It's a measure of the awe in which Joe Burke is held by his peers that they'll cheerfully pay to hear him play - and to play with him.
That's what happened when Cathal McConnell, always on the look-out for a gig to go to when the Boys of the Lough are ''resting'', turned up, bought his ticket, and was rewarded for several typically helpful(ish) interjections from the floor by being invited to get his seldom-far-from-hand flute out for a tune.
And what a tune, or three. Hearing McConnell fall in with Burke's lickety-spit button accordion playing as if they'd been parted at birth was a collector's item of a finale to an evening of already special music making and, being an evening with Burke, much mirth.
Burke's playing, hugely expressive and ever faithful to a tune's dance origins, even at improbable speeds, speaks of long years spent soaking up Ireland's music, lore, legend, and doubtless a drop of its liquid produce, too. Slow airs he ''knew before he learned them'' flow with grace and richness, and hornpipes ''so difficult they shouldn't be played at all'' find him effortlessly rattling through knuckle- knotting fingering with a look of playful inconvenience.
He's a grand storyteller, too, preceding a lovely French waltz with recollections of Parisian revelry that almost induced a sympathetic hangover. And when his wife, Ann Conroy Burke, drops her simple but supportive guitar work for their button box duet/duel, the sound of two expert accordionists in contrasting concert - he oaken, she slightly brassy - should be enough to entice music lovers to their gigs in Bellshill (tonight), Kirkcaldy (tomorrow), Glasgow (Sunday) and Aberdeen (Monday).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article