Muireann Bradley I Kept These Old Blues (CD)

(Tompkins Quare Records) 12 tracks, digisleeve
Muireann Bradley is a young blues, ragtime, roots and folk guitarist and singer from Ballybofey in County Donegal, Ireland.

"This is my first album. Most of these tracks were originally recorded by the great blues men and women who made records from the 1920s and 1930s through to the early 1970s. I also found inspiration for the interpretations recorded here from some of the musicians who started recording this music in the 1960s and later, and in some cases learned from the greats. Many of these guitarists played a central role in the blues revival of the 1960s and the subsequent 'rediscovery' of many of the greats of country blues. I grew up in the hills above the valley of the River Finn near the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal listening to these old blues. My father played this music constantly at home and everywhere we went in the car and he would talk endlessly about whether anyone was listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news. My father, of course, could play all these things on the guitar. I remember watching him when I was very young and thinking, 'I want to be able to do that'. When I was nine years old, he agreed to teach me and bought me my first little travel guitar. I worked hard to learn how to play, but as time went on I seemed to have less and less time to practice as I focused more and more on the martial arts I regularly practiced and participated in. Then in March 2020, the first Covid lockdowns happened and all contact sports were stopped. I was lost for a while, but soon found my way back to the guitar. I was now listening, playing and practicing with a new intensity and focus. In a very serious moment, I wrote down a list of pieces I wanted to learn. The first piece on this list was 'Police Dog Blues' by Blind Blake. I don't remember exactly how long it took to put this arrangement together, but when it was finished, we filmed me performing it and posted it on YouTube. I remember my parents were pretty shocked, and shortly after that Josh Rosenthal got in touch... and here we are! Every single track on this album was recorded live in the studio and is a complete take of me singing and accompanying myself on guitar at the same time. Most are either first or second takes. Nothing has been added or taken away, no overdubs or modern recording tricks of any kind have been used, so in some respects at least this album was recorded in the same way as the classics of the 1920s and 1930s." Muireann Bradley in May 2023