Celtic Intersections: Harald Haugaard and Low Lily

Fiddle player and composer Harald Haugaard grew up in Denmark; Liz Simmons, Flynn Cohen, and Lissa Schneckenburger, the musicians who make up Low Lily, are based in New England. There are Celtic connections in the stories they tell with their music, and they each bring aspects of their own landscapes and backgrounds to the mix.

Harald Haugaard had thought that he was working on an album that would be a rather dark collection of music. He’d positioned it as work about endings, the final part of a trilogy of recordings which began with Burning Fields and continued with Den Femte Soster. As he worked through what he wanted to convey, though, he found himself appreciating “ the beauty and light to be found in endings, in solitude, in autumn,” as he writes in the notes for the music which became Lys Og Forfald, which translates as Light and Decay in English.

It is music of journeys, to be sure, and music of reflection. There are new compositions as well as several pieces from earlier times reimagined. At varied points along the way he brings in members of his touring band as well as players from a former band of his, Serras, the German string ensemble Fraunhofer Saitenmusik, and musical friends including Hans Mydtskov, Brian Finnegan, and Helene Blum. It is Haugaard’s fiddle which anchors and guides the music, however.

He begins the journey in a clear and thoughtful reflection paring his fiddle with Roger Tollroth’s guitar, in, as Haugaard says, “The clear light of September.” As the music unfolds. in the pieces Prelude and Skye-Havnen there are modern day journeys of exploration, challenge, and discovery -- in a bit of a nod Denmark’s well known spinner of tales, Hans Christian Andersen. Consideration of community and connection that form part of ttravels that goes with being a musician come inot play in the tune Sostre og Brodre/Sisiters and Brothers. Port Orford, named after a small community in Oregon, finds Blume lending her voice to create sound rather than to convey lyrics in a piece considering solitude and wilder places.

As creating the music evolved, Haugaard chose on the one hand to comment a bit on past compositions and join up with musicians he’d worked with on other projects. Abne Ojne/Opne Eyes as a commentary one of Blum’s recordings and the tour they did with that music, Nacht des Unbekannten/Night of the Unknown a return collaboration with Fraunhofer Saitenmusik are among these. It is however the title track Lys og Forfald which became the center of the story, as Haugaard came to see change and ending much as the beauty of falling autumn leaves may let the light in to a woods. In what might be heard as a commentary on that, he ends the recording with his fiddle alone playing Morgen/Morning. All of the music on Lys Og Forfald is a journey well worth the taking and reveals new aspects with each hearing.

In just six tracks on their self titled recording Low Lily the musicians of Low Lily offer dynamic and intriguing expression of the music they make, a collection well worth repeated hearing as well. They kick things off with traditional song House Carpenter, with Liz Simmons taking lead voice in a version which manages to be both lively and moody as the enigmatic tale of promises and deception unfolds. Schneckenburger’s original song This Girl’s Not Mine tells a story you might find in the north woods in days past -- and in the present too. There is a fiddle solo in the midst of the song which adds to the storytelling atmosphere, and trombone lines which enliven the contemporary side of the song.

Mandolin from Cohen and fiddle from Schnekenburger lead the conversation in Cohen’s driving original Northern Spy -- you have to think of the crisp flavor of the apple as you listen. Simmons on rhythm guitar and Corey DiMario of double bass anchor the rhythm on this and other tracks on the recording.

Simmons and Cohen follow with an original piece each, each story having to do with travel and journeys and how those may be experienced. Simmons steps up to lead voice again on her song Adventurer, while Cohen’s is the lead voice on All Roads Lead to You. Contemporary songs both, but ones rooted in tradition in both idea and arrangement.

Liz Simmons, Flynn Cohen and Lissa Schneckenburger have individual careers which include solo projects, teaching, playing with musicians across the spectrum of roots music. They are each top notch at what they do. When they join up as Low Lily there’s even more to enjoy in the conversations they share in voice and instrument. They finish off the EP Low Lily with the instrumental set Cherokee Shuffle/Lucky which joins tradition and newly written tunes, and sets the stgae for more to come from this gifted trio.

Celtic connections and intersections inform the music of Harald Haugaard and the songs and tunes of Low Lily, as they bring together ideas from past and present, center and edge, to create music all their own.

You may also wish to see
Long Time Courting: Alternate Routes
Music of Maine: Lissa Schneckenburger
Denmark’s Harbor of Music: Harald Haugaard at Perceptive Travel
Winter and Music in Denmark: Helene Blum at Perceptive Travel

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Autumn music

Leaves are changing color. The winds that sets them drifting through the air holds an edge , a hint of deeper days of autumn and winter yet to come. The look of clouds at sunrise and angles of light as evening shadows fall are changing. It is autumn in the northern hemisphere. A time for harvest, for gathering, for celebration, for connection, for reflection.

Music to go along with these ideas

As the Crow Flies is a gathering of songs and tunes, many with a Celtic tinge, several from the song bag of American folk music, and a number of fine original pieces which draw on these sounds. It is a music made by a gathering of musicians too -- a core of fourteen fiddlers who play instruments made by Bob Childs, and gifted few who bring other instruments to add to the sound. You’ll have met several of these musicians here along the music road before.

note: click on the cover images or the text links to the title to hear samples of the music

Lissa Schneckenburger is indeed a gifted fiddle player, but it is her gifts as a singer which are to the fore onAs the Crow Flies, especially on the country blues tinged folk song Dear Companion. You’ve met Keith Murphy here before too -- his guitar and piano give tasteful backing to the fiddlers and his tunes give them music to work with. Listen out for the crossing Celtic borders set Childsplay Strathspey/Black Diamond/Putney Mountain Polka and for Child Suite, a set of four tunes Murphy composed thinking about the children of Childsplay members. Hanneke Cassel composed and/ or arranged several of the pieces here too-- the full fiddle sound of the group she brings in on her composition The Last Alleluia is one of those. You’ll have met Cassel here along the music road more than once, as you will Shannon Heaton, who gives Childsplay several tunes as well as adding her flutes and whistle in to the mix. You’ve also met Katie McNally, who joins in on fiddle, as well as Ariel Friedman on cello, and Nic Gareiss , who contributes the sounds of his step dancing feet. The there’s Liz Carroll, who produced the album, and wrote a tune -- the title tune -- for the ensemble.

There are other musicians as well, ones you could be be meeting for the first time, among them the maker Bob Childs himself, Mark Roberts on banjo and bouzouki, and long time Childsplay members Sheila Falls and Bonnie Bewick on fiddle. The dozen tunes and songs and song sets move from fast paced to contemplative, full on orchestral sound to graceful spare arrangement. From the sounds of Ireland to the heart of Scotland to the hills of Appalachia to the roads of New England, from voice and guitar to banjo and flute and bodhran and at the heart of it, fiddle, the music flashes and shimmers and changes much like the light of early fall. As the Crow Flies makes a fine companion for listening in this early autumn time.

photograph of autumn leaves is by Kerry Dexter, and is copyrighted. thank you for respecting this

You may also wish to see more about the music of several of the people mentioned above
Music of Maine: Lissa Schneckenburger
Another Fine Winter's Night: Matt & Shannon Heaton
Hanneke Cassel: For Reasons Unseen
Scotland's music: Katie McNally: Flourish
music of Vermont: Nightingale with Keith Murphy
Liz Carroll & John Doyle: Double Play

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Music for memory, and for dance

As the slant of light turns towards autumn across the northern hmeisphere, as the edge on the wind heralds the drawing in of colder weather to come, it is time to go on a musical journey, as Robin Spielberg takes fresh view of familiar classics, and Lissa Schneckenburger invites to the heart of history, and of dance.


Home on the Range, Aura Lee, Danny Boy, In the Good Old Summer Time: these are melodies and songs that cross generations and cultures and suggest a hand of comfort and connection from past to present. Robin Spielberg knew these songs growing up, and when she began teaching them to her daughter, she started to think of making an album of this music. Spielberg’s instrument is the piano. She’s known as a gifted composer with more than a dozen albums to her credit, sold out concerts at at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and an extensive touring schedule in the United States and abroad.

Spielberg brings her gift for melody to the well known songs on Sea to Shining Sea: A Tapestry of American Music, creating and recreating memories and melodies, presenting them without words and giving space for listeners to add their own stories. There are twenty tracks on the disc, including three Spielberg originals, which stand up in good company with the well known pieces. Though she’s best known for her solo piano work, she heard these songs as ensemble pieces. She’s well supported by Catherine Bent on cello, Kate MacLeod on guitar, fiddle, and vocals, Nancy Rumbel on oboe, Paul Henle on percussion, and her daughter, Valerie, on marimba and bells. It’s a fine recording to play through as it stands, but especially worth note are a lovely reinterpretation of The Water is Wide, the lively I’ve Been Working on the Railroad paired with the quiet Oh Shenandoah, and the original Circle of Life.

Lissa Schneckenburger offers an instrumental journey as well, into the heart of New England fiddling. She grew up in Maine, absorbing the mix of Irish, Scottish, Quebecois, Cape Breton, Appalachian, and other styles that swirl together there. Some of her earliest experiences were playing at contra dances - something she still enjoys -- and for her album Dance she has gathered a fine collection, featuring tunes both lyrical and lively. Her sure touch on the fiddle leads the way through the Huntsman’s Chorus, the Lamplighter's Hornpipe set, Eugenia’s Waltz, and seven more equally engaging tunes, well suited for listening and dancing. She brings along an ensemble of musical friends as well, several of whom you’ve met before along the music road. They include Bethany Waickman on guitar, Keith Murphy on guitar and piano, Eric Merrill on viola, and Corey DiMario on double bass.

you may also wish to see
Music Road: creative practice: early autumn
Music Road: Mother: music celebrating mothers and motherhood: McKeown, Ryan, Spielberg
Music Road: Music of Maine: Lissa Schneckenburger

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.