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"O'Guitars" Billy McLaughlin Pat Donohue  Sunday, March 17, 2002 |  |
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"O'Guitars" Billy McLaughlin Pat Donohue Sunday, March 17, 2002 | |
This St. Patrick's Day O'Guitar concert delivered set of the most "awesome" guitar playing possible! IF you
missed it, I only hope there is a repeat next year.
Billy McLaughlin and Pat Donohue, both nationally renowned acoustic/finger picking folk blues guitarists, pulled out all the stops for this rendezvous of guitar extravaganza. Both are anchored in the Twin Cities yet travel extensively. Both come with impressive credentials. Billy is a five times Minnesota Music Award winner, including Best Guitarist 1998. Pat Donohue, the 1983 National Finger Picking Guitar Champion, was praised by Chet Atkins: " Pat Donohue is one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today." Around the world Pat is recognized for his smooth finger style techniques plus fun and personal arrangements. He also can be heard as a regular on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion.
This St. Paddy's Day night was hosted by none other than our very own Dan Chouinard and Anna Vagle. They took the stage and performed their own duet...an Irish Dittie...warming us up!
Pat and Billy each played individual sets and then met at the end for two duet pieces. The professional quality of both performers was stunning. The full house was treated to two of the world’s most accomplished guitarists.
Billy ignited the night with Hurricane Bob, a fast paced weather
related piece that set the mood for the audience. Billy plays with
complete soul, vibrant and steadfast. He acoustically performs as if
there are four hands playing. He creates an unparalleled effect by pumping the rhythm straight out underneath deft
individual picking in one of the
most electrifying siren-like tones. His style, unlike any other most have seen, is that of special effects: a high volume amplifier plus use of the left hand to
pick the strings rather than hold chords. His full robust sound is
incomparable to others and fits his expressive mood as he almost dances
with head bobbing in a soulful look.
Billy entertained us with funny, whimsical stories about his background in music; starting as a 6 year old and knowing by the time he was 11 that he wanted to be a musician. His reference to being a father and dealing with the "cool" side of that was entertaining to the point that stardom doesn't always cut it with kids. His boys obviously will discover in time their Dad's talent. Til then, all he can do is wait.
Billy's diversity comes in waves. Humorously, with Looking for a Good Wife he played verses that try to identify what that idealistically would be. In a quick flip, he moved from lightness to tenderness with his articulate theme song Hold on to Whoever....forever. Its grand melodic tones sink completely through you filling you with a warmth and comfort. Again, without missing a beat, he brought the pace back up with a new song he has yet to title. It had rapid licks that could have been flickering in a visual appearance. He invited the audience to "name that tune" ...maybe writing a title on a card attached with $1.00? We were reminded that his CDs were rare and very valuable and not to miss a purchase that night!
At this point Billy confessed to the next Irish piece not having its origins 300 some years ago in County Cork but rather, 3 years ago in
White Bear Lake. Billy preceded to introduce his greatest known piece
that only brings full serenity to the heart ........Soulmates.
Whether your Irish or not, it made no difference. To everyone present
it is his calling card ....keynote melody.....the defining signature of
this great performer. He referred to the Gaelic title Annam Ceili -
meaning dedicated to those who have found theirs, and those still
looking. With that he mentioned the fact that your soulmate possibly was
beside you or you might meet during this evening. In his special way he
brought all present closer together. We all fell silent to hear every
note and tone. It was spellbinding.
A guest performance by Jenny Lynn Star greeted us next as she played an Irish low whistle accompaniment with Billy. They performed Shama meaning " be present in the moment". The low whistle echoed perfect pitch throughout the audience with clarity. It was an outstanding compliment to the guitar’s voice. Finally, after singing the praises of Pat Donohue, Billy played 11. He tells us it is a number that strangely creeps into his conscience for reasons unbeknownst to him. He has yet to discover why but, as he played we were pleasantly distracted. This song carried very inventive moves with a provocative rhythm. Billy McLaughlin’s set was compelling as well as captivating.
With true “Irish” charm, Anna and Dan honored the
next guest for his accomplishments in the guitar genre. Pat Donohue, a 5
album producer uses a folk picking style. Pat opened with his own rendition of the finger flicking tune This is the
Beginning. As Billy champions spellbinding voices from the guitar, Pat
Donohue perfects precise fingering in lightening speed bursts. He stuns audiences with his quickness and ease!
This gifted musician also can spin his own creative stories through comic lyrics. For example, Give the Dog a Bone touched any pet owner who knows the demand and insistence of a dog from his owner. Pat caught the irony of the alpha role. What a hoot!
From there we are stung with
agile playing of Bumble Bees, again swift and skilled. A fine performer knows how to move from quick pace and then
slow the mood down. Emotionally with words reflecting a captivating
relationship, Pat flowed through Drowning in You. It was sweet and
tender. He never lingered long though, comically telling us through his
Pavarotti and Dylan likenesses in Try the Karaoke. He never left a second to doubt his abilities to
pleasantly entertain his guests. Talking a minute, he assured us that
there was a large selection of his and Billy's CDs to pick from, which
he recommended to be sure we bought HIS!
In a reflective mood, Pat was inspired at 10 by the underrated composer Leroy Anderson. Pat played a snippet of Leroy's familiar song Matinee Movie Theme (for those of us who grew up in the 60's) and then gracefully played a disciplined bravado Blue Tango proving his classical diversity. With a change of guitars and the addition of a glass finger slide we heard southern great Tampa Red's Boogie Woogie Dance squeal across the strings. Pat acknowledged influences from Mississippi John Hurt and Willie Johnson and with Mudslide his southern progressive slide skills obvious. Amongst this genre his favorite blues piece by Blind Blake, Police Dog Blues.
Pat's repertoire is wide and diversified. He put James Joyce's lyrics to music for his St. Paddy's Day offering and switched to a happy Celtic song by sharing his yucky sushi song. While he endured touring in Japan, he created the No Thanki Icky Sushi tune which had the audience doubling over in laughter! His poetic brilliance gleamed.
Finally, after the quickest hour , he swooned us all with his Sitting in the Basement Stealing from Chet improv. It was a tribute to the King of Blues. He recently wrote:
| A Guitarists Concert:
Billy wowed the audience of over 600 when he took the stage at 8:00pm, with his opening song. Wielding a Guild JF65, (which is one of the largest and loudest acoustic guitars around) he quickly set the tempo for the evening with a beautiful melodic and rhythmic piece. The haunting and captivating style of his playing would have to be considered "new age", since he has developed a style that utilizes guitars tuned to an open chord and are two to four semitones lower in pitch than a guitar in standard tuning. The result is a sound so huge it fills the concert hall the way an ocean liner fills a river. His easygoing charm and warmth kept the mood light, yet smoothly paced. His style is represented by the fact that he plays melodies with his left hand and keeps a rhythm with the right hand, by "tapping" the bass lines. Pat Donohue appeared after the short intermission, guitar in hand and immediately displayed his amazing technique and gift for humor, while poking fun at Karaoke singers and Sushi bars, during a tour of Japan. The audience was obviously delighted with both of these fabulous musicians, who ended a fun and entertaining evening with a duet. If you missed this show, you missed a lot. They're worth catching the next time around. |
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It's not often that the opportunity presents itself to see and hear two of today's' premier guitarists in one night. That, however, is what took place at St. Joans on Sunday evening. Other than the fact that Billy McLaughlin and Pat Donohue both play the guitar, their styles and music remain vastly different.