Teja Gerken, Doug Young, Marla Fibish, and Bruce Victor: “Blind Mary/Cecily”
A guitar and mandolin quartet arrangement of the O’Carolan classic and an original tune.
Peghead Nation Irish Mandolin instructor Marla Fibish is deeply involved in Irish music of all kinds, which of course includes compositions by Turlough O’Carolan. Marla’s duo Noctambule, with her husband, Bruce Victor, performs several O’Carolan tunes, including a version of “Blind Mary,” which is included on the 2017 album A Sweetish Tune. My own duo with San Francisco Bay Area fingerstyle guitarist Doug Young has shared some bills with Noctambule, and last year, we joined forces by turning ourselves into a quartet for a video of the Beatles classic “Here Comes the Sun.” We were all delighted when Marla and Bruce suggested a medley of “Blind Mary” and Bruce’s original “Cecily” for a follow-up video from the quartet.
Since Marla and Bruce already had a functional arrangement of the tunes, the challenge for Doug and I was to come up with parts that didn’t detract from the existing music. Bruce plays his guitar part in CGDGCD tuning with a capo at the second fret on his Fylde Caliban, so Doug came up with a sparse part in DADGAD (played on a 1926 Martin 000-18), and I played a slide guitar part on my National Style 1 Tricone (tuned to CGCGCD, capo 2). With Marla providing the high end of the frequency spectrum on her 1922 Gibson A mandolin, we managed to create interlocking parts of distinctly different sonorities.
Due to COVID-19, the parts were recorded at our individual homes and studios.
Check out Marla’s Irish Mandolin course and Teja’s Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop on Peghead Nation!
tejaanddougguitar.com, noctambulemusic.com
Related Performances Posts
 |
Tony McManus: “Kalyana/Le Tourment”Peghead Nation Celtic Guitar instructor performs a set of two jigs at the Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration. Read More |
 |
Doug Young: Paddy Fahy’s Jig #1/Paddy Fahy’s Reel #3Peghead Nation instructor plays a fingerstyle guitar arrangement of two popular Irish tunes. Read More |
 |
Steve Baughman: “Cumberland Gap”/“Cripple Creek”Peghead Nation clawhammer guitar instructor plays a medley of two fiddle tunes. Read More |
 |
Shubb Capos | Roger Tallroth and Mike Marshall | “Forslund”A pretty polska played on mandolin and octave mandolin by Väsen guitarist Roger Tallroth and Mike Marshall. Read More |
 |
Tim O’Brien: “Grandma’s Hands” | Northfield MandolinsThe songwriter and multi-instrumentalist plays a Bill Withers song live at the Marshall Mandolin Summit. Read More |
 |
Shubb Capos | Roger Tallroth | “The Pearl Polska”Väsen guitarist Roger Tallroth plays a solo version of a haunting polska on an octave mandolin. Read More |
 |
Jerry Douglas & Tommy Emmanuel: “Halfway Home” | Ear Trumpet LabsThe dobro master and fingerstyle powerhouse play Tommy’s original tune in the Ear Trumpet Labs workshop. Read More |
|
Shubb Capos | Roger Tallroth and Olov Johansson | “Bison Polska”Members of Väsen play an octave mandolin and nyckelharpa version of an original polska. Read More |
 |
Shubb Capos | John Jorgenson Quintet: “Ghost Dance”Watch a smokin’ live performance of John Jorgenson’s original tune, with his stellar gypsy jazz band. Read More |
 |
Shubb Capos | Väsen, Mike Marshall, and Darol Anger | “Flippen”A powerhouse collaboration on stage at Wintergrass 2018, playing the Väsen tune “Flippen” with a fun interlude of “Squirrel Hunters.” Read More |
