Murphy talked with JPR鈥檚 Vanessa Finney ahead of his free concert and heritage workshop on July 13.
Vanessa Finney: Corey, what first got you interested in preserving heritage?
Corey Murphy: My dad is from Newmarket, County Cork in the southwest of Ireland. So they took me over there to meet the rest of my family. And that was a fantastic experience. But it was also kind of a formative age where I was a couple of years into playing music, and interested in music. And the music culture in Ireland really drew me in. And so from that point, I knew I wanted to play Irish music of all kinds, traditional, traditional tunes, ballads, whatever it was, I wanted to be a part of it. And so as I've kind of been part of that world for the last part of my career, I've been able to really get a different kind of understanding of the importance of singing these sorts of songs, and playing this type of music.
This is a bit of 鈥淢ike Lucey鈥檚 Ballad.鈥� Mike Lucey was in Oregon, and he herded sheep for eight years, and then he moved around a bit and settled in California. He still has family back home in Ireland.
Murphy sings 鈥淢ike Lucey's Ballad鈥� (Mike Lucey, Arr. Corey Murphy)
VF: That was 鈥淢ike Lucey鈥檚 Ballad,鈥� performed by Corey Murphy. Tell us specifically what you've learned about people immigrating from Ireland to Oregon.
CM: Yes, so my father came from Newmarket and he went to Klamath Falls first, which is in Klamath County. Now in the times long gone by it was part of Lake County, and that's in South Central Oregon. And he spent some time in Lakeview and worked for a ranch out there. And the Irish community in Lakeview is really strong. There are a ton of families of Irish descent in Lakeview. I always knew about the diaspora and Oregon because of my father. And he spent time in Lakeview, he worked out there. And he also spent time in Klamath Falls where I grew up. And so being kind of around that you always meet cousins who are from Ireland. So that was kind of my first exposure to the Irish community, in my hometown.
As time went on, I learned more and more from talking with people. There is a fellow in Bly between Klamath Falls and Lakeview, a small town. And this guy had come from where my dad came from, and I had never met him. But the stories he had of ranching and the stories he had of being back home in Ireland, when he was a boy, were just fascinating to me.
When we think of Irish music, we often think of jigs and reels, and these kinds of 6/8 time tunes. But in Sliabh Luachra where my father鈥檚 from, it's all polkas. It鈥檚 slides, it's 2/4, 4/4, polkas, and slides all day long. And the bowing style on the fiddle is completely different. There's much heavier emphasis on the accordion. So it's wonderful that we've been able to preserve this kind of unique musical tradition in this part of Ireland, because a lot of those regional traditions have been lost over the last century as a result of how different Irish music organizations treated regional styles. So you'll find a lot of emphasis in popular traditional music on Donegal styles or Sligo styles. But, you know, there are maybe - I'm just guessing - hundreds or dozens of regional styles that are distinct and unique, that have been lost to time.
VF: You've prepared a few songs today. What else would you like to play for us?
CM: Yeah, so I have a song called 鈥淭he Lonely Shepherd Boy.鈥� And it was written by Jerry C. Murphy of Kiskeam in County Cork, which is very near to where my father was born. And I will tell you the words to this circulated among the Irish community in paper form, and were mailed back and forth. And that was how you kept a connection with back home. And the way I came about this song is the words were on my mom's bedroom wall, she had a framed copy of this poem. Somebody had given it to her, and she said, 'Cory, will you make a song out of this?' And so I came across a tune that sounded correct. And I put the two together, I put the tune together, which is a traditional Irish tune called Lord Mayo. And I put the words to that tune. For me to be able to sing these songs brings new life to it, because until I came along, you know, these words had not been sung before. And so we can, we can add to that tradition, and keep it alive.
VF: Beautiful. Okay, here's 鈥淟onely Shepherd Boy", arranged by Corey Murphy.
Murphy sings 鈥淭he Lonely Shepherd Boy鈥� (Jerry C. Murphy, Arr. Corey Murphy)
CM: So in the workshop, it's not so much focused on singing the songs. You can do that later; I'm gonna have a concert after the workshop. But during the workshop, participants will start out by physically putting a pin on the map of where their ancestors are from. And so what does that mean exactly? How do you decide which ancestor gets a pin? And which ones don't? And that's a question in and of itself. But for example, I would put a pin on Klamath Falls, and I would put a pin on County Cork in Ireland, where my dad is from, and you might not know. And that's really interesting as well. A lot of people in the United States say, 'Oh, my ancestors are Irish, I have Irish heritage,' but they don't know exactly where, right? Or maybe they've done some research, and they kind of have an idea. But to be able to say, 'I am from this pinpointed spot on the map,' I think it is valuable to know.
VF: So part of your workshop will be getting people to just think about these ideas, which in itself, just through thinking about it will connect us more to our heritage.
CM: Exactly. It's something we don't think about often enough. And if we think about it, then we can better understand our place in the world. And we can better understand how the cultural traditions that we have as immigrants are related to separate and distinct from the cultural traditions of modern Ireland.
VF: Let's hear one more song. This is called Billy O'Keeffe's Ballad. Tell us about it.
CM: Yeah, so this is kind of a fun song. And I got the words from Billy O'Keeffe's daughters, and they still live back in Ireland. Billy O'Keefe went to Lakeview, Oregon as a sheepherder in the 1920s. And he came back to Ireland. So he made his money - or more likely didn't. Most of the folks who came over in search of riches were lucky enough to make enough to get back home. Billy O'Keefe came back. And he recited this for the rest of his life.
I should also mention Ben Walsh, who passed away recently, but informed me on the melody of the song. So there's a melody that goes with it. And I believe it's more modern. If you're familiar with Irish ballads, you'll pick up on it right away. But I had the words, but I didn't have the melody. And so that was a bit of a puzzle to figure out.
VF: It sounds like a real collaboration, when you're putting the songs together.
CM: It is. It's a collaboration, and there's a real kind of method and reverence for music that has to go into it. You know, sometimes people ask me, 'Oh, do you play covers?' And I think that kind of concept doesn't necessarily translate to the kind of music I'm playing. Because we sing other people's songs, and we do so in a way that kind of honors them and involves an exchange of culture and music, and there's a relationship. And that relationship is what's key. Traditional music exists for a reason. And so I think the real meaning in doing this kind of work, in carrying on the songs and singing them and putting them together, and bringing them back from the past, is to preserve those relationships. Because a song given to you by somebody else is more an indication of a particular relationship between you and the person who gave you the song than it is some sort of, you know, indicator of the song itself.
Murphy sings 鈥淏illy O'Keefe's Ballad鈥� (Trad. Arr. Corey Murphy)
VF: Love it. Cory, thank you for joining us today. Where can we hear more of your music?
CM: I have a website, irishfolksinger.com. And you can find my music there and upcoming gigs. I'm also on Facebook, of course and those sorts of things.
Corey Murphy will hold his free concert and workshop on on July 13 at the Shaw Historical Library in Klamath Falls.
This transcript has been lightly edited for brevity.
