Clannamore

Vol. 9 No. 11

January 2001

Clannamore

Beer, Bawd, and Ballads
Picture a rustic and inviting pub in Dublin, Ireland. The festive voices of patrons resonate with the good cheer fostered by the likes of Guinness, Harp, and Jameson. Song fills the air. Now, bring it all a little closer to home and meet Elizabethtown's own Clannamore.

Clannamore consists of the husband-and- wife team of Alanna Berger and Blaise Liffick. Berger and Liffick share the vocals; Liffick adds steady acoustic guitar chording and finger- style picking that’s characteristic of the Celtic American folk traditions, and Berger's contributions on hammered dulcimer mesh with the overall feel of the music, allowing some variation in the form of a few extended instrumental segments.

Beer, Bawd, and Ballads is such a perfect description of some of the subject matter Clannamore sets out to cover. Song titles like Beer, Beer, Beer," "Whiskey, You're the Divil," Four Nights Drunk," "Chastity Belt," and Scotsman's Kilt" emphasize this point. These are the pub-like drinking songs that are the beer and bawd. On the other side of the spectrum are the ballads, jigs, and polkas that add further authenticity and ensure that the music stays true to its folkish roots. Included elsewhere in the mix are a three-song medley of Irish polkas and a four-tune medley of Irish jigs. The CD was recorded live at Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy in December 1999 and was released in June 2000.

Clannamore will sometimes change or add to the lyrics of a song that someone else has written. On "Leaving Liverpool," Liffick corrected what he perceived to be an inconsistency between lyrics dealing with painful separation from a loved one and an awful voyage with a difficult captain by adding a verse and removing other lyrics. "Sometimes we come across a tune we really like but we don't like all of the lyrics," says Liffick, "so we rewrite them."

Also note: Clannamore's approach to story- telling on "William Martin/Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye," where Berger and Liffick render a gender-complete treatment to the subject of war. "Since William Martin tells the story of going off to war from a man's perspective, and Johnny tells it from a woman's perspective, we decided to weave the two together to tell a more complete story," explains the couple.

You may already know Clannamore from the medieval feast at Bube's Brewery, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, or other local festivals. To order Beer, Bawd, and Ballads, visit Clannamore's Web site at www.clannamore.com or call 361-2992.

-Thomas W Smith

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