Courtesy Sasha Pedro
Audio By Carbonatix
James Joyce passed away in 1941, but his words live forever on. So much so that folk duo Rakish evoked the iconic Irish poet’s prose on its latest album, Now, O Now, released independently last October.
While the music is new, the title track is an ode to a Joyce work titled Now, O Now in This Brown Land, which ruminates on a long-lost love. Similarly, the song “Lightly Come or Lightly Go” is another nod to the Dubliners author who wrote about experiencing happiness in the moment in that particular piece.
“I’m always inspired by the idea of taking a sound and trying to bring whatever that sound is to highly poetic language, bringing poetic ideas to life,” guitarist Conor Hearn shares.
The approach is akin to what bluegrass picker Tony Rice did on his 1996 album, Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot, he adds.
“It’s James Joyce lyrics, stanzas, then we wrote music to it,” says Hearn, the lit-geek of the band.
Since 2018, Rakish has artfully blended traditional Americana and Celtic music and muses but with a modern twist, making something that’s been described at times as “Celtic electronica,” mainly because of the inclusion of drums and electric bass, alongside Hearn’s acoustic guitar and Maura Shawn Scanlin’s fiddle and clawhammer banjo proficiency.
But the sophomore effort differs from the band’s 2022 debut, Counting Down the Hours, in that it’s a collection of originals, including swooning instrumentals — a first for Rakish.
“We were exploring a little bit more of through-composed instrumental music,” says Scanlin, who grew up in North Carolina Appalachia. She’s also a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and a winner of Scotland’s Glenfiddich Fiddle Competition.
“Instead of just having more of a traditional context for the tunes we were playing, like traditional Irish music strings together three or four tunes in a medley, we were taking one tune and expanding it and almost taking it to an end and breaking it apart of using those pieces from some of are other musical influences or more improvised music,” she continues.
In writing more contemporary lyrics for Now O, Now, Scanlin pulled from the awe-inspiring wonder of nature, particularly her first trip to Prince Edward Island and the nomadic life of a musician, including the homesickness that comes with it. “Lonely Hotel Room” and “Island in the Sea” most evoke that.
“All of them have a little bit of that melancholy about thinking about music and community and musical community and how all those things are a part of this lifestyle that we’re leading,” she explains. “The beauty and sometimes the more sorrowful elements that comes with that.”
That feeling certainly comes through in the music, but ultimately Rakish is at its strongest live. The duo is making its first trip through Colorado, including three stops along the Front Range. The pair will perform at Swallow Hill on Sunday, October 12, with support from local trio Salomé Songbird, before playing a free house show in Fort Collins on Monday, October 13. The Rocky Mountain run wraps up on Tuesday, October 14, with a show at Boulder’s eTown Hall.
In line with the age-old custom coursing through their music, Scanlin and Hearn aim to provide a unique set each night and a bit of a history lesson.
“There’s something special about sitting down for an hour and just taking in music all at once, opposed to hearing just one track on streaming. It’s a different energy arch,” Scanlin says. “It can be really fun and immersive experience for folks.
“During our show, we love to speak about the music that we’re playing and give people context into the musical style,” she continues.
“Context can give you a bigger emotional range sometimes,” adds Hearn, who moonlights as a stand-up comedian in Boston.
“Expect some good laughs, too,” Scanlin concludes.
Rakish, with Salomé Songbird, 6 p.m. Sunday, October 12, Swallow Hill, 71 East Yale Ave. Tickets are $32.
