THERE would be very few dissenters to the view that Cathal Hayden is one of the nicest men in traditional music. Born into a family with a clatter o’ wee’ans, a father who played banjo and fiddle and a mother who played piano, it should come as no surprise that Cathal and his siblings were imbued with music from the very beginning.
Not only that but people in the area around Rock, the small village in east Tyrone where Cathal was brought up, would exchange nights in each other's houses to play music together, a tradition that has sadly fallen by the wayside along with, perhaps, the social cohesion that went with it.
It was also a bonus that the family had, and still have, a pub in the townland of Gortavale situated between Pomeroy and Donaghmore, which also was a place where music would be played and listened to.
So it was no wonder that young Hayden would take up both the fiddle and banjo – like his father – when he was around 11 years old, becoming the master of both we know today.
“From an early enough age, I would have gone with my father to other houses where there was music. That would have been around 1973 when there were house sessions and ceilis but I didn’t start going to fleadheanna until later,” he says.
However, it was going to fleadhanna throughout the country, the excitement of the music-making, meeting other musicians that made Cathal think of a career as a musician although there weren’t many young people of his age who were interested in playing traditional music.
“At that time, there were very few musicians of my age about so you had to go to the fleadhs and my father would have taken me to ones in the south and the All-Ireland fleadhs, but in a more local sense, there weren’t many musicians of my age so you were sort of, if you weren’t isolated you were certainly on your own for a while.” he says.
But then in the 1970s the whole music scene kicked off with some great bands making brilliant records and something magic seemed to happen and things just kicked off.
By this time, Cathal had been all-Ireland champion on both banjo and fiddle. The rising tide lifted “traditional” music on to another level and superb musicians like Cathal and others found a greater audience and helped inspire a critical mass of musicians that has changed the fortunes of the music forever. The prodigal days of traditional music were now over.
Cathal has been involved in many projects, as a solo performer and as part of duets and trios. And of course he has been a member of Four Men and a Dog for the past 26 years, driving the band along the high-octane highway with his energetic style, be it on fiddle or banjo.
But which instrument does he prefer himself?
"Well, actually, the fiddle came later but, as you can imagine, the left hand finger movements on fiddle and banjo are pretty much the same," explains Cathal.
"There were fiddles about the house so it was a natural progression to reach for that instrument and later on the fiddle dominated in my career. With Four Men and a Dog Gerry O'Connor was there on banjo, so it definitely took second place for a long time.
"With the fiddle, to me there seems to me that there is a lot more going on with the instrument. I'm not trying to belittle the banjo but is seemed to me there was a lot more to discover on the fiddle. Still, I love them equally," he says.
The good news is that Cathal has just produced an album of banjo music and thanks in part to the Arts Council, will be producing a fiddle album later in the year or early next.
Hooked on Banjo is a collection of old and new tunes that has been quite a while in the making.
"I suppose for the past 15 or 20 years, while I've been going throughout whatever musical career I have, every now and again there would be a piece of music or a couple of tunes or it could be a newly composed tune from somebody that I would subconsciously put away for recording on the banjo at a later date."
Hooked on Banjo was recorded at recorded at Seán Óg Graham's studio in Portglenone – where the 25th anniversary Four Men and a Dog album was also produced – and Cathal really liked the set up. He laid down a few tracks with a big input from box-player Máirtín O'Connor and guitarist Seamie O'Dowd.
The album showcases Cathal's energetic style, while there is also a lovely version of Carolan's Concerto and a song from Kevin Doherty. As well as Máirtín O’Connor and Seamie O’Dowd, it also features John Joe Kelly and Brian McGrath.
An Droichead will be helping Cathal launch Hooked on Banjo at the MAC on Sunday September 25.
