George L. O'Brien
The explosion of interest in Irish and Celtic music over the past several years has not been limited to the obvious places such as Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, the Isle of Man, Gallacia (in Spain) and the targets of the Diaspora such as the U.S., Cape Breton (and indeed the rest of Canada), and Australia. There are some fine bands doing traditional Irish and Scottish music in many surprising places.
In spite of this, it is still surprising to listen to excellant traditional Celtic music (and new songs written in an Irish style) from a band based in Switzerland with German and Swedish performers. The band is called Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets. They are fine musicians who sound like they are from Ireland in the very best sense of the phrase. (A bow triplet is an ornamentation common in Irish music).
The group is made of four people: Heidi Sigfalk (vocals, violin, guitar, and spoons), Stef Seigfalk (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, concertina, and bodhran), Joe Eisenburger (vocals and acoustic base), and Markus Meier (wood winds). None of the information on the CD jacket or their web site, http://bowtriplets.homepage.com give a clear idea of their music history. According to their information kit, "Through the paths of Irish history and especially due to emmigration of huge parts of the Irish population to all corners of the world, Irish music has become a kind of "international cultural treasure". Many people around the world feel recognized and understood by its intensity and intimacy - be they Celtic origin or not (who can tell for sure anyway!)"
What attracts them to Irish music? "This music if full of life and desire to live: deep pain and yearning, profound love, true joy and a portion of that humour which has helped the Irish survive through so many incredibly sand times in their history. Every human who cannot get too much of life will feel inspired by the sound of traditional Celtic music."
In addition to their excellent performances of some familiar jigs and reels (they open with the wonderful "King of the Fairies), they have a number of original songs that certainly sound Irish written by Stef Sigfalk.such at the title song "Not the First Time" (a ballad) and "Here's a Great Night" which is well suited to be a sing along.
The web site www.irishbandslive.com.uk gave them a very good review with comments such as "But for me the best track on the album is `If You're Home Before Me', this is one of the greatest ballads I have ever encountered in search for great Irish ballads."
As far as I can tell, NEVER TOO EARLY is the first CD from Heidi, Stef, and Bow Tripplets. It is a great start
I am not sure what kind of US distribution is available for their CD, but it is worth the effort. Their contact information is:
Heidi, Stef and Bow Triplets, Irish-Celtic Music
Schulstrasse 12, CH-8254 Basadingen, Switzerland
ph. ++41(0)52 654 18 17 fax. ++41 (0)52 654 18 19
http://www.bowtriplets.comirishmusic@bowtriplets.com
http://bowtriplets.homepage.com
This site hosted by FASTQ
This site © 2000
Arizona Irish Music Society
