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Arcadia Weekly Mar 06, 2020
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ByMay S. Ruiz
Connect with the Irish experience with internationally acclaimed fiddler Eileen Ivers and UnIVERSal Roots at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium on Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 3:00 pm. As in all their previous shows, expect them to bring the audience to its feet with their electrifying performance which evokes the Irish journey through the years.
Thedaughter of Irish immigrants, Ivers grew up in New York’s Bronx neighborhood.She picked up the fiddle at the age of eight and went on to win nineall-Ireland fiddle championships, a 10th on tenor banjo, and over 30championship medals, making her one of the most awarded persons ever to competein these prestigious competitions.
Having gone on a short visit to Dublin and written about my delightful trip (Visiting Dublin, Ireland), I was very excited to learn that an Irish musical show will be coming to Pasadena. You can just imagine my thrill when I got the chance to talk with Ivers, hailed by the New York Times as ‘the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.’
Speakingwith me by phone from New York, Ivers chats about her childhood interest in thefiddle, having a math degree, traveling all over the world, an upcoming newalbum, and a surprising new venture as a fiddle-playing tour guide.
Ibegin by telling her that I Googled her and found out she summered in Irelandand played the violin at the age of nine. I ask if her parents are musical.Ivers replies, “Not really, they grew up in rural Ireland so there was nochance of learning it where they were. But going back in the family history,there was music on both sides. Then again, anybody Irish has some music in themas well.
“Evenat the age of three, I was going around our Bronx apartment playing a little plasticguitar and a wooden spoon pretending I was in Ireland. Then I asked my mom ifthey would rent a violin for me. I started playing and I took to the instrumentimmediately. I loved the sound and the emotion it conveyed – it could be fastand rhythmic, but even at that early age I understood that there was alsosomething lonesome that could be coming out of the instrument.
“Inthe show you’ll hear tunes that will evoke heartbreak and loss that happen inany folk culture. The band and I, of course, will pull from the Irishexperience and play some tunes in the traditional way. Through our music, wetell the amazing story of immigrants, like my parents and many before them, whohad to leave Ireland and came to this part of the world – America and Canada –and elsewhere. They brought their music, songs, dance, stories, and even theirlanguage with them. And their art form integrated with other music along theway; it really helped birth a lot of Americana music. We like to show thethreads and parallels between Celtic and American roots music in ourperformance and connect all those styles – bluegrass to country andFrench-Canadian to Cajun.”
While Ivers has made a fulfilling career in music, she holds degrees in mathematics. She discloses, “I attended Iona College and I studied mathematics. Although I kept playing music throughout my studies and started to find a passion in the musical field, I loved the discipline of math dearly. It’s kind of funny because we’re playing at Caltech and I always had a secret dream of being an aeronautical engineer and one day working for NASA in some capacity. However, music pulled at my heart and away from the sciences in a good way, many marvelous things have come out of that.
“Istill have a great relationship with the college. In May of 2019 my alma materconferred upon me an honorary Doctorate of Art degree for what I’ve done in thefield of music – bringing people together through the stories and the music inour live concerts and through my records. I had the privilege of giving thecommencement speech at the graduation as well. It was such a full circlemoment. In early April, Iona College is giving me an award as a ‘Woman ofAchievement 2020.’”
Knowingthat many children of immigrants go into the math and science fields at thebehest of their parents, I ask Ivers if she took math as a back-up in case themusic didn’t take off. She responds, “My Irish parents didn’t have theopportunity to pursue higher education – they had to quit school and worked inthe fields in Scotland and England to send money back home to help raise theirsiblings. They were very young when they came to America, my mom was only 18,and they gently made sure my sister and I had the chance of higher educationbecause it was so important that we had this opportunity to advance ourselvesas much as we could in America.
“Ionaoffered me a full scholarship and I worked very hard. A wonderful professor Ihad told me, ‘Eileen, get a Master’s degree because you could go anywhere witha math background.’ I think that was one of the best advice I’d been given.People ask me if I pull from my math background and I say ‘Absolutely!’ Thereare many connections between math and music in writing, arranging, orrecording. In my education outreach program, I always tell kids to have abalance of academics, arts, and physical activity in life.”
ContinuesIvers, “We’ve played at Caltech before and to come back is something we’rereally looking forward to. And we’re excited because we’re releasing abrand-new record called ‘Scatter the Light’ which will come out two days beforethe Caltech show. This is a big deal for us!
“Myband and I have been playing all over the world in performing arts centers,symphonies, etc. I formed it at the end of 1999 right after I was in RiverDance, the blockbuster dance show which, to this, day is still being performed.The members of the band are: Matt Mancuso, our lead singer, guitarist, fiddler,and trumpeter; Buddy Connolly, who is a three-time champion of the buttonaccordion, a very Irish instrument, plays it and the keyboards and does somebackground vocals; Lindsey Horner plays electric bass and baritone sax; Dave Barckow,is on percussion and acoustic guitar and also does lead vocals; I play fiddle,mandolin, and an Irish frame drum called bodhran, it’s a Gaelic word and isvery much a part of Irish traditional music. There’s quite a range ofinstruments and songs and we invite participation. We love to break down thatfourth wall and get the audience involved in the show.
“Peopleattending our show hear tunes from hundreds of years back – some heartbreakingairs and cathartic laments that are part of the Irish mentality and spirit.We’ll show a little bit of the history – I like to speak between the tunes andreally paint the picture of what the life was like during those years.Ultimately, it’s a very celebratory and uplifting show. We certainly demonstratethe resilience of the Irish people who have gone through so much. We talk aboutthe famine and great hunger in Ireland from 1845 to 1849 which devastated thepopulation causing so many to immigrate and that’s why the diaspora is sostrong and vibrant throughout the world. Some of the most amazing moments inIrish music happen in places where you would never expect them to, likeAustralia and Japan, where I’ve traveled to. It’s a great testament to the waythe music has gotten around the planet.”
Ivers’smusic appeals to all age groups. She expounds, “My fans tend to be a little onthe older side but parents and grandparents who come to show say ‘I wish I hadbrought my children or grandchildren.’ Thankfully, we’re starting to see manyyoung people come to the show now because they are very excited about rootsmusic, acoustic-generated tunes, and unique original songs. The show is trulyfor all ages, everyone gets something out of it.
“Ialso like to embrace technology. I run my fiddle through a loop pedal, called aloop station, which enables me to create multiple layers of a song, building onlayers that precede each other. For example, I lay down a percussion part (bythumping on the body of the violin) then add a bass line by using an octavedivider. A guitar-like rhythm is added through a Wah effects pedal, and a topline melody can then jam on top of the ‘full band’ sound. It displays that theviolin is a versatile instrument. The show moves in a lot of directions whichis one great thing about it – people jump to their feet at the end of itbecause they really felt that honest emotion and connection we’ve hadthroughout the show. It’s something that keeps us going for sure. It’s such a gratifyingpassion.”
Iversand her band are touring throughout the year. She reports that January andearly February tend to be down times because of the weather and because peopleare just coming out of big end- of-year holidays. Spring is always a busy timewith St. Patrick’s, and March spotlights all things Irish. After the Caltechshow, they’ll go back to the East Coast and then they’re off to Alaska for aweek-and-a-half.
Askedif there’s a place she hasn’t toured that she would like to go to, Ivers says,“There always is! There are pockets in Europe that we love performing in –Spain, France, Italy – but we’d love to be able to explore new areas in thosecountries. We played in Japan a few years ago – it was a very special audience– and we’d love to return there. Maybe one day we’ll perform in China as well.Fortunately, there are a lot of audiences all over the world who are open tohear our music.”
Althoughshe has been to many places, Ivers, not surprisingly, enjoys going back to Irelandmost. She reveals, “We have a house we built on my father’s land on the west ofIreland about 19 years ago. I tend to go back there two to three times a year withmy family – my husband and young son. We love to recharge there and getinspired. It’s where I do a lot of my writing, more so than I do here.
“In April this year, I’m actually running a ‘Wild Atlantic Tours.’ A second one, in June, was added because of the enthusiastic response to the April tour. It sold out in one day and we capped it off at one full-load bus of 53 people. I’m looking forward to showing folks the west of Ireland, where my parents were born, which is the ‘Wild Atlantic Way,’ as well as many other cultural and historical sites. There will be daily sessions of music and the tour group will get to see the ‘real’ Ireland and her wonderful people.”
I, for one, am very disappointed that her bus tours are sold out; it’s one adventure I would love to go on. Maybe Ivers can be persuaded to expand her second career as a fiddle-playing tour guide.
