“What I’m trying to do is to marry Irish and American roots music,” Eamonn Flynn told me recently when we sat down for an interview at the California Audio Show in Oakland, CA. The Irish roots and the accent from Flynn’s upbringing in Dublin are still there, even in a casual conversation. By digging just a little deeper, it’s easy to see American roots from the year he spent in New York as a young performer honing his skills in the gritty New York funk and R&B world.
But trust me, you don’t have to be Irish or even know what roots music is to enjoy Flynn’s first solo album, The Irish Channel. In fact, all you need is a fondness for great acoustic piano playing combined with an appreciation for rich and expressive vocal talent and music and lyrics that say something. Top all of this off with a magically mastered recording, and my bet is that this album will be a regular on your personal playlist.
Flynn’s Background
Flynn says singing came first for him. “I came from a musical family, and everyone sang and played instruments, so we would have big parties at our house with everyone singing and playing together. Everyone would contribute something. If someone couldn’t sing or play an instrument, they would recite a poem or tell a joke. There was no fear.”
“I learned to play guitar first, and my brother, who is a professional musician, gave me some great lessons. The two most important were when he sat me down with a metronome and told me my timing was horrible and I needed to learn how to play in time. And, he taught me about dynamics, playing loud and soft.”
So how did this Irish musician/singer find his way to the San Francisco Bay area? He met the right girl, of course! The young lady, who later became his wife, was from San Jose and came to Ireland to learn more about Irish folklore, mythology and the language. “I fell in love and came back to San Jose with her. The music scene had dried up a little in Dublin, and it was time for a change.”
The move to the states was in 1997, but Flynn had already had some notice from American artists when he played Hammond organ and piano on the 12-million selling movie soundtrack for The Commitments. Flynn’s original music has also been placed on TV shows such as Ugly Betty and Moonlight. In addition, he has done multiple tours throughout the country backing up well-known entertainers.
About the Album
Flynn and I found common ground in the messages of his songs. I grew up in the late 1960s in the American South during the Civil Rights Movement. Flynn says the people in Northern Ireland really identified with the American Civil Rights Movement during “The Troubles,” a 30-year period of ethno-nationalist conflict from 1968-1998. You can hear themes that echo this struggle in Flynn’s music today particularly in the ballad, “At Last Our Time Is Here,” my favorite of the five ballads that are on this album. And, for each album, Flynn delivers with a mix of confidence and emotion that proves he is much more than a piano player.
But there’s an old expression, “dance with who brung you,” and Flynn certainly does this showcasing his remarkable piano skills and a marvelous Yamaha C7E grand piano for five instrumental pieces. In fact, “The Irish Channel,” the title track for the album is a feel-good, toe-tapping instrumental with just a bit of vocalizing thrown in for good measure.
Additional Details
Flynn wrote all of the music and lyrics on the album with the exception of two songs that he co-wrote. Backup vocals on the album were by Omega Rae and Kimiko Joy. “I’ve got two people doing backup vocals for me, and they are just amazing singers. I can’t believe they are backing me up,” Flynn says.
He is currently working on a second album marrying Irish and American roots, which should be out later this year. This album will be songs and vocals and will have a full band. Although he says the quality of recorded music has deteriorated overall, he’s found a home working with Cookie Marenco, who honed her recording chops at Windham Hill and now owns Blue Coast Music in Belmont, CA. “What I love about working with Cookie is that she tries to get out of the way and let people make music,” Flynn says.
The Irish Channel is one of the earliest albums to receive re-mastering via an extensive process called Systems for Exceptional Audio (SEA). SEA is a complex series of expert engineering steps that restore dynamic range and optimize the audio for high-resolution playback. The album is available from Blue Coast Music as well as other major distribution channels.