Festival Interviews
4 Men & a Dog
MAKING a name for themselves with their eclectic and vivacious blend of traditional Irish music, combined with a wide spectrum of other genres – including rap, Southern rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, polka, country swing and even salsa – it looks like Heb Celt revellers are in for a real treat with first-time Heb Celt festival choice 'Four Men & a Dog'.
And to see this band live seems certainly the way to go as member Gerry 'banjo' O'Conner expands: "It's hard to pin a band like us down – on the albums there'll be a couple of tracks that fit into blues, a couple that are country and some that are traditional Irish.
"We've a wide mix. Kevin and Gino have a strong interest in blues, R and B and country; they delve into that a lot deeper than the rest of us, and Donal and Cathal are both strong traditionalists.
"Me, I just fit in with both parties," he chuckles.
"For people who've never seen us I suppose it can be confusing just listening to an album, but when you see the band live, then you're able to see what we do.
"Seeing us live is where the fun element comes in – it's up tempo and all guns blazing. It works better live where the aura of the band can come across."
With a current line-up of Cathal Hayden, Gino Lupari, Kevin Doherty, Donal Murphy and Gerry, 'Four Men & a Dog' first formed back in 1990, stealing the show at that year's Belfast Folk Festival.
Their popularity and instant success was further grounded the following year when in 1991 they snagged an award for Album of the Year from Folk Roots magazine – the first time an Irish group had ever won the prize.
Born out of childhood music sessions, Gerry continues, explaining the organic growth of the band: "I think you just naturally gravitate towards people interested in similar styles of music as you and that you get comfortable playing with them in a social setting.
"We all had a common feel for the music and it all just really went from there."
For Gerry himself, the musical path hasn't always been a straight one – and through his teenage years diverged onto the football pitch as he moved to concentrating on the physical instead of the musical.
But hailing from a long line of well known fiddle players – indeed being presented with a fiddle even before he was old enough to hold it properly – music wasn't something which he could hide from forever.
"I came back to Irish music in the end, I couldn't escape it," he says, not before admitting that he'd already tried out as a rocking guitarist.
However, it was not the guitar or the fiddle which brought Gerry round, but the humble banjo – although never a simple or humble instrument in the hands of the man who has been described as 'the best four-string banjoist in the history of Irish music'.
"I believe that in music you should be a pioneer of your own individuality and I suppose that's how I ended up on the banjo," he explains.
"I grew up in an era of the Sex Pistols, Thin Lizzy and The Police and at the time you had to be different and stand out.
"A man turned up one night in the pub with a banjo and I thought 'that sounds different, that'll do for me' and that's why I started on the banjo.
"It suits me though, it's a happy instrument and that suits my nature."
Not forgetting his fiddler roots however – Gerry did return to the instrument – he's highly complimentary of his fiddling Celtic cousins, as he continues: "With regards to fiddle music, Scottish fiddlers are my favourite. The Scots fiddle music is lovely to listen to and the percentage of great fiddle players to come out of the country is so high."
Having spent the last decade and a half recording and touring extensively, the band are no strangers to Scotland and its northern islands. But this year's performance at Heb Celt will be the first time 'Four Men & a Dog' have landed upon Western Isles shores – something eagerly anticipated by all.
"We love going up to Scotland and have a real affiliation with the place," says Gerry. "If we don't play there one year, we find we really miss it and are hanging out to return and touch base with the fans and people who have taken the trouble to hunt us down and see us play.
"We're now in the enviable position of all working on different things – the work for 'Four Men & a Dog' isn't so intensive now," he continues.
"We only do about 20 gigs a year now – something which has really revitalised the band as about five years ago we all felt the thing was beginning to run out of steam.
"Now we can pick what we want to do, and it's so pleasurable to go out and do stuff now, which is why we're coming up to the islands."
It appears then that Heb Celt festival-goers are set to witness something very special, but for the band, this sense of anticipation and enjoyment flows both ways.
"There's always a great vibrancy and appreciation when we play in Scotland and on the islands, and coming from a slightly larger island we're very comfortable in that environment," Gerry explains. "We operate at our best just letting our emotions go and we tend to wear our musical hearts on our sleeves," he laughs. "We're looking forward to just going for it 'cos we know the audience will understand what we're about – they'll understand our wild side!"
Interview courtesy of Stornoway Gazette
