Usually solo hurdy-gurdy but occasionally as a duo with Tom Walsh on button accordian
Influences
Back in the 80s, there were few hurdy-gurdy oriented bands around and the main influence was the traditional French group La Chavanee which is still a highly respected group. Blowzabella and Rosbif were also inspirational back then. In later years, many French bands have brought the music of the hurdy-gurdy up to date, notably "Tapage" and the music of Gilles Chabenat, Maxou Heintzen, Patrick Bouffard,Philippe Besson,Philippe Prieur and many others.
Sounds Like
The hurdy-gurdy has its own distinctive sound. The drones work with the melody to give a constantly changing harmony which works well in many musical genres. The mainstream repertoire of the instrument in modern times is French traditional dance music where it is often played with the French bagpipe and melodeon. I have been playing some Irish trad. tunes lately which also work well.
HEY MAN HOW GOES IT?- LOOKS LIKE WERE MOVING TO PITTSBURGH NOW...LOTS OF FRIENDS AND BANDS THERE AND LOTS MORE TO BE INVOLVED WITH-LOTS GOING ON-YOU SHOULD MAKE A T-SHIRT FOR YOUR MUSIC BRO-HELL GIVE ME AN IDEA ILL MAKE YA A DESIGN!-PEACE BRO!
Hi Neil, your wonderful hurdy gurdy has been out and about this summer and the two songs I play with Pressgang on it are being well received. All the best Damian from Pressgang
GLAD TO BE YOUR FRIEND NEIL, YOUR TALENT IS OVERFLOWING INTO UNDESCRIBABLY AMAZING UNCOMMON TUNES. IF ALL THESE THINGS ARE NOT TRAD, YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST GIFTED NEW FOLK COMPOSERS OF THE PERIOD. WELCOME TO MY NEW UPLOAD - ROYAL GUARDS - ON WWW.MYSPACE.COM/LEOSDEPOT MEET THE BRAVE AND HONEST LADS! BEST SUMMER INSPIRATIONS LEO
Hello, thanks! there isn't very much hurdy hurdy on our site yet, but with the help of your maintenense site i hope to have it up and running soon. great site!
/hans
Good to have a hurdy-gurdy friend! It sounds great by the way. Thanks for the friend invite and for dropping by MySpace. All the best from a freakishly cold Dublin, Ireland.
