Already experienced performers in their own fields, eight celebrities volunteered to learn an instrument for a new TG4 series, but first-night nerves returned when they played live with top trad musicians, writes Siobhán Long
'I FEEL LIKE I'm about to give birth - the labour room awaits." Belfast playwright Marie Jones makes no bones about the heights her stress levels have reached as she waits in the wings to share a stage, and a pair of tunes, with Máirtín O'Connor and Cathal Hayden. She's spent the previous eight months grappling with a dastardly accordion; figuring out which way was up for starters, then slowly, laboriously, getting acquainted with its keys and its bellows, finding ways of eking the right notes out of those endless pleats.
Jones is one of a pack of eight valiant characters who have agreed to take up a musical instrument and, what's more, pledged to play it in a public arena before the year is out. No small order for any novice player, but a particularly tall one for mature adults whose brains are considerably less elastic than those of more youthful nascent musicians. Learning to play a musical instrument in childhood is a different proposition: neurones fire more readily, cranial connections are forged in far greater quantities and there's a strong chance that either peer support or peer pressure might push the learner past beginner level without too much indelible trauma being inflicted.
The guinea pigs for this TG4 documentary series are in a different boat though. Each professes a liking for traditional music and each has already proven their spirit of adventure by propelling themselves into the spotlight in their chosen fields. Sunderland and Ireland soccer player Andy Reid, actor Jeremy Irons, broadcaster John Creedon, Riverdancer Dearbhla Lennon, Ros na Rúnregular Macdara Ó Fatharta, actor Adrian Dunbar, actor and comedian Paddy Courtney and playwright Marie Jones may have hogged the limelight in other arenas, but agreeing to showcase their musical talents in public is another order of challenge. As Jeremy Irons describes it in his episode, "it's like asking someone who can barely walk to become a trapeze artist". Ultimately though, he admitted - a tad facetiously - that his ferocious performance at the Baltimore Fiddle Festival with Martin Hayes, teacher Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and accordion player Breanndán Begley "was a small step for man, but a giant leap for Jeremy".
Marie Jones's comfort zone is the theatre. She might be forgiven for resting on her laurels after the huge success of Stones in His Pockets; instead, she plunged headlong into learning to play the box, buoyed by the prospect of being taught by the man she calls "the best box player in the world", Máirtín O'Connor.
"Well, my view was, let's not go for any ol' poxy accordion player. Let's go with the best one in Ireland!" Jones says, laughing down the phone from her Belfast home.
Jones was raised in a tradition of marching bands, but she's been a fan of traditional music ever since she went to her first fleadh ceoil 20 years ago. She speaks volubly in the TG4 series about the power of music to bring people together and even lured O'Connor to the rehearsals of a marching band during one of their sporadic but intense teaching sessions.
"If anyone were to ask me if it was too late to learn, as an adult," Jones says, "I'd say absolutely not. Now, you really have to work at it. I played every single day. Absolutely, it's achievable. Anyone can do it, but we're not like children any more. We don't have their wee spongy brains, but if you really want to do it, of course you can do it. Last week, I played again with Four Men and A Dog, and I thought to myself: 'Did I ever think I'd see that day when I'd be sharing a stage with the best musicians in the country?' It was the best experience ever!"
ANDY REID, SUNDERLAND captain and Irish international, may have had one over on his fellow music students, as he took up the guitar at the age of 17. Now, though, at 24 years old, he has decided to try the banjo, an instrument of an entirely different hue. Was he intimidated by the prospect of having to showcase his newly minted talents within months of picking up the banjo?
"Of course I was," he declares casually, but he may have drawn on his professional sporting experience to allay his fears. "I think that's something that you keep to yourself a little bit. You put on a brave face and insist, yeah, I can do it. I thought that it was important to keep a level head about it, and to believe that it was achievable, because with Gerry teaching me, I always felt that I'd get there - eventually."
Reid's teacher was Gerry O'Connor, an outstanding exponent of the banjo and no slouch when it comes to teaching either. O'Connor insists that both student and teacher were on a learning curve, and that Reid taught - or at least reminded - him about the power of positive thinking.
"I love sports people," O'Connor declares with infectious enthusiasm. "They push the boundaries and everything is achievable. You might be 10 points down with five minutes to go, but you still have to win the match. You have to have the belief that you can do it. Andy was so enthusiastic. He didn't care whether it was going to be a Paramount picture, a five-minute slot on Nationwideor a TV programme for TG4. Andy just wanted to learn the banjo." The stringent time limit was more of a challenge to O'Connor than it was to Reid, at least in terms of their mindset.
"Andy's attitude was, 'well, if it doesn't work out, I've still learned something new'," O'Connor says. "Maybe this is the kind of attitude that's instilled in these young professionals from an early age. Everything is possible, let's do it. It was a good reminder for me too, because I had forgotten how enthusiastic I had been about music when I was in my 20s.
"Andy was so enthusiastic. The amount of effort he puts into his lifestyle - we think they have it easy. He drives two hours to training. If he misses training, he's fined heavily. If he steps out of line, he's in the papers.
"There is no negativity allowed into the psyche at all. Everything is positive, positive, positive. And I think the things that makes someone good as a musician are those same qualities, and we really shouldn't lose them as we get older."
Reid's trust in O'Connor and in the other members of Four Men and A Dog, with whom he ultimately debuted on banjo, was unconditional. They were his safety net should the notes elude him, he believed.
"On the night before, I got really nervous as we were talking about the soundcheck and so on," he says. "But when it came to the rehearsal, I looked around me and saw the quality of musicians . . . I felt really comfortable with them. I thought to myself: 'I don't think I'm going to have too many problems. These people are such good musicians, they'll be there for me and they'll be able to help me out if there are any problems.' I was able to relax a bit after that."
Reid has now expanded his range of instruments to include the mandolin too. The TG4 experience evidently whetted an appetite that needs regular replenishment.
ALTHOUGH REID STARTED his banjo apprenticeship while playing for Charlton Athletic, he transferred to Sunderland under the stewardship of Roy Keane in the midst of the project. Rumour has it, though, that Keane wasn't too enthusiastic about his Premiership team captain consorting with traditional musicians, who are not known for their, eh, ascetic lifestyles. Reid chuckles quietly down the line from his home in Sunderland.
"I think he was all right about it," he says. "He's interested in music himself and he knows I am too. I don't think he had a problem at all. I think he trusts me a little bit more too. Mind you, if he met Gino, he probably wouldn't trust me too much after that!"
• The TG4 series, Faoi Lán Cheoil, begins at 10.30pm tomorrow. It will be repeated on Saturdays at 8.10pm
