Heavy Blarney - From Bog to Swamp (2018)

'From Bog to Swamp' is all about the journey of my ancestors from the peat bogs of Ireland to the swampland on which Palmerston North (Te Papaioea) was built in Aotearoa / New Zealand. There are traditional Irish tunes, given a shot of energy by adding a rock band backing, and some new arrangements. There are also some original songs and one original tune.
The song 'Sinister Path' talks about the shared experience of colonial oppression suffered by Maori people in New Zealand, and by Irish people during the Great Famine. While detailing injustice, the idea of the song is to urge each person to examine their actions toward others, to encourage compassion and minimise suffering.
The song 'Bonny Boys and Girls' is ostensibly about the long boat journey undertaken by pakeha (non-Maori) settlers on their way to a new country where they had been told they would have a fresh start on their own land. Many of them arrived only to find to their surprise that there were already people living on that land, and those people were not aware that they had supposedly "sold" it. Going further back in history, the first Maori settlers undertook a perilous journey to get to Aotearoa. The stories of the heroic people who arrived in the first waka are still told by the tangata whenua (people of the land). So in the broadest sense, this song is really about the journey of any new immigrant to Aotearoa, and their hopes and dreams of a better life.
The original tune 'Rat Amongst the Barrels' is a combination of a slip jig (9/8 time) and either a slide or a double jig. I'm still figuring that out! The tune has no real story behind it, but for some reason I started singing the words "rat amongst the barrels" along with it, and then I imagined a hard-pressed shopkeeper trying to keep his produce rodent-free, and the rest is, as the saying goes, of dubious historical significance.
Anyone who lives in Palmerston North (Te Papaioea) can use the words from the final song, a generic Pepeha, to introduce themselves. It was composed by Tahi Gotty, a really great teacher of te reo Maori. Huge thanks to him for sharing it with everybody! Thanks also to Nuwyne Te Awe Awe Mohi for her advice and input.
The English translation is my own. I'm no expert, and I've chosen words that help make it fit in the song better, but at least it gives you an idea of what the meaning is.

Thanks to Paul Turner, for adding the touch of authenticity the album needed. His pipes, whistles and fiddle provided a wonderful atmosphere atop the heavy guitars and down-tuned bass.
Also Adam Crawford, whose drumming lifted the songs from 'hmm, these sound okay' to 'wow! these songs really rock!'
Thanks also to the other members of the Heavy Blarney Band: Ajax MacDeth and Jeff Carr. Nigel Mauchline did engineering and mastering.
We hope you enjoy this second dose of Heavy Blarney!