I am still battling with my MEng report (up to 37 pages, not including Appendices because I haven’t written them yet), so haven’t had the time to do a proper blog post. I’m beginning to put together the third part of my “Guarding the Tradition” series, in part inspired by the Bolivian ethnomusicology that I’m learning about whilst writing my project report. But to keep you going, I thought I’d share this article written by the legendary Martin Hayes on tradition and aspiration. He manages to put into words much of what I’ve been pondering over the past 6 months. Hope you enjoy it.
http://journalofmusic.com/focus/tradition-and-aspiration
And in case you’re not sure who Martin Hayes is (if so then shame on you) then see the below video. I’d recommend his album Live at Seattle with Dennis Cahill, to say that it is overwhelming is to understate it hugely. I don’t think I’ve ever been so caught up in an Irish music album.
p.s. Burnt by the Sun, the play that I am playing for this week has got a 5 star review in one of the student papers! No mention of the music though. Read and book!
p.p.s. If you liked the Martin Hayes video then try The Gloaming, which is simply stunning.
Music and Melodeons 
I was just going to say. So legendary I’ve never heard of him. lol! But then I’ve not heard of a lot of people everyone else seems to know.
To be fair you might not have heard of him unless you are in to Irish music. But even if you’re not I’d recommend giving him a try, his music really is exceptional.
Everyone hears everything for the first time sometime. No shame required!
True, as this comic illustrates: http://xkcd.com/1053/