Liam F Jones

The Sanctuary at Cruises  -  Saturday 30^th May,  4.30pm

Liam F Jones is a traditional musician from Clare who has spent a lifetime absorbing the sounds and rhythms of his homeland. Whistling and Lilting are the most ancient forms of expressing Irish music, Liam is breathing new life into these arts and giving them the spotlight to shine and show that in a time of AI and digital music, nothing can connect like the raw human delivery of these melodies.

With eight Senior All Ireland Fleadh titles in Lilting and Whistling, his credentials as a master of the tradition are well established, but in his debut solo album he recontextualises these arts for this era. Every traditional musician is a lilter at heart, using the voice to breathe life into a tune, whether to assemble a selection or just for the joy of the melody.

Historically, this ‘mouth music’ has always been a source of comfort and vitality, especially in rural Ireland. Though often overlooked  in favour of harpers and pipers, lilting and whistling were the simple means that preserved Irish music when instruments were banned by the invaders and silenced by hardship.

During the Gaelic Revival, whistling was revived and given its place in performances and competitions. Two of the 1916 Proclamation signatories, Éamonn Ceannt and Pádraig Pearse, were associated with this tradition. This was powerfully symbolised by Pearse, who whistled as he was led from his cell on his final morning in 1916. His last melody was a message: the Irish spirit and its music, though tested, would never be silenced because this is music that lives, ‘Within Us.’