Kilfenora Sky

New release: Kilfenora Sky — a sean-nós a cappella tune drawn from my first trip to Ireland in 1996. I stayed in Kilfenora, played in sessions at Linnane’s, and noticed something that changed my path: the fiddlers all gripped the bow higher up the stick. That moment led me to start designing a bow of my own. This song captures the beginning of that journey.

🎧 https://adamsweet.bandcamp.com/track/kilfenora-sky

#irishmusic #traditionalsong #seannos #newmusic #fiddlelife #adamrsweet 

Verse 1

I stepped from the bus into mist and stone

Kilfenora sky, grey and alone

Mary’s warm door, fiddle in hand

Far from my home, yet here I stand

Verse 2

An old man played low on a weathered box

The woman beside him strummed steady as rocks

Their tunes ran soft through the wooden air

I listened and learned in the silence there

Verse 3

The bows they held, not at the heel

But higher up, for a different feel

“The balance is wrong,” the old man said

“You need the tip to keep the tune fed”

Verse 4

No drink passed my lips, for I’d made a vow

Though others toasted, I sat somehow

Still drawn to the music like breath to song

That old bow grip stayed with me long