Celt Seisiún: Seamus is the reel deal in Derry

Damian McCarney

Seamus Tierney isn’t the kind to let his nerves get the better of him, and he’s got the All-Ireland trophies to prove it. In Derry’s trad-music extravaganza the Lavey teenager won the 15-18 flute and whistle, and came third in the flute slow airs.
“It’s a tough competition and you’re up against a lot of good players,” says Seamus, “and 15-18 they say is when nerves hit the most.”
If he was nervous he didn’t let it affect him in a performance where breathing is key, particularly in the slow airs.
“I prefer the fast tunes, the jigs and the reels because I wouldn’t play too many slow airs really, so I did well to get third in that. Mostly in sessions it’s jigs and reels that you play anyway, so that’s what I would be most comfortable with.”
Seamus’s playing jigs and reels is a common sight around the Farnham in Cavan, Ballyduff and Killeshandra sessions. The 18-year-old Cavan Town Comhaltas member’s love of the flute goes back six or seven years.
“I was playing the whistle before and I just started off playing the flute with Karen Walsh and I was taught by Pat Tierney too for a while.
“It’s not too difficult, if you know the whistle, it’s the same notes and you just have to figure out how to get a sound out of it. That’d be difficult part - getting a good tone.”

http://youtu.be/0J27ENwnXQA

Seamus believes there is a healthy interest amongst young people in the local trad scene. “It’s actually becoming more popular now because of the Fleadh, well definitely in Cavan anyway, there’s a big uptake in trad music.”
Seamus will be starting his Science degree in UCD in the coming weeks, so he’s holding back on whether he will pursue a career as a professional musician. “I don’t know yet. I think I might just stick at it as a hobby.”