Eilis Crean hears the same question quite often: “Why is an Irish woman trying to preserve traditional East Galway music in Franklin, Tenn.?”
“A lot of people have said that to me,” she said recently in a telephone interview. “I’m from a small village in Ireland, and the music was a part of the country and small village lifestyle. I lived in Boston for nine years. I find down here, especially in Franklin, people have such great interest in the roots and tradition of music, moreso than Boston.
“It seems like such a foreign idea, but in fact it’s actually more in sync than the larger cities. It’s just been fantastic here, and like I said people around here just love the roots of music. We have a session every Thursday in Quinn’s Neighborhood Pub and somebody new comes. They talk about their Irish ancestry, their interest in folk music and it is fantastic.”
Crean, who will perform with John Mock and Becca Darling for the Back Door Coffeehouse on July 6, grew up with those traditions. She learned to play the Irish fiddle from a famous musician and composer named Eddie Kelly.
“He only taught two people in his lifetime,” Crean said. “And I am the only one left playing his music exactly as he left it many years ago. About seven years ago, he gave me all of his compositions, and, in fact, he had replaced his own copies. So, I had the last remaining copies in the whole world. It was kind of burning a hole in my pocket, so I had to get them out there.”
In October 2017, Crean released “Search Siúcra,” 21 of Kelly’s compositions.
“‘Searbh Siúcra,’ which actually means ‘bitter sugar,’ was the whole idea of combining polarities,” she said. “We had musicians from Ireland and musicians from Nashville. We had dark lonesome sounds and some bright sounds. We had the old and the new because his new compositions I coupled with the older compositions.
The album also had a different meaning for Crean.
“‘Searbh Siúcra,’ was perfect because it also describes bittersweet,” she said. “It was a bittersweet journey for me because I remember Eddie and he was my hero. Recently, he suffered some bad health and had a stroke; he has hasn’t been able to play since then.”
Crean realizes she is not in the mainstream scene because of her music.
“If Irish music is a niche, I’m actually a niche within Irish music,” she said. “I play the East Galway Irish Music Tradition, and in the world, there are actually only a handful of people who play it right now. A couple of those guys are in their 80s and 90s, so it is a small handful of people who can play the traditions and are passionate about keeping it alive, preserving it and passing it on to anyone who wants to listen.”
Living in Tennessee, Crean has been able to meet great musicians.
“I have teamed up with John Mock,” she said. “He has done everything; he has played with all the greats here in Nashville, composed the music score for a film called, ‘All Saints,’ with some famous actors, and he’s got an Irish heritage. I’ve team up with him and he’s just such an amazing musician. That’s what this area offers, and you can team up with someone who’s awesome and who has a love for the roots and folk music.”
Crean said she loves the music because it is intricate and beautiful.
“An Irish word used to describe this called ‘driaocht,’ which means ‘magic,’” she said. “It’s a lovely tradition, but you also remember the greats that passed it on, those who played it and people coming together. So, it’s not just the music; it’s just the whole experience of people coming together with simple wisdom and harmony and finding joy together in music. That’s what I love about it; that’s why I promote.”
For Crean, the roots of Irish music came from her family, which further instilled the traditions surrounding the music.
“My daddy, Tom, loved music, and it was passed on from his grandmother,” she said. “I never met my grandmother, but apparently I even look like her and she was just steeped in the music. Her brothers would come over and play music every night. My daddy grew up in it and was so inspired, and he was just so passionate about it.”
Her father took Crean to music lessons with Kelly, but she learned more than music there.
“We used to go in for lessons at 8 a.m. on a Monday, and my daddy and Mr. Eddie would start talking,” she said. “Then, by 10 o’clock we would start the actual lesson. They would talk about music, a tune they heard on the radio, but it was just fascinating to listen to them. Looking back on it, that was when I learned the traditions, from the conversations and not necessarily from playing the tunes.”
To preserve and promote the East Galway Irish Music Tradition, Crean formed a company called The Irish Gift.
“My goal eventually is to have a music school in Franklin where we get musicians over – that’s the ultimate long-term goal – with the view of preserving the traditions of Ireland and that style of music,” she said. “I’ve got some course up there where I teach all of the Eddie Kelly tunes. You can subscribe to that monthly and work with me on Skype, email and everything is streamed online.”
Crean also plans to preserve Kelly’s music and life in a book.
“I have interviewed some people, and his brother has sent me over some lovely photographs,” she said. “Actually, right now I am organizing a photographer to go down and take a picture of him and some local musicians just to capture him now. It’s just great to celebrate his life and his contributions to music as well.”
Doors open for the Back Door Coffeehouse at 7 p.m. at University Baptist Church (3200 Arlington Loop), and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
