The Makem Brothers

The Makem Brothers — Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem — are Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

musicians who live in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and perform together with two other brothers. They are the three sons of "The Godfather of Irish Music" Tommy Makem

Tommy Makem

Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...

, and grandsons of Irish source singer Sarah Makem

Sarah Makem

Sarah Makem a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer.She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of musicians Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem...

Biography

The brothers were born in Drogheda

Drogheda

Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

, County Louth

County Louth

County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and grew up in Dover, New Hampshire

Dover, New Hampshire

Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...

. Shane Makem was born in 1967, Conor Makem in 1968 and Rory Makem in 1969.

Shane and Conor graduated from Stonehill College

Stonehill College

Stonehill College is a private Roman Catholic college located in Easton, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1948. Situated in North Easton, Massachusetts, a suburban community of 23,329 people, Stonehill is located south of Boston on a campus, the original estate of Frederick Lothrop Ames...

in Massachusetts. Rory graduated from Bard College

Bard College

Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...

in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston....

, where he formed a band with Lisa Gentile, Lisa Lisa and the Country Jam.

The New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

-based Irish folk musicians teamed up with The Spain Brothers, Liam and Mickey Spain, to become The Makem and Spain Brothers. Their combined forces preserve and advance folk music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and New England, as well as whaling songs, fishing songs, mining songs, even Australian Bush songs. Influences include The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...

, Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...

, and The Corries

The Corries

The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...

The band

Rory Makem: vocals, six string guitar, twelve string guitar

Twelve string guitar

The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...

, banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

, bouzouki

Bouzouki

The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...

, bodhrán

Bodhrán

The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...

, harmonica

Conor Makem: vocals, bass, flute, concertina

Concertina

A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...

, whistles

Shane Makem: vocals, twelve string guitar

Twelve string guitar

The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...

, nylon string guitar, bodhrán

Bodhrán

The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...

Liam Spain: vocals, guitar, mandolin

Mandolin

, bouzouki

Bouzouki

, harmonica

Mickey Spain: vocals, guitar, nylon string guitar, bodhrán

Bodhrán

The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...

Partial discography

Note: The footnotes will take you to lyrics but not necessarily to The Makem Brothers' recordings of these songs, many of which are traditional.

The Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain

Like Others Did Before Us, 2004

1. Road to Gundagai http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6904

2. Wild and Restless Foam (Mickey Spain)

3. Leezie Lindsay

4. Sound the Pibroch http://www.makem.com/discography/recordings/lyricpage/soundthepibroch.html

5. Fincairn Flax http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=8986

6. Whiskey Row (Liam Spain, Mickey Spain)

7. Willie’s Gone Awa’ http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=3945

8. Down in The Valley

Down in the Valley (folk song)

-External links:* -Bibliography:*Boas, Frank . The Journal of American Folk-Lore Vol. XXX No. CXVII. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: American Folk-Lore Society....

http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=1686

9. Paddy Kelly http://www.makem.com/discography/recordings/lyricpage/paddykelly.html

10. Freedom on the Wallaby http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=2133

11. Slan Abhaile (Conor Makem)

12. Three Drunken Maidens

13. Ha’Penny Bridge

The Makem and Spain Brothers

External links

official web page: makem.com
label: redbiddy.com
http://www.myspace.com/themakemandspainbrothers

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