 15, and went on a three-month tour of the US when he was 16. Most of the Brock McGuire band's performances take place in the US, but Paul said there are some Irish gigs in the pipeline. The group will be touring Stateside again in September, and the itinerary includes another performance at the Grand Ole Opry. "I find the audiences in America fantastic," he said. "They are very switched on, very interested, and anxious to know about the context of the music. Over here it's a different scene in which Irish music is often wrapped up in the pub culture. But in the States people will come for an evening performance, maybe have a coffee or a glass of wine at the interval, and head home afterwards. They like to appreciate the music without any distractions." The 'Green Grass Blue Grass' album is available in many record stores now, and it can also be ordered online at: www.brockmcguireband.com